A historic house in Asunción, known as the “House of Horror” because it was the site of a five-person murder in 2018, will be auctioned this Friday, the 27th, following a court decision challenged by the former owner’s family. The property, valued at more than 1.2 billion guaraníes, was included in an accounting lawsuit filed against Néstor Andrés Macchi Amarilla, who died in 2021, and will be sold for just 208 million guaraníes — a figure based on a tax assessment, according to the heirs’ defense.
Judge Mafalda Cameron Luque, of the Civil and Commercial Court of First Instance of Asunción, ordered the public auction of three properties linked to Macchi Amarilla, including the house in the La Encarnación neighborhood and another property in Coronel Oviedo. The measure affects 100% of the inheritance of the widow, María Marlyn Villagra Cantero, and her daughter, Marlyn Beatriz Macchi Villagra, who say they were not properly notified and that their legal reserved-share rights were disregarded.
Attorney Noelia Núñez, who represents the heirs, accused the judge of malfeasance and submitted a request to the Economic Crimes and Anti-Corruption Unit of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. According to Núñez, the court case was reactivated “clandestinely” in August, despite a formal suspension ordered in September 2025 that barred the estate from being enforced until the inventory was completed — a matter still pending before the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.
The alleged irregularities include manipulation of the Judisoft judicial information system, with records of notifications that supposedly were not delivered to the heirs, although their mailing costs appear in the case file. On August 17, the plaintiff’s attorneys entered a request for an auction judgment into the system, even after the judge’s decision on August 4. The document was later deleted or hidden without leaving visible traces, according to the defense.
The “House of Horror” gained notoriety after the bodies of five people — including a woman and two children — were discovered in October 2018. They had been murdered by Bruno Marabel, who was then the husband of one of the victims. Marabel is serving a 40-year prison sentence for the crime, considered one of the most brutal in the country’s recent history.
The attorney announced that she will also take the case to the Magistrates’ Disciplinary Tribunal and the Council of the Magistracy, seeking to annul the auction and investigate the alleged irregularities. Judge Mafalda Cameron Luque has not publicly commented on the accusations.