The Twin Who Married Her Sister’s Killer

When Edith Casas married Victor Cingolani on Valentine’s Day 2013, she wasn’t just marrying any man — she was marrying the convicted killer of her identical twin sister.

Jun 13, 2025

The Twin Who Married Her Sister’s Killer — Victor Cingolani and Edith Casas, with a photo inset of Johana, Edith’s murdered twin sister. | Photo credit: El Observador

The bond between identical twins runs deeper than most people can understand. They share the same DNA, grow up side by side, and often feel connected in ways that seem almost supernatural. But what happens when that bond is tested by the most horrible crime imaginable?

In the small town of Pico Truncado, Argentina, a story unfolded that shocked the world and left people struggling to understand how love and loyalty could become so twisted.

A Life Cut Short

Johana Casas was just days away from her 20th birthday when her life ended in violence. On July 16, 2010, someone shot her twice in the head and left her body outside the town. The young woman had been caught in a complicated love triangle that would soon turn deadly.

Police quickly arrested two men who had been involved with Johana. Victor Cingolani was her ex-boyfriend, a man she had dated before moving on to someone new. Marcos Diaz was her current boyfriend at the time of her death. Both men would face charges for her murder.

The investigation moved forward, and the evidence pointed to both men being involved in the crime. In 2012, a court found Victor Cingolani guilty and sentenced him to 13 years in prison. The following year, Marcos Diaz received a 12-year sentence for the same murder.

An Unthinkable Decision

While Victor Cingolani sat in his prison cell, something strange began to happen. Johana’s identical twin sister, Edith Casas, started visiting him. These visits were not what anyone expected from the sister of a murder victim.

Edith had also been romantically involved with Cingolani. By the time of Johana’s death, Victor had already shifted his attention from one twin to the other. Now, with him behind bars for killing her sister, Edith made a choice that would horrify her family and community.

After her prison visits, Edith announced that she believed Victor was innocent. She claimed she had no doubt about his lack of guilt in her twin sister’s murder. Then came the news that stunned everyone who heard it – Edith and Victor were engaged to be married.

A Mother’s Desperate Fight

Marcelina Orellana could not believe what her daughter was planning. The mother of the twins immediately requested that a judge order a psychological evaluation of Edith. She believed her daughter was not thinking clearly and could not be in “full control of her mental faculties.”

The request worked, at least temporarily. A judge agreed to suspend the wedding until doctors could examine Edith’s mental state. Her mother called the planned marriage a betrayal of everything their family stood for.

But Edith remained firm in her decision. She insisted that Victor was not a violent person and that she was not mentally ill. She claimed they loved each other and had no doubts about getting married.

The Tests and the Wedding

Edith underwent a series of psychological tests to determine if she was mentally capable of making such a significant decision. The results showed that she was perfectly sane and able to make her own choices. The judge ruled that she was competent, and the wedding could proceed.

On Valentine’s Day 2013, Victor Cingolani and Edith Casas were married in a courthouse ceremony. The convicted killer was brought from prison for the brief service. After they exchanged vows, guards immediately took him back to his cell through the back door of the building.

Edith left through the front entrance hours later, but she had to wait for angry protesters to leave the area. The community was outraged by what they saw as a betrayal of justice and the memory of Johana Casas.

When reporters asked Victor why he married Edith, he gave a simple answer. He said he was getting married because he loved her and that he had not expected the wedding to cause such a worldwide reaction.

Claims of Innocence

Victor Cingolani has never stopped claiming that he is innocent of murdering Johana Casas. His lawyer, Lucas Chacon, has called the conviction a “judicial scandal” and insists that Marcos Diaz was the only person responsible for the crime.

According to Chacon, the evidence found at the crime scene pointed more strongly to Diaz than to his client. He claimed that cigarette butts found near Johana’s body belonged to Diaz and that witnesses had identified him as the killer.

Critics of the marriage believed that Victor had married Edith for reasons beyond love. They suspected he hoped she would help him clear his name and eventually gain his freedom from prison.

A Family Torn Apart

The marriage destroyed what remained of the Casas family. Edith’s parents felt they had now lost both of their daughters. They made the painful decision to disown Edith because they viewed her marriage as the ultimate insult to Johana’s memory.

Valentín Casas, the father of the twins, expressed his grief in stark terms. He said that for him, both daughters were now dead. Johana was with God, he explained, while Edith was with the Devil.

The parents also feared for Edith’s safety. They worried about what might happen to their surviving daughter if she was wrong about Victor’s innocence.

The Psychology Behind the Choice

Mental health experts have studied why some women become attracted to convicted criminals. The condition has a name – hybristophilia – which describes people who are drawn to those who have committed serious crimes.

Some women believe they can change violent men through love and support. Others prefer relationships with men in prison because these men cannot leave them or cheat on them. Still others genuinely believe the men they love are innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted.

Edith’s exact motivation remains a mystery. She has maintained that her decision was based on love and her belief in Victor’s innocence.

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The Mystery Continues

The case of Edith Casas and Victor Cingolani continues to puzzle people around the world. The idea that someone would marry the person convicted of killing their identical twin seems to go against every natural instinct about family loyalty and justice.

Whether Edith truly believes in Victor’s innocence, whether she suffers from a psychological condition that draws her to dangerous men, or whether some other factor influenced her decision may never be fully understood. What remains clear is that one act of violence destroyed a family in ways that went far beyond the original crime.

The courthouse wedding on Valentine’s Day 2013 marked not just the union of two people, but the final breaking point of a family that had already endured the worst loss imaginable.