NSW academic killed, buried

BUENOS AIRES: An internationallyrenowned Australian scientist who was allegedly murdered by her nephew in Argentina ‘‘weirdly’’ stopped replying to daily messages from her friends about two weeks before she was found dead.

The body of University of New England microbiology professor Lily Pereg (54), who was born in Israel, and that of her Israeli sister Pirhya Sarussi (63) were discovered on Sunday near the city of Mendoza.

The bodies were buried near the house of Ms Sarussi’s son Gilad Pereg (36), Argentina prosecutor Claudia Rios said.

Pereg was arrested on Saturday and formally charged a day later with the aggravated homicide of his mother and the simple homicide of his aunt following the discovery.

The women vanished about January 11 after travelling to Mendoza to visit Gilad, who had been living in Argentina for more than 10 years.

Autopsy results showed at least one of the women was shot. Local media are reporting the victim had suffered three gunshot wounds while the other showed signs of having been dragged.

Gilad Pereg, who reportedly was the Argentine chairman of five companies set up by his mother, has now been transferred to a local prison.

Dr Pereg was a microbial ecologist with 25 years experience as a researcher in plant and social microbiology.

She obtained a PhD from the University of Sydney in 1998 and worked for the Institute for Genetics at the University of Cologne in Germany before joining UNE in 2001. — AP