Mario Biondo's true story, and what happened to his wife Raquel Sánchez-Silva?
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Note: The following article contains discussion of themes including suicide.
The Last Hours of Mario Biondo spoilers follow.
Netflix's latest true-crime offering delves into the case of Italian cameraman Mario Biondo, whose untimely death in 2013 was ruled as a suicide by Spanish authorities but questioned by his family, who suspect foul play to this day.
The three-part documentary details how Mario landed a job working on a reality TV show called Survivor Spain, which is where he first crossed paths with Spanish presenter Raquel Sánchez-Silva.
The two soon fell in love and married a year later on June 22, 2012, in a high-profile wedding ceremony, but it wasn't long before there would be trouble in paradise.
It was alleged that Mario had a cocaine addiction that affected his relationship with Raquel, who wanted to start a family but believed Mario's addiction prevented this from happening.
It's believed the couple had an argument about this on May 29, 2013, before Raquel left their apartment in Madrid to visit her uncle in Plasencia. The following day, Mario's housekeeper found him dead in his home, hanging from a rod with a shawl tightly wound around his neck.
The investigation into Mario's death was extensive, with the evidence concluding that he had participated in drug use and heavy drinking before unintentionally strangling himself to death. When the authorities looked into Mario's search history, they discovered that he had been reading articles about the connection between cocaine usage and male infertility.
However, Mario's parents maintain that their son's death was not by suicide and have been working to prove that he was murdered ever since.
They began to question Raquel's involvement after she went on vacation to Formentera two days after Mario's funeral, and they still believe she was involved in Mario's death and covered it up as a suicide to this day.
In the documentary, Mario's mother admitted she still "keeps an eye" on Raquel via social media, while his brother said she "deserves" all the online harassment she has received since Mario's death.
Despite the Biondo family's ten-year efforts to prove otherwise, there has never been any evidence to suggest that Raquel was involved in Mario's death, which has been ruled as a suicide multiple times since 2013.
Where is Raquel Sánchez-Silva now?
As of 2023, Raquel resides in Madrid while continuing her work in the entertainment industry as a presenter and writer.
Most recently, Raquel hosted Netflix's new reality dating series Deep Fake Love, which follows five couples who must correctly identify whether the videos they're shown of their other halves are AI-generated or not.
Raquel is also the host of Maestros de la Costura (The Spanish version of The Great British Sewing Bee), and previously served as the presenter on the Spanish edition of Celebrity Big Brother, known as Gran Hermano VIP, in 2015.
She also presented Lo siguiente TVE (The Next Thing) from 2018-2019, Likes from 2016-2017, and became an author in 2014 after publishing her book first, Mañana, a las seis (Tomorrow, at six).
As for her personal life, Raquel has been in a relationship with Argentinian audio-visual media producer Matías Dumont since 2014. The couple became parents the following year after Raquel gave birth to twin boys, Bruno and Mateo, in September 2015.
The Last Hours of Mario Biondo is now available to watch on Netflix.
We encourage anyone who identifies with the topics raised in this article to reach out. Information about how to access support is available via the NHS, and organisations who can offer help include Samaritans on 116 123 or Mind on 0300 123 3393.
Readers in the US are encouraged to visit mentalhealth.gov or the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
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