Trial of the man who lived with his tenant’s corpse for a month begins today

A murder with malice aforethought and cruelty, or a psychotic outburst caused by schizophrenia. The man accused of stabbing his tenant to death in a residence on San Vicente Street in Alicante at the end of August 2023 will face a jury trial today, Monday, September 8th, at 9:30 a.m. in the Provincial Court. Following the crime, he kept the body in the flat for a month. Until one day, he called 091 to admit what he had done. The defendant stabbed the woman 16 times while they were alone in the house, where the victim had rented a room.

According to the charges, the crime was done with malice aforethought when the 66-year-old woman was suddenly and unexpectedly attacked in the corridor, unable to defend herself and taking advantage of the fact that no one else was present to assist her. The woman received stab wounds from behind and was also battered with a hammer. The private prosecution, represented by the victim’s sole son through attorney Leonardo Vargas of the Legal Law Firm, feels there was additional cruelty, claiming that she was subjected to unnecessary pain. These aggravating factors affect the disparity in sentences demanded between the two accusations, with the Prosecutor’s Office asking 12 years in jail and the victim’s family demanding up to 21 years.

Mental problems

In response to the accusations, the defence claims that there was a mental health issue, a flare-up caused by the defendant’s schizophrenia, for which he cannot be charged in relation to these occurrences. The defence has provided psychological papers that confirm the existence of the condition. However, both the Prosecutor’s Office and the private prosecution have limited the scope of the sickness.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office found it painful, but he comprehended and knew what he was doing; the prosecution saw it as a cold-blooded crime. After stabbing the woman to death, the defendant chained her body hand and foot and hid it in a bedroom under a comforter. For about a month, he led a typical life at home, greeting neighbours as he went by in the doorway and visiting his mother at the hospital. He even went so far as to check YouTube for lessons on how to mask the odour.

Confession

On September 24th, 2023, he called the 911 emergency call centre to confess to the crime and express his desire to surrender himself in. According to the private prosecution brief, the defendant made the contact despite his initial reluctance to share what he had done. It wasn’t until the operator reminded him that the channel was for emergencies and that if he had nothing to report, he should leave the line open that he revealed that he and his renter had been in an accident, that she had died and that he wanted to turn himself in the next day. The tape recording of the call is one of the evidence offered for the trial. Both prosecutors claim that the confession has a mitigating aspect.

The private prosecution brief discloses that the defendant and the victim had a strained relationship, and she had even reported him to the police after one such altercation. According to the complaint, the altercation that resulted in the fatal stabbings began when she told him she wouldn’t pay for the accommodation and he was unhappy because his family had told him they would not give him any more money.

The defence, for its part, claims that the defendant suffered from a major psychiatric disease that went untreated and unprescribed, yet he collaborated with the security forces by initiating their intervention in the events after the crime. The defendant, witnesses, and specialists will begin testifying in front of the jury today, unless a plea agreement is negotiated earlier. The jury must decide which aggravating and mitigating elements should be utilised in the case.

Author: Derek Appleton