The accused in the death of Ana Buza, the 19-year-old who lost her life in September 2019 while traveling with her partner on the A-4 highway passing through Carmona (Sevilla), has declared that the girl "jumped out of the car" driven by an "unstable" mood and by the strong discomfort she was experiencing after a fight with her father, with whom she had a "bad" relationship.
During his testimony in the jury trial being held at the Provincial Court of Sevilla, the accused described his romantic relationship, which began a little over a year before the incident, as "healthy" or at least "normal," with occasional conflicts typical of cohabitation, which arose especially when he tried to "mediate" between father and daughter.
In the same hearing, the family doctor, the school counselor who treated Ana, and a classmate from the Philosophy Degree studying in Sevilla have testified. The counselor pointed out that the young woman had "a zero depressive profile," while the classmate assured that she witnessed the "toxic" relationship that she maintained with the accused, who would have come to "intimidate" other students who tried to talk to Ana.
The accused's version of what happened on the A-4
In response to questions from the Prosecutor's Office and his defense, Rafael explained that that morning Ana told him she had had a "fight" with her father over money issues and the "demanding" attitude of the parent. "I don't think he is a bad father, I want to make that clear, but I think they had a bad relationship. He demanded a lot from her, with her grades. It always seemed insufficient."
According to his account, after trying to "mediate" in that conflict, Ana adopted a "distant" posture and stopped speaking to him. Shortly after, she asked him to take her back to Sevilla, although initially, they had planned to spend the night at his parents' house in Lora del Río.
The accused recounted that, already on the way, the young woman was "in the back seat" and "in silence," affected by the confrontation with her father, when at one point he heard a "gasp of air." He claims he only had time to turn around and stretch out his arm to try to hold her while "he saw her body fall from the car."
Questioned about the initial explanations he gave to the Civil Guard, when he spoke of an animal crossing the road and a "sharp turn," he stated that he was "in shock," "out of it," and "not wanting to believe what had happened."
Discrepancies about Ana's emotional state
Rafael has described Ana as an "unstable" young woman, with "peaks" of mood in which she alternated between "much sadness or much happiness" without, in his opinion, clear reasons for those changes. He added that she told him on some occasion that she had engaged in suicidal behaviors previously and that she needed "psychological help".
After the young woman's death, the accused has said that he maintained a "very good" relationship with Antonio Buza, Ana's father, with whom he communicated "frequently" by email and SMS messages. He recalled that he even bought her a car for "everything she had suffered" and as a way to feel closer to his daughter, something that the father himself had already recounted, although he later claimed that he felt "manipulated" by the accused.
Rafael has reported that he has been the subject of "public barbarities" against him, his family, and his current partner. Against the version of the private prosecution, which claims that he ran over Ana as the "culmination" of a situation of gender violence, he has stated that it is "a lie" and has linked that accusation to his refusal to answer the questions from the victim's family, because he does not want to "participate in their strategy," which he has defined as an attempt to "impose a lie".
Testimonies from the classmate and the counselor
A classmate of Ana has testified that the young woman was "intelligent and enthusiastic," but that her romantic relationship caused her "concern." "It was inevitable not to know who Rafael was, because he always waited for her to come out of class. He would stay in the hallways while the sessions were being held. It was terrible," she pointed out.
The witness added that if any classmate tried to talk to Ana, he would position himself behind her "with crossed arms, intimidating anyone who tried to approach her until they moved away." In her opinion, "Ana had a problem, yes. But it was nothing related to suicidal thoughts, it was her boyfriend, a toxic relationship that was visible to everyone," which she described as "suffocating" and limiting for the young woman's life.
The school counselor who attended to Ana, at the request of the family and with the aim of "regulating" her nerves during a "delicate" stage like the Baccalaureate, described the girl as "intelligent, critical, and with values," and emphasized that she "was not afraid" to express "what she did not want".
According to what he has explained, in the last email that Ana sent him, four days before the incident, the young woman confessed that she felt "fear" towards Rafael, spoke of a "turning point" after a strong argument, and acknowledged that she feared having children in the future with him, because she thought he intended to "lock her in a cage." "That she made a record of that in the email means that she was a young woman who knew how to seek help," he indicated.
The professional has described the "chaotic" life that, according to her perception, Rafael imposed on Ana, the "money problems" that distressed her because she assumed payments of her partner that "did not correspond to her," and the "jealousy attacks" that, in her words, "crushed" the young woman.
Regarding the references to "depression" that appear in Ana's personal diary, the counselor has downplayed the relevance of those expressions, considering them "teenage nonsense" that did not have "correlation with Ana's behavior," whom she has described as a "pretty, modern girl who went out with her friends."