The Second Section of the Provincial Court of Jaén has imposed the penalty of permanent revisable imprisonment on a 41-year-old man, declared the author of the murder of a 74-year-old woman whom he surprised in her home in Sabiote (Jaén) while she was sleeping, in May 2024.
The court, following the unanimous guilty verdict issued by the popular jury on September 24, adds other sentences totaling 25 years in prison for the crimes of sexual assault, robbery with violence in a inhabited home, and theft of use of a motor vehicle.
The sentence, to which Europa Press has had access through the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA), establishes that the events occurred between 11:00 PM on May 6 and 2:00 AM on May 7, 2024. The accused entered the victim's home, located on Sabiote street, after climbing to the top of the town's wall and accessing through an open terrace window.
Once inside, he went to the bedroom where the woman was alone and asleep. Taking advantage of her total defenselessness, he positioned himself over her, covered her head with a plastic bag, and beat her with extreme violence all over her body, even stabbing her with a sharp object in the left shoulder. He then sexually assaulted her, causing her serious injuries.
Since they both lived less than 200 meters apart and knew each other from the village, the accused, knowing that the woman could recognize him without difficulty, decided to end her life. He strangled her with his hands with such intensity that he fractured her superior thyroid horn, causing her death by asphyxiation.
To try to eliminate traces and DNA remnants, the accused placed the body on the floor, dismantled the bed, and formed a bundle with the sheets and pajamas, which he threw onto the terrace of an adjacent uninhabited house, and sprayed both the corpse and the room with bleach.
Afterward, he searched the house and took several jewels, watches, a grill, three jugs of oil, some handcuffs, and a replica gun. Finally, he left the place in the victim's car, a Peugeot 306, with which he traveled to a nightclub located on the N-322 road.
The judicial resolution qualifies the crime as hyper-aggravated murder due to the presence of premeditation, as the attack was executed unexpectedly on a person who was sleeping, and for having been committed with the purpose of concealing the prior sexual assault.
Likewise, the aggravating factor of special vulnerability of the victim is appreciated, considering her age (74 years), her short stature (1.50 meters), and the fact that she lived alone.
For the crime of sexual assault with extreme violence against a vulnerable victim, the presiding magistrate imposes the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, along with a measure of supervised release of ten years aimed at participation in sexual education programs and the disqualification from performing work with minors.
Regarding the crimes of robbery with violence in a inhabited house and robbery of use of a motor vehicle, in which the aggravating factor of recidivism has been appreciated, he is sentenced to five years in prison for each of them.
During the trial, the defense of the accused requested the application of exemptions or mitigating factors due to drug addiction and alleged undue delays. However, these requests have been fully rejected, according to the jury's criteria.
The sentence reasons that the hair analyses conducted on the accused after his arrest evidenced a "medium-low" consumption of cocaine and that the forensic experts concluded that he retained his intellectual and volitional capacities intact.
Furthermore, it emphasizes the "coldness of spirit" shown by the accused when attempting to clean the scene and hide the evidence, conduct that the court considers incompatible with a significant psychological disturbance.
Undue delays are also not appreciated, understanding that the instruction and prosecution of the case, of just over two years, fall within the usual timeframes for a procedure of this technical complexity.
Regarding the abundant presence of his DNA at the scene of the events, the man, 41 years old, stated before the jury that he could not explain it and even claimed that "maybe the Civil Guard put it there to blame me."
He only acknowledged having found the victim's car parked on the street, with the keys in it, and having taken it. Regarding the deceased's belongings that he attempted to sell or give away, he maintained that they were already inside the vehicle.
In addition to the prison sentences, the convicted person must pay 250,000 euros as civil liability to the four children of the victim, as compensation for the moral damage and suffering caused.
Against this resolution, an appeal can be filed before the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA).
This is the second occasion on which the Jaén Court issues a sentence of permanent revisable imprisonment. The first was agreed upon in July 2024 against a 26-year-old man, who was found guilty by a jury of the murder and rape of a 14-year-old girl whose body was found in February 2022 in the ruins of the Church of Santo Domingo, in Alcalá la Real (Jaén).