This Monday, October 17, began in Section VI of the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife the trial with a Jury Court for the murder of a taxi driver in a community garage in Granadilla de Abona in July 2019. For the first time, the defendant’s defense attorney raised an alleged motive for the violent death. Said party argues that the young Colombian involved went to said building to sell a gram of cocaine, but that he was mistaken for a buyer.
However, bothdaughter as the sentimental partner of the victim denied that the man beaten to death, Gabino, 64, was a consumer of narcotic substances or alcohol. The woman with whom she lived admitted that a few times she took anxiolytics (diazepam) to be able to sleep.
The events occurred around 3:30 a.m. on July 3, 2019 in a Community garage of the San Miguel building, on Los González street, in the center of San Isidro.
The defendant, identified as Jofre André Saldaña, who is 21 years old today, refused to answer questions from the prosecutor, Olga Méndez; the attorney for the private prosecution, Candelaria Velázquez, and the defense attorney, Ginés Cabrera.
If the Public Ministry and the lawyer representing the victim’s daughter request for the alleged perpetrator 25 years in prison for a crime of murder with treachery and cruelty (because they estimate that the victim had no defense option and suffered unnecessary pain), the defense attorney asks for a sentence of 10 years for murder, since the death occurred in a fight between the two men and Gabino died a few seconds after receiving the first blows; that is, “that he did not suffer excessively.”
Gabino worked as a taxi driver in the municipality of Adeje. But he was a native of the neighborhood of El Draguito, in Granadilla de Abona. At 3:25 a.m. on July 3, he entered the community garage of the San Miguel building, to which he had moved just two days before. He agreed with his Seat Panda Trans, which was loaded with bags for the aforementioned move, since until then he had lived in Llano del Camello, in Las Chafiras (San Miguel de Abona).
A few seconds later, the young defendant also entered the aforementioned garage. The Colombian individual, who was 18 years old at the time, refused to testify, so his possible defense was based on the brief presented by his lawyer. According to this version, the defendant was in the house of a relative in San Isidro, where he consumed alcohol and drugs until dawn. And then he went to the San Miguel building, allegedly with the intention of selling a gram of cocaine to a client. Based on the approach of the aforementioned lawyer, Jofre André mistakenly thought that Gabino was the alleged buyer.
The defense argues that a fight broke out between the two men and that the victim died from the blows that the taxi driver suffered in the area of the larynx and in the brain a few seconds after receiving them. And, in addition, he pointed out that the young man “could not control himself” because of the alcohol and drugs he had consumed.
He hinted that the sixty-year-old supposedly did not bleed and that both the last injuries and the burns were recorded when the affected person had already died. In addition, he stated that the young man did not have an escape plan.
However, the Prosecutor’s Office and the victim’s daughter’s lawyer think the opposite. In other words, Gabino had no option to defend himself and that he suffered numerous punches, kicks and stomps, which caused him unnecessary pain before he lost his life. In addition, the accused allegedly stripped the victim and tried to burn her with the help of toxic products to erase evidence.
The prosecutor told the members of the jury that the real answer as to why the fatal beating of the victim occurred “may never be given.” And, in addition, she warned that, in the first place, in the Spanish Justice it is not necessary to prove the motive for an act of this type and, secondly, what was done “has no justification”.
Faced with the alleged reason put forward by the defense attorney, the daughter’s lawyer stated that “there is not a single document that proves” that the accused “was under the influence” of alcoholic beverages or one or more narcotic substances.
María, the victim’s partner, stated that she had been in a romantic relationship with Gabino for eight years when the events occurred. When the man worked the night shift, the normal arrival time at the home they shared was between 5:00 and 5:15.
That morning, the woman woke up at 5:30 and realized that Gabino had not arrived yet. And she didn’t answer her insistent phone calls either. Besides, he hadn’t warned her that he planned to be late. She took the elevator down to the community garage and there she found the body of her partner.
María assured that the taxi driver was lying “on the ground, almost naked; very white, I knew he was dead.” She wanted to call the security forces, but there is no coverage in the garage. And she noted that shortly afterward she ran into a neighbor, who was the one who made the first call to emergency services.
Gabino’s sentimental partner explained that he was a very calm person, whom he never saw in a fight or with violent behavior. He pointed out that he did not know that he had problems with anyone. In addition, he pointed out that he did not consume alcohol or drugs, “or sleeping pills.” However, later, when questioned by the defense attorney, he clarified that once or twice he did resort to anxiolytics in order to rest.
After losing the man with whom she shared her life, she decided to go back to work, “so as not to think anymore”, but the image of seeing Gabino’s lifeless body will not go away. She clarified that he did not see a drop of blood next to the body, but that he did have a swollen face.
The victim’s daughter was having breakfast at the time she received the call from the Civil Guard, who informed her of what had happened. Not believing what the agents were telling her, she decided to hang up. The professionals from the Armed Institute called again and this time it was her ex-partner who received the information and the warning that she had to appear at the scene.
The young woman defined her father as “normal, hard-working, dedicated to the taxi and who worried about my education.” She assured that she never saw him in a fight or in a violent act. For that reason, she does not find a reasonable explanation for what happened. In fact, she has had to resort to asking for psychological support.
He indicated that Gabino was a man of normal complexion, “neither thin nor athletic.” The last call he received from his father was to ask him how he had done in the exams for his opposition to his civil servant. He passed those tests, but his father never found out. She did not know that Gabino took anxiolytics to sleep.
One of the neighbors was told by his wife that there was a man in the garage “fixing a car”, but that it was very strange, “because he was naked”. Said witness entered the parking lot and verified that there was a man lying on the ground. He didn’t come over and say hello, but got no response. That is why he decided to go outside and call the emergency service.
Later, he spoke with another resident in the building and they both went down to the garage, where they met the couple of the deceased sixty-year-old. She stated that the San Miguel housing estate “was and is a quiet building.”
