José Antonio LA, the perpetrator of the Padrón Pension murders, located in the heart of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, has passed away, as confirmed by sources close to the case. His health had deteriorated recently, leading to his transfer from the prison where he was serving his sentence to a hospital on the island, where he eventually succumbed to natural causes.
In July 2022, José Antonio LA was sentenced by the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife to 20 years and one day in prison for the murder of his former partner, whom he killed in 2009 within a room at the aforementioned pension. The victim’s body was not discovered until 2016. In 2010, a year after this crime, he committed another murder in the same location, the Padrón Pension, for which he received an additional sentence of 17 and a half years in prison. He had recently applied for parole.
The conviction for the woman’s murder was based on a jury finding him guilty of the crime of murder with deceit and cruelty, with the aggravating factor of kinship and the mitigating factor of confession. His legal counsel appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the aggravating factors of deceit and cruelty were not applicable.
The events took place in June 2009, but the woman’s body, Adoración VR, was discovered seven years later in 2016 in the Santos ravine. The accused had concealed a bag containing the victim’s remains there. The discovery was prompted by rains causing soil erosion in the ravine, making the bag visible to passersby. However, the key to her identification was bloodstains found on the headboard of room 306 in the boarding house during a separate investigation into another crime.
In August 2010, eight months after Adoración’s murder, the body of a former military man whom he had killed was found between two mattresses in the room occupied by José Antonio at that pension.
During the initial trial session, the defendant admitted to the crime, stating that he had beaten the woman to death and disposed of the body by placing it in a bag that he then discarded into the Santos ravine.
The disappearance of Adoración was reported in 2012, three years after the incident, by one of her daughters. However, it was only in 2016, seven years following the crime, that the body was recovered.
