The accused of killing the young Sarah in a flat in San Isidro, in Granadilla, the November 25, 2019, Jaime Bautista Henao, assured yesterday that ended the life of his ex-partner «so that I would not have to live among lies and in a world of so many falsehoods», as well as that «what came after, including death, was going to be better». In this way, the interrogation made by the delegate prosecutor of Violence against Women in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Jose Luis Sanchez-Jauregui, who did not grant excessive credibility to many answers offered by the person involved and warned that, in some, he even contradicted himself with respect to what was expressed before the civil guards who investigated the case and in the Court of Instruction. What does seem obvious is that Bautista suffered from pathological jealousy, after this citizen of Spanish nationality was left by a young woman in Colombia and by Sara, who had started a relationship with a co-worker. In addition, he is an individual with supposedly deep religious beliefs.
Yesterday the trial began with Jury Court in Section V of the Provincial Courtpresided over by the magistrate Juan Carlos Gonzalez Ramos. The person involved acknowledges that he ended the young woman’s life. And that means, in the words of his lawyer, that in this trial it is only necessary to prove if there was a homicide, because the woman had the option to defend herself, as stated by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Defense; or a murder, since it was a betrayal attack and there was cruelty, as argued by the lawyer of the victim’s family and the lawyer of the Canarian Institute of Equality (ICI).
After several questions from Public ministry On whether he controlled the victim’s electronic devices to find out if he had any other relationship, he admitted that he accessed his messenger to find out who he was talking to. When the prosecutor asked him why, he replied that “out of simple respect for the relationship, for everything he had lost; I had invested all my life savings» in traveling to Tenerife to be with Sara. He commented that he met her 15 years before the event, that is, when she was barely 11 years old, in a previous chat on Facebook, but that this relationship was not continuous. Among other things, because the young woman did not share the religious ideas that Jaime had and that led him to a seminary for some time.
The defendant assured that on November 23 (Saturday) the young woman herself confirmed that she had a relationship with a co-worker. She told him that she had to leave the apartment where they both lived together with her grandmother, Bernarda. According to Jaime, she came to pack her bags and reserve a room at a hotel in San Isidro. However, on November 24 (Sunday), he spoke with Sara and she allowed him to stay in the house until December, when the now accused allegedly intended to travel to the United Kingdom.
According to Jaime’s statement the night from Sunday to Monday, both slept together. Around four in the morning on November 25, he claims that he woke up with a start and his first reaction was to try to kill Sara. He clarified that he tried to suffocate her in the first place. But he clarifies that “I had a moment of lucidity” and “I turned away from her.” Always in the words of the person involved, the young woman got up and both struggled. Later, he took a cutter to attack her, but said object broke. And, seconds later, he emptied a kind of glass in which there were two scissors. Jaime affirms that he took some and Sara, others. And both attacked each other, although “the worst part” was taken by the victim. He stated that the young woman caused him, among other things, injuries to his neck and ear.
He admitted that Sara had time to ask for help. In the version given by the defendant, the grandmother went twice to the room where the accused murderer and the victim were: the first time to see what was happening and the second time with a knife to stab him. She explained that he then dropped the scissors. And in the hallway of the house, with one hand he stopped the aggression of the 87-year-old woman, and with the other he took the knife from her “so she wouldn’t hurt herself.” And he pushed her.
He assured that Sara fell collapsed in another room different from where did the aggression begin. She clarified that she was still moving one arm and was dying, so, to avoid that suffering, she suffocated her. And she added that, later, he tried to take her life. However, as per her instruction, he only made superficial cuts on his wrists.
Bautista Henao even attributed to the victim a progressive isolation from his environment, due to an excessive workload and poor remuneration at the Technological Institute of Renewable Energies (ITER), in Granadilla. Faced with the definition expressed by Sara’s mother’s lawyer, who defined her as a young woman with dreams and a life project, the accused said that the young woman tended to tell numerous acquaintances and friends about her concerns, while he also he did, “but he was more reserved.” He said that the girl lent him her computer and that, since they did not have restricted access, she saw her conversations or email. And, in addition, he took a notebook, “which was at hand”, to know the access codes to the victim’s social network accounts. The trial will continue today with the testimony of several witnesses.
