The Supreme Court (TS) has confirmed the sentence of 23 years of prison that a jury handed down in July 2022 to a man who killed his ex-partner in November 2019, in Granadilla de Abona (Tenerife), by stabbing her in the neck with various sharp instruments.
It also ratifies the obligation for the convicted person to pay 150,000 euros to the young woman’s mother, after in July 2022 the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife ratified that the convicted person must remain on supervised release for ten years after being released.
The ruling of the Provincial Court was ratified earlier this year by the criminal chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC).
The events occurred at 4:00 a.m. on November 25, 2019, when the accused attacked the young woman, 26 years old, who was sleeping at the time, and caused fatal wounds with a cutter and two scissors.
Then he would use a 20-centimeter knife that he took from the 87-year-old grandmother who lived in the house when she came to defend her.
Before the Supreme Court, as it did in the TSJC, the defense stated that there cannot be talk of treachery, that he confessed voluntarily and that at that time he was not of his full mental faculties due to a psychic anomaly that he suffers from.
He also argued that the events did not occur as the jury said, which is why he believed the presumption of innocence was violated and assured that the victim was not asleep when he attacked her so that she could defend herself as demonstrated by the injuries she presented.
He alleged that the young woman had the help of her grandmother when repelling the attack, that she also used a knife and that there had previously been an argument that should have alerted the victim, all of which are arguments that attempt to dismantle the aggravating circumstance of treachery
The Supreme Court considers valid the evidence on which the jury relied to issue its verdict, and supports the version that the attack was surprising in that it took place when she was sleeping, that she was “safe and confident” in her home. and was carried out taking advantage of their physical superiority.
The fact that the woman took refuge in the grandmother’s room, according to the Supreme Court, “did not provide her with greater possibilities of defense” and the “minor” injuries that the victim presented would be proof “of a useless attempt” to save the victim. life.
Regarding the fact that he confessed guilty at the police headquarters against the criteria of his lawyer, it is indicated that he undoubtedly facilitated the investigations but immediately afterwards the Supreme Court points out that in reality he did not provide a credible account of what happened and that to support this extenuating circumstance the version What is offered must be truthful.
The convicted man says that it was not taken into account that he suffers from a paranoid personality disorder, but the Supreme Court responds that it was simply not proven that it had caused a decrease in his cognitive capacity, as the experts maintained during the trial.The young people They began an emotional relationship when the defendant arrived in Tenerife in June 2019 and went to live with the girl, and it ended in October of that same year despite continuing to reside in the same house with her grandmother.
At all times, he subjected the couple to continuous control and surveillance that became overwhelming. For example, without his consent he took possession of the passwords to his social networks, WhatsApp or emails in order to be aware of all his movements.
When she discovered that her ex-partner had started a new relationship, she did not admit it, just as she had not done before with their breakup to the point that the young woman felt guilty.
