Natalie Velasco He was killed on May 2, 2001 in the Zaragoza district of Arrabal. He was just 21 years old. At that time, sexist crimes were classified as crimes of passion, and the authors of the same crimes they did not see their punishment being aggravated because of gender. Who murdered by his former partner, José Peñuela; took advantage of this legal loophole and was sentenced to prison. 17 years in prison for strangling her and desecration of her corpse for raping her. He regretted what he had done, even promising to commit suicide after serving time in prison, but death from an overdose came after seven and a half years in prison.
The solution to the case for the Aragon Police Department’s Homicide Squad was not complicated, as it was the young man known as ‘El Choles’ himself. He came to the police station to confess what had happened.. In fact, this served to mitigate the initial sentence demanded by the victim’s family, who realized that they were unaware of Natalia’s death. continued to see his killer. friends yes Calling Peñuela “aggressive” and making her “afraid”. They even gave him a cell phone so he could call for help when he needed it.
“I asked him to make it clear whether we were going to continue together or not,” the killer said in court.
The crime was committed at dawn. Suspect went looking for Natalia at the exit of the popular bar El Tabernillas, the headquarters where he works is in Plaza de Santa Engracia. As she explained in court: “I asked him to make it clear to me whether we would continue together once and for all.. At that time I was very confused and felt humiliated for what he said to his friends.” Natalia told him that she was going out with her friends and not to wait for him at home. because it would be late. Ignoring him and waiting for him to come back, he started an argument inside the house at 15 Ricardo del Arco street.
At one point he she said she didn’t love him and murder. ““I’ve lost my mind and I don’t know what happened anymore,” he said. strangled his girlfriend. First with their hands, but they hurt from too much pressureso she noticed a lamp on the nightstand. He used the cable to kill him. Not content with that, she covered her face with a pillow.
For coffee and bread
As if that wasn’t enough, she further insulted and raped the person she claimed to love. Although he always claimed to think he was alive, he was already a corpse. He was in the house for a few hours. He went for coffee in the bar where Natalia worked as a waitress.. He played a slot machine there, got a prize and played again. Then he bought a loaf of bread, went to his parents’ house, and from there he went straight to the police station.
The manner of committing the crime, especially that he tried first with his hands, then with the cable, and finally with the pillow.The Aragonese Supreme Court of Justice (TSJA) came to the jury to consider it persecution, although it was annulled on the appeal of defense attorney José Luis Melguizo. They reduced the sentence by defending this Natalia did not suffer, despite the brutal aggression to which she was subjected.
Imitated the Tyrant of Corinth
During the investigation, instructed by Judge Natividad Rapún, Peñuela’s mental state blew. Until six forensic psychologists came to examine himconcluded that there are various personality disorders, psychopathies, and narcissistic variants. “A person for whom the only important thing is himself, without caring about the suffering of others,” they explained. They also highlighted the defendant’s “emotional dependence” on his ex-girlfriend. “This attitude is compatible with crime. He kills her because he thinks this is his only hope.. By losing his love, he loses all he has, and his life has no future anymore.”
Experts evaluating Peñuela concluded that “If we accept the idea that the accused was not the aggressor, we are dealing with a born murderer.”
Yes, there was a debate over the imputability of Peñuela. While four of the experts admitted that his discomfort somewhat diminished his will to act without canceling, two denied that his volunteer capacity was reduced “not even a little” when he committed the crime. “If we accept the idea that the accused was not aggressor, a born killer,” they added.
In case of any doubt about his mental state, the prosecutor of the case, José Peñuela, recalled: As in this case, desecration of corpses is not a novelty in human history. He gave as an example Periander of Corinth, one of the seven sages of Greece.Tyrant of Corinth who killed his wife and had sexual access to her corpse. “He is considered a wise man, not a madman,” he said, even before a popular jury who found him guilty of murder, although he was later reduced to murder.
However, he suffered from gambling. His addiction led him to withdraw 30,000 pesetas from his girlfriend’s notebook, which caused Natalia to kick him out of the house. Thus, on Christmas 1999, a relationship that had first started as friends and even started living together broke up.
died in prison
“I don’t care if I get six years in prison or 16 or 24 years in prison. I want to pay for the evil I have done and take my life while serving my sentence.”. Those were his last words before he was sentenced. He died before it was over They didn’t even let him. He had undergone psychological treatment since he entered prison, but was on the verge of quitting.
Zuera worked at the bakery in prison; Interested in cakes. According to her family, she was “happy” because they told her she would be promoted. During the sentence she shared a cell with, her partner went into third grade until a little over a month ago. She didn’t understand.