The Court of First Instance issued Order No. 4, and Novelda agreed that the defendants would begin serving prison terms on March 14. They are already in custody, and a month later the Civil Guard connected them to a thwarted attack in Aspe and to additional drug-related exchanges with other criminal groups. Bail was subsequently set under the supervision of the defense and the matter proceeded through the appeals process.
The Third Division of the Alicante District Court, in separate rulings dated April 18, partially upheld the lower court’s decisions. The defense attorney, José Luis Sánchez Calvo, noted that the defendants must lodge 3,000 euros each to secure release, recover their passports, and commit to appearing before the court every two weeks.
drug robberies
The Civil Guard compiled a report indicating that the deceased and other individuals had plotted drug thefts, using force when necessary. The victim’s wife told investigators that she would accompany him on the day of the events. Investigators described a plan involving four men of Arab origin who allegedly sought to secure 20,000 euros each.
The court that granted release deemed the flight risk reduced and emphasized that the individuals under investigation had remained in Spain since the case involving the shooting at a mountain home in Aspe on April 25 of the previous year began. One record also noted that there was no reliable evidence ruling out the possibility of recidivism, and that releasing the suspects could jeopardize certain sources of evidence.
The caption under the image notes the Aspe chalet where the fatal gun attack occurred in April 2022.
An investigation by the Crevillent Civil Guard had already concluded early on that a missing young man might be dead. The determination was solidified when human skeletal remains were found not far away in a mountain area near Novelda on Christmas Eve last year. The crime scene had strong implications for the case.
defined by DNA
DNA analyses have now identified the remains as those of Noureddine Bohou, a 22-year-old from Catral who had been missing. The investigating judge noted that three other Arab men gathered with the deceased’s friends on the night of April 25, 2022, in Aspe. The plan reportedly involved stealing drugs from Polish nationals connected with cannabis cultivation operations. The night included a confrontation with at least six gunshots fired from three different firearms.
Following the attack, several suspects fled to other countries, with four arrested in France and Germany before being extradited back to Spain. Three of the four suspects were remanded in custody after giving statements in Novelda, while another was released. The court later ordered the release of two individuals on bail amounts of 10,000 and 5,000 euros, respectively. One suspect claimed to have been attacked at about one in the morning; he was shot in the face but managed to escape and later found a fellow countryman who had also been injured.
The bride points to her friends.
The girlfriend of Noureddine Bouhou, who was 22 when he disappeared, testified in Novelda that she believed his emotional partner had been betrayed by his friends on the day of the incident, which keeps open the question of who fired the fatal shot. She was the person who identified Noureddine’s sneakers near skeletal remains discovered by a family walking along the Horna Baja reservoir area in Novelda on Christmas Eve.
gun purchase
Investigators highlight conversations found on a suspect’s phone, including a March 7 exchange with a contact offering a Glock semi-automatic pistol for 450 euros, with payment suggested in Bitcoin. The Civil Guard has not confirmed that the weapon was actually bought, but the shell and bullet analysis from the Aspe scene indicates that a Glock was among the firearms used. The final determination on the exact weapon awaits the bullet report from the victim’s skull, which could shed further light on the case.