An investigation unfolded after a suspicious fingerprint on a gas can tied to an explosive device led Mossos d’Esquadra to a man identified as Francisco Javier P., a bricklayer by trade. Hours later, authorities interrupted the plan. In his home, investigators recovered timers, electronic boards, and matches from which the phosphor had been removed. The man sat in a Barcelona courtroom on Thursday facing charges, accused of attempting to kill four former colleagues by mounting a do-it-yourself device in the engine of an excavator. The prosecution requested a sentence of 56 years in prison for four counts of attempted murder. A witness had unexpectedly discovered the device, averting a potential tragedy.
Francisco Xavier P. remained seated in the Barcelona courtroom beside his attorney, exchanging looks and brief notes as the proceedings moved forward. He listened as witnesses testified, occasionally writing down the statements from Mossos d’Esquadra, his former employer, and his former coworkers. His testimony is scheduled for Friday, while officers in blue continued presenting the collected evidence to the court.
The prosecution contends that the defendant planted the explosives on the very excavator used by his former team during a project in Castellbisbal between March 9 and 10, 2021. He had operated the same vehicle for months before leaving the company, and the owner described ongoing disagreements with him as a key factor in the dispute that led to this moment.
The device was built around a gas container fashioned from a bottle paired with an electronic timer. A triggering mechanism relied on a halogen bulb filament in contact with several matches and a special paste used on match heads, alongside a substance found in common tableted barbecue lighter products. The switch was an active part of the control system, and investigators also found that the accused had searched online for information about programming electronic cards that resembled the one embedded in the device. A Mosso described the contraption as highly intricate and capable of serious harm.
Targeted harm to workers
Officials had scheduled the blast for 9:15 a.m., a moment when workers would be present at the site. When a worker arrived and noticed abnormalities, he alerted his supervisor and contacted the local Castellbisbal police. Mossos d’Esquadra responded with multiple teams, including detonator specialists. The provisional indictment emphasizes that, if the device had not been detected, it could have inflicted life-threatening injuries on the crew working there.
The excavator’s owner confirmed in court that the site had already suffered sabotage on several machines before the incident, including the excavator. He recalled a prior morning when an employee reported finding something that looked like a bomb inside the machine. Surveillance measures have since intensified. The owner also recalled that on March 10, 2021, a worker had called him early to report the discovery. Initially, the owner suspected a local resident, but traces linking the device to the defendant quickly shifted the focus. The employer, who had known Francisco Javier over many years, expressed shock at the allegations, remarking on the troubling developments in what had been a routine construction project. He added that the discovery and subsequent investigation marked a dramatic turn in the firm’s operations.