Four suspects have been detained in connection with the murder of Alfredo Balaguer Ríos, a 55-year-old man whose body was found dismembered and cremated in a makeshift funeral pyre near the Túria river in Gestalgar. The court in Lliria, presiding over case number two, ordered that the defendants be held in temporary prison without the possibility of bail after they were questioned this afternoon.
Initial information indicates that the arrests were revealed by Levante-EMV, a regional newspaper belonging to the Prensa Ibérica group, along with subsequent nationwide police disclosures. It was reported that one of the alleged perpetrators, along with her boyfriend, confessed to authorities. The remaining suspect, who is described as the partner of the first detainee, admitted to having killed the man and keeping the body at home under threats to prevent disclosure.
The Civil Guard’s Murder Squad had already identified the quartet by early July, aided by forensic findings from the autopsy, in particular the titanium and steel prosthetic device that had been used in the victim’s lumbar spine restoration. That surgical detail helped link the evidence to the four suspects, according to an account cited by the same publication.
The individuals in custody have been named as 52-year-old Pilar CE, 51-year-old Luis Marcos GT who is described as the partner of one of the detainees, Pilar’s 19-year-old daughter LMC, and her 23-year-old boyfriend AGC. In statements to investigators, Luis claimed he acted as the murderer’s accomplice, describing an altercation during which a wooden cutting board was used. He asserted that he was not at home at the time of the crime and was allegedly traveling; he suggested that the other three were taking part in a conspiracy against him.
The second witness, a 19-year-old, supported her mother’s version by saying she was involved with the man believed to have killed Alfredo Balaguer Ríos and that the four of them participated in disposing of the body, though she initially claimed ignorance of the events. She described loading the corpse into garbage bags, placing it in the trunk of her boyfriend’s car, transporting it to Gestalgar, and setting it on fire after purchasing gasoline at a local gas station along the highway. The remaining two detainees chose not to testify before the judge, but they did point to their partner as the principal aggressor.
The crime reportedly occurred at a residence on Calle Escultor Salcillo in Valencia’s Fuensanta district, on June 27. The victim, the legal owner of the property, had been living there after the four detainees allegedly occupied the home as renters following his death. Investigators indicate that the motive behind the homicide was financial in nature, and, as a result, the four suspects face charges of murder, concealment of the body, and extortion. [citation: Levante-EMV / Policía Nacional reports]