The Madrid Prosecutor’s Office and the special prosecutor requested a 15-year prison sentence for the individual who confessed to Juana Canal’s murder. Juana Canal had disappeared in 2003, and the crime was resolved in October 2022 after authorities located the attacker’s body on a family farm in Ávila.
Almost a year ago, Jesús Pradales acknowledged the murder before the Madrid judge handling the case and sought forgiveness from the family of the woman who disappeared in the Ciudad Lineal area two decades earlier.
The case was solved a year earlier when his remains were found on a farm in Ávila, which led to the investigators’ arrest in October. The remains were discovered in May 2019, but the family was informed only in June 2022.
The judicial process remains in the preliminary stage, with written submissions on provisional conclusions prepared for an upcoming oral hearing.
In a recent ruling dated September 19, the judge again rejected the request for conditional release. In March 2023 the Madrid Regional Court dismissed the defense’s objection to classifying the crime as culpable homicide.
Following the hearing, the prosecutor and the family submitted their indictments to the court through attorney Juan Manuel Medina.
Within the Public Ministry’s notes, which Europa Press has accessed, the facts of the murder are detailed along with the aggravating factor of kinship. The victim’s family is asking for the same prison term as the prosecutor but with the additional aggravating element of gender.
According to the prosecutor, the events unfolded in the early hours of February 22, 2003, at the couple’s home on Boldano Street in Madrid. The suspect, after starting a dispute with his girlfriend, allegedly stated that he intended to cause her death and that his actions could lead to that outcome, after which he struck her with force, causing fatal injuries.
Once Juana Canal was confirmed dead, the defendant reportedly dismembered the body and transported the remains to Navarredondilla in Ávila, where the skeletal remains were later found on April 18, 2019.
Disrespect for the body
In his summary of the special charge, attorney Medina states that after causing Juana Canal’s death the defendant engaged in acts meant to desecrate and conceal the remains, including dismemberment aimed at hiding the body. The summary mentions the use of a saw-like tool to cut the body and an unlawful burial in two locations.
After the crime, Jesús allegedly undertook a series of actions to create an exculpatory alibi for the death and the supposed disappearance. This included sending a handwritten note to the victim’s eldest son attempting to convince him that his mother had volunteered to leave.
Moreover, the defendant asked for an injury report to support a claim of assault by his partner at the Ciudad Lineal police station. She even filed a complaint accusing him of domestic abuse.
The family seeks compensation of 200,000 euros for each of the victim’s sons and 60,000 euros for each of the victim’s siblings.
Accidental murder
In his statement to the judge, Jesús claimed that during the argument the victim threatened to stab him with a knife and that he died accidentally after striking himself in an attempt to escape the threat.
The killer of Juana Canal was admitted to Brieva Prison near Ávila on October 28, 2022, for murder within the gender-based violence framework.
He confessed to the judge that he killed her with a single blow and then cut her into two pieces in a bathtub to move her in suitcases to Navalacruz, where he buried her in two holes on land near a family farm.
The motive, he said, involved a dispute in which Juana allegedly stole 600 euros from him and locked herself in a bathroom. He threatened to flush the money down the toilet. He also claimed that Juana grabbed a knife and threatened him, saying the threat was real.
The victim reportedly called the police to report the attack, and officers arrived at the Boldano Street home. They left, and the detainee then packed his belongings and prepared to depart. As he left, he mentioned that Juana had fallen, and a note was later found indicating that she had run away due to a violent confrontation.
90 kilometers with two suitcases
He told the judge that he saw Juana alive on the ground with her eyes open and realized she was dead. He then decided to cut the body in half and load it into two suitcases, driving to Navalacruz about 90 kilometers away. There, he dug two holes near the family farm to bury the remains.
Returning to Madrid, he discarded the suitcases in a container on Alcalá Street and wrote a note to Juana’s son stating that his mother had left after ingesting pills.
According to the summary, in the early hours of February 24, 2003, Jesús filed a false report at the Carabanchel National Police Station describing physical assaults and injuries allegedly suffered by Juana during the altercation, leading to her disappearance.
Two days earlier, one of Juana’s children discovered a note authored by her partner describing the violent dispute, the woman’s departure, and his inability to locate her. Investigations indicate Jesús concealed the assaults he allegedly endured from his family and current partner and only mentioned the claim of theft of 700 euros from him, even demanding it from his son.