Natalia MR appeared before the regional court in Murcia and Cartagena as part of a highly watched case connected to the death of her former partner, Juan Manuel, in what has become known as the La Puebla case. During a Monday session, a second defendant testified that Augustín MA warned he would kill the victim, who had been Natalia’s partner. A burned body was later discovered inside a car in the summer of 2021. Natalia maintains that Augustín is the real culprit, insisting she may have accidentally struck Juanmi with the vehicle while Augustín set the car ablaze.
The Fifth Division of the Regional Court of Murcia, seated in Cartagena, opened the trial on Monday with both defendants in the courtroom facing the judge. The prosecutor is seeking lengthy sentences: a total of 69 years, consisting of 35 years for Augustín and 34 for Natalia. Augustín contends that Natalia planned the crime, while Natalia’s defense argues she was a victim of gender-based violence and that Augustín treated her poorly. The two point to each other as the author of the tragedy.
Natalia, who planned to answer questions from her attorney after lunch, said that Augustín carried a grudge toward Juanmi even before their relationship began.
“I took a shower four to five times to wash away the blood”
She added that she and Juanmi stayed in contact throughout their relationship until its end, and that they spoke regularly. Natalia described the breakup after four years together and reflected on what the future might hold.
“It made me sad not to be with him”
She spent the day of the incident with the man who would become her ex, recounting that Augustín called her repeatedly on his phone. The two met that evening to talk and be together. They first gathered at his home, then moved to a bar to buy tobacco. They stayed there for a while. Although they were not a couple at that moment, Augustín spoke with her family and with Natalia, which she found emotionally painful. A later call from her sister, reporting that Augustín was waiting at the door, heightened the tension of the moment.
Augustín appeared tense and drove in a way that Natalia remembers vividly. As tension mounted, she testified that she placed herself between them and that Augustín advanced toward her. A confrontation escalated into a fight with fists and kicks, and he took the car keys and drove off with the vehicle.
“I got in the car, they got in, and they started shouting all the way,” Natalia recalled. She described two men fighting as she watched from the driver’s seat. She even felt the ground with her hands to avoid looking at the violence. She wanted to leave, but Augustín boarded the car and stayed there as they drove away from the scene. The route took them through a rural area with limited visibility. Natalia noted that she wears glasses and contact lenses due to vision problems. She claimed that she accidentally struck Juanmi while driving as Augustín shouted that she had hit him with the car.
Between Natalia and Augustín, Juanmi was seated in the back. Natalia stressed that Augustín began to show remorse as Juanmi struggled to speak. She emphasized that the person who set the car on fire was Augustín.
“I was afraid he might kill me, just as he did Juanmi,” Natalia testified. “I showered four or five times to wash away the blood.” Police arrived hours later, after the events had unfolded.
Augustín’s testimony
At around 1:20 in the afternoon, Augustín, accompanied by a facilitator, began to testify. He has a documented 43 percent disability and acknowledged Natalia’s involvement in his life. He said arrangements were in place and that failing to follow them would have left him humiliated and threatened.
On the night Juan Manuel died, Augustín said he received a message: “Let me do it my way.” He claimed that Natalia asked for a wrench to break into a house because her mother had kicked them out, and the couple sought a secluded place where Natalia could be with the man who would be killed. He described jealousy and suggested that Natalia had orchestrated the meeting to provoke a confrontation between her ex and him.
According to Augustín, the two fought, then entered Natalia’s car. He claimed Natalia drove, while he urged them to head toward a hospital because Juanmi was wounded. The journey then shifted to a different location, where another fight occurred. He alleged that Natalia remained the catalyst and drove the vehicle in pursuit of the victim until he was killed. He maintained that he himself placed the body and started the fire after disposing of it.
When he saw the car burning, he said he was overwhelmed. He insisted that he never intended to end Juan Manuel’s life and that he later changed his statement to protect Natalia, before realizing she had used him to carry out the act.
What the prosecutor’s office says
The Public Ministry’s account states that Natalia, then under eighteen, went to her ex-boyfriend Juan Manuel’s house at dawn. They moved into the car and drove to a remote area within the same district, where Natalia used the victim’s phone to call his partner. Augustín arrived on a bicycle. A fight ensued; the prosecutor says Augustín struck the victim’s head with a wrench and punched him repeatedly, causing bleeding. The three then got into the car: Augustín driving, Juan Manuel in the passenger seat, and Natalia in the back.
Juan Manuel remained alive at first. The attackers allegedly forced him into the car and used a lighter to burn him alive, with the clear aim to end his life and minimize any chance of defense, according to the prosecutor. The incident left the others seriously injured and unable to exit the vehicle on their own after the attack.
At a quarter to five in the morning, a neighbor woke to hear the car’s horn and, upon seeing the vehicle on fire, contacted the police and fire brigade.