In a case handled by a court in the Canary Islands, Abraham ZA received a 24-year prison term for the murder of his partner, Ramona JSA, carried out with extreme cruelty and enhanced by factors such as kinship and gender violence. He was found guilty after a popular jury verdict and faces a 10-year prohibition on approaching Ramona JSA’s two daughters and must pay 75,000 euros to each of them to address their loss and ongoing grief. During this period, he is barred from contacting them within a radius of 500 meters.
The incidents occurred at a residence in Bursa, near the urbanization Princess Iballa of La Laguna, at about 03:30 on September 23, 2020. An argument escalated, and the defendant set fire to the victim, who died the following day at 11:45 in the Canary Islands University Hospital.
mood to cause death
According to the jury’s verdict, the defendant acted with the intent to kill and subjected the victim to a sequence that included placing her in a bathtub, spraying gasoline on her, and lighting a blaze. The victim sustained second and third-degree burns over about 85 percent of her body and suffered internal injuries from smoke inhalation and heat exposure.
The judgment notes that the accused’s murder was a conscious act, reflecting an inability to resist the violence, despite the victim’s physical strength and the absence of any defense while alone at home.
The sentence states that the man chose to burn her with the intent to kill, fully aware of the severe physical and mental suffering it would cause, and deliberately increased that suffering to ensure her death.
Proven coexistence
The accused maintained an affective and coercive relationship with the victim, exercising control and demeaning behavior, providing for her living arrangement and dictating conditions she was expected to follow.
Neighbors reported repeated conflicts and noted that the portrayal of the couple’s dynamics suggested a pattern where the victim’s compliance with the defendant’s wishes was demanded, while the defendant would not yield when she resisted.
The verdict characterizes the evidence against the defendant as substantial, citing his own admissions, testimony about his aggressive character, and a tense neighborhood dynamic marked by frequent disputes with other residents.
Testimony described poor personal hygiene, frequent shouts, and insults that persisted during the night of the incident and in the days leading up to it.
flare
Neighbors were drawn to the apartment by the fire and by the pleas for help from the victim, who described her dire situation. Witnesses recalled witnessing her with burned hair, missing eyebrows, and a torso exposed by melted materials, underscoring the severity of her injuries.
Police officers and bystanders heard the victim cry that the man intended to kill her, to burn her, and that she had been placed in the bathtub, sprayed with gasoline, and set on fire.
During the investigation, the defendant appeared cold and urged the victim to stay quiet, insisting it was an accident. The documentary evidence, including ground inspections, trace evidence, and the autopsy, formed part of the sufficient evidentiary material cited by the judge to conclude the crime.
One contested issue was whether the two were truly a couple, the defendant having repeatedly denied it.
aggravating factors
The court found a moral bond between the defendant and the deceased that justified applying the kinship aggravating factor. The gender-based aggravating factor was based on the degrading and humiliating treatment the victim endured, which was again evident when she sought to move into the defendant’s home but was opposed vehemently.
The jury concluded that the defendant was not acting under the influence of alcohol or drugs, nor suffering from a personality disorder, despite various mental health challenges, drug use, and at least one suicide attempt.
The defense claim that the defendant sprayed himself with gasoline was not believed; authorities noted that the suspect allegedly made no move to intervene when the fire broke out in the kitchen where he reportedly went to fetch a beer. [Source: court records]