The Community’s Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) has confirmed a sentence of fifteen and a half years in prison for the only defendant found guilty in a fatal shooting in El Campello on September 9, 2019. The ruling, announced midweek, shows that two co-defendants who took the stand were acquitted by the court. The jury had previously concluded that one defendant’s involvement could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt, while recognizing some link to the crime in another way. This combination yielded a notably reduced penalty period for the convicted man.
The TSJ or the Law and Criminal Division upheld the Alicante District Court’s verdict that Luis Francisco B., aged 46, was the sole defendant convicted by the popular jury at the initial trial. The Supreme Court rejected the defense’s objections, agreeing that the substantial body of incriminating evidence the jury relied upon was not arbitrary or unreasonable. The court indicated that the trial had been grounded in more than mere conjecture and that the indicators used to measure the case against the accused were sound and support the jury’s assessment.
At sentencing, the Alicante Court had imposed fifteen years for murder, a fine for the offense, and an additional six months for forging official documents. The vehicle used in the crime bore a license plate stolen from another car, which the court considered as part of the criminal act. The defendant was also ordered to provide compensation of one hundred thousand euros to the victim’s son.
Ultimately, the court affirmed the guilty verdict for the murder and the related document falsification. The two other defendants were cleared of the same charges. The jury had found that third parties appeared to be involved in the murder, yet those defendants were not connected to the crime according to the verdict. Investigators had linked the case to drug trafficking, suggesting the accused supplied drugs to other traffickers who then hired hitmen to carry out the killing.
The events date back to September 9, 2019, when the accused traveled from Madrid to El Campello in a vehicle that bore a license plate from a different, previously stolen car. The journey began in Collado Villalba and ended near El Campello, where the crime unfolded. The plan reportedly involved the offender staying in a rented house in the town and, days later, converging with unidentified associates around a residential area near Calle El Campello and the Villa Marco shopping center beside Muchavista beach. There, as the victim appeared with a dog, the assailants in ambush opened fire with a pistol from behind, striking him twice and causing his immediate death.
The Supreme Court’s ruling confirms the Alicante Court’s decision on both murder and the falsification of documents used to facilitate the crime by placing false plates on the vehicle. The court emphasized that the confession must be understood within the full evidentiary framework, not as a mere reaction to the jury’s reasoning. It held that the presumption of innocence can be legitimately diminished when the evidence shows multiple, compelling links between the accused and the logistical elements of the crime, thereby supporting the verdict beyond reasonable doubt. The decision, cited by TSJ judges, reinforces the view that the accumulated evidence establishes a direct and corroborated connection to the offender’s guilt.