From Monday, the Regional Court of Madrid will hear the case of Noelia de Mingo, who was previously sentenced to 25 years in a psychiatric prison for the murders of three people in 2003. This same individual later carried out a knife attack on two supermarket employees in El Molar in 2021, five years after being released from custody.
The prosecution requests a sentence totaling nine years and nine months in prison for two crimes, namely attempted murder and a separate assault. De Mingo maintains that she did not benefit from any mental abnormality defense during the trial.
The Public Ministry explained that during the events a mental illness manifested, significantly altering the perception and understanding of reality and thereby limiting both mental and volitional capacities without fully removing them. It is noted in the report that a comprehensive mental illness defense had already been granted in 2003 for three murders, four attempted murders, and one serious injury.
In the past, the security framework imposed a maximum imprisonment in a psychiatric facility for up to 25 years. That measure was subsequently modified to allow outpatient treatment at her home in El Molar as of October 6, 2017, according to medical and forensic assessments. The arrangement remained in effect, with validity extending to March 30, 2028.
several stab wounds
According to the prosecution, on September 20, 2021, shortly before 11:30 a.m., the defendant entered a supermarket in El Molar and wounded the cashier with a knife to the left side of the abdomen, with the stated intent of ending the cashier’s life.
Subsequently, armed with the same knife, the accused engaged in a confrontation with a customer who was paying at the time, then pursued another supermarket employee who fled into the street and collapsed. The assailant delivered two additional stab wounds to the back of this employee. The victim, aided by bystanders, managed to rise and seek shelter in a nearby pharmacy; the assailant continued to threaten with the knife but was unable to reach him.
Local police officers attempted to subdue the suspect, and during the struggle the person directed the knife toward an officer but did not strike. Ultimately, the individual was arrested and has remained in custody since September 21, 2021.