“Manuela Chavero suffered a brutal assault, leaving no doubt about foul play rather than an accident,” stated the prosecutor in the provisional report during the first hearing of the case in the Provincial Court of Badajoz. Eugenio D. stands as the sole defendant in the 2016 death of the 42-year-old neighbor from Monesterio, a body that was not found until September 2020, more than four years after she disappeared.
The public ministry has rejected the defendant’s account as “incredibly implausible.” He has maintained since his arrest that Manuela died accidentally after slipping and falling backward while they were moving a crib she had lent him and planned to retrieve. Lab analyses of the bones showed no trauma on the back of the head, the prosecutor noted.
“A staggering beating”
The prosecutor reiterated that Manuela endured a severe assault, supporting this claim with forensic reports. The injuries included both eye sockets broken, damage to the right side of the nasal septum, multiple fractures and cracks in the teeth, two of which were forcefully uprooted and one knocked out, along with five broken ribs.
The prosecutor asserted, with conviction, that she was likely raped before being killed and buried, noting that although there is no direct evidence of sexual assault given the long time that elapsed before the remains were found, there are signs suggesting such a sequence of events.
Photographs of Manuela Chavero and the accused were presented to the jury —composed of six men and three women— to illustrate the stark contrast in their physiques, Manuela being slim and shorter, while the defendant was a large, robust man. The lawyer argued that Manuela stood with no defense, a factor the legal system regards as an aggravating element in terms of victim vulnerability.
The two private prosecutors, represented by Verónica Guerrero and Fernando Fontán, together with the public prosecutor, acting for the Clara Campoamor Association, share the view that the defendant acted with premeditation. “Manuela was lured from her home into Eugenio’s house and never left again,” Guerrero contended, noting that the defendant left his mobile phone at his apartment and did not carry it when he moved toward the family home. “The crime was planned, and he knew what he would do.”
“With absolute contempt for Manuela and for her status as a woman, she was raped and killed, and then buried in a ditch. He buried her body for four long years, more than 1,500 days, during which her family, the Civil Guard, and all of Spain searched endlessly,” Guerrero asserted, emphasizing the irreparable harm caused to the family. “The defendant has lied from start to finish.”
The prosecutor also drew a parallel with the Diana Quer case, noting that the family there proved sexual assault prior to murder, a point echoed by all parties in the Eugenio D. case, who are seeking a life sentence for the defendant.
All parties agreed that the accused showed no remorse and even guided investigators to the location where the body had been hidden so the family could cease suffering. They argued he acted because he felt trapped by the UCO investigators and the mounting pressure of the case.
“No intent of revenge”
The defense, for its part, denied any premeditated action. “It is absurd,” stated José Antonio Carrasco, the defense attorney for Eugenio D. He claimed that, at the time, the accused was 23 years old. When he found that Manuela had died from a head injury, he claimed he could not act or intervene and decided to bury the body out of being overwhelmed by what happened.
Carrasco reminded the court that during the instruction phase the prosecution originally labeled the events as homicide, and it was not until July 25, 2022, that the charge was upgraded to murder, a move he attributed to media pressure. He urged the jury to weigh the evidence with reason and without vengeance.