Between sobs and terror from the traumatic experience she endured at home last year, a Russian citizen faced a brutal assault at his residence. Allegedly attacked and raped by his former partner, who also attempted to drown him, the victim describes a terrifying sequence as detailed to the court. The former partner, who insisted on his innocence during the hearing, now faces a thirty-year prison sentence for charges including attempted murder, sexual assault, violence, and robbery by intimidation.
The incident occurred in San Fulgencio on May 2, 2022. Despite the defendant’s denial of rape and murder attempts against his former partner, for whom a restraining order had been issued, the victim provided a heartbreaking account of the attack and told the court, “I just wanted to survive.” She tried to soothe him to prevent further harm, fearing he would kill her and even fearing that her children, who were at school, could be harmed.
The Civil Guard reported finding fingerprints on the frame of the aluminum window through which they forced entry, the glass broken during the intrusion into the home.
One year apart
At the hearing, the woman explained that she had lived with the defendant for two years, though they had separated about a year before the events occurred. Upon entering her home, she discovered that her ex-partner was inside and began striking her almost immediately.
Witnesses described the defendant wielding a large knife, using it to intimidate her as he searched for money. The victim recounted being violently assaulted, and at one point she was thrown down the stairs.
“He struck me with all his might while I lay on the ground, and I could not breathe,” she told the court. She pleaded for him to stop, but the blows intensified.
The victim later claimed that she was sexually assaulted and, in a desperate bid to survive, attempted to end her life by strangling herself with a dress she wore like a rope around her neck. She feigned unconsciousness, but the aggressor noticed and persisted in squeezing her neck. She then lost consciousness, and the defendant believed he had killed her and prepared a blanket or quilt in the hallway to wrap what he thought was the body.
He placed the blanket over her and then sprayed disinfectant on his own genitals, according to Civil Guard investigators, who concluded that the offender intended to erase any evidence that might incriminate him.
Seeking shelter on a bench
However, the woman did not die. After regaining consciousness, she went to a bank and offered to provide money in exchange for help. The victim testified that the defendant agreed to the arrangement and that they both drove to a bank branch in San Fulgencio to withdraw funds from an ATM. The victim took advantage of a moment when another customer left to seek assistance inside the bank.
Two witnesses testified that the woman panicked and urged the man not to open the door, and to contact the school because she was worried about the safety of her children, who were minors at the time.
The attacker, who left the scene with jewelry stolen from the home, was later apprehended by the Civil Guard and local police in San Fulgencio. He had threatened to kill his former partner and reportedly told her, “I had nothing to lose…If I wasn’t with him, no one would be with me,” the complainant testified during the hearing.
Police matched the defendant’s fingerprints and genetic profile to samples taken from an external area near the victim’s genitals, which were found on the aluminum window frame through which the entry was made.