One of the closest people to the Cathedral of Valencia under Canon Emeritus was a man found dead last week in an apartment in the historic center. He had met the victim in 2012 and formed what a witness described as a friendly relationship, one that included offering services and various tasks that resembled an assistant role.
This Romanian national had frequent connections with the cathedral administrators; witnesses told the National Police that he was seen often at Alfonso Lópezs home. One person even said the man inspired fear due to a disturbing gaze. He provided some of the most crucial details about the case.
In the presence of the homicide team, the witness explained that the priest once had a former apartment in Perelló. He would take vulnerable men from the streets for days at a time. He also identified one of the men currently detained as someone seen in a police photo lineup, recognizing him clearly from the sequence shown by investigators.
Agreement with the detained man
The witness says the priest called him in August and said he had spent about three days with a young man at his Perelló home and had reached an agreement. The young man reportedly had to clean the Perelló residence in exchange for staying there. The priest described the young man, Miguel VN, as adopting a somewhat aggressive attitude because he did not want to leave.
The priest allegedly asked his assistant to meet him at the apartment on the return of the hosting arrangement, and when the priest arrived with the man now accused, the assistant was there as well. The reason for the call was to seek services, and upon returning, the envelope of events placed Del Perelló in the presence with the young man as the invited guest left the house after an exchange where the assistant claimed there was fear the young man might cause trouble.
But the canon’s assistant presented these claims as baseless fears. The witness continued, recalling that Alfonso was alone when he arrived at the priest’s apartment that afternoon. The young man returned at eleven oclock that night, at which time the deceased allegedly asked him to leave the house, an invitation the young man accepted without any problems. The witness concluded by saying that he never saw the young man again.
I paid them between 200 and 300 euros
The same witness added that the canon brought people into the home who renovated the apartment where he had previously resided and brought the Avellanas Street dwelling into good condition. Some of these individuals were young, homeless, and without resources. This was an observation the witness had made since their first meeting in 2012, though he did not identify the individuals as the same children in question.
Regarding the nature of the relationship the clergyman had with these men, the witness recounted that the priest admitted to engaging in sexual activity with some of them in exchange for financial aid, noting that these young men lived on the street and lacked resources. He stated that the priest sometimes paid between 200 and 300 euros for certain favors, justifying the amounts as compensation for the deeds performed for him.
In truth, the priest did not take significant precautions to hide his affections for these young men. Another witness told investigators that on one occasion the priest allegedly asked for oral sex from a dark-skinned boy at the portal in the presence of a nearby neighbor on the property.
He wanted to take the disabled young man to Perelló
According to the assistant to investigators, possible candidates for relocation to Perelló included a young man with a disability who had traveled from his own city, roughly 700 kilometers away, to spend a few days at the priest’s home. He had been summoned and sent for. Two money transfers of 20 and 35 euros were noted on January 17 and 18, as confirmed by police. The assistant explained that on the 16th, the day before the conversation with the young man in which he persuaded him to come to Valencia on a twelve-hour bus ride, he asked his Romanian friend to spend the night at the apartment. The following day, January 17, the young man sent 20 euros after returning from Perelló. On the 18th, the assistant and the priest returned to finish preparing the Perelló apartment, and he requested the young man stay a few more days to sleep there. The next day the plan was to take him and a companion to Perelló to eat paella and see the sea. The witness declined to drive them, noting that he did not pay for the paella either. He knew about the apartment by the sea and observed that nothing had been paid for the paella or other arrangements.
She lied to her best friend to be with the young man
To execute the plan, the assistant reportedly went so far as to lie to one of her best friends, a person she had met that same day to help arrange things. The friend altered the appointment to January 23, the day the body was found at Alfonso Lópezs house in the morning. The false justification given was that the water would be cut off and showers would be unavailable, when in reality preparations were being made for the disabled young man to visit the apartment.