The Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has sentenced a man, found guilty by a jury of taking the life of his brother-in-law and injuring and threatening his wife in November 2022 in the village of Fonsalía, in Guía de Isora, to 37 years and eight months‘ imprisonment and ordered him to pay 195,000 euros.
Of these sentences, 20 years are for the murder with treachery of the young man, 14 years for the attempted murder of his wife, and 3 years and 8 months for the two threats she received.
As regards compensation, 150,000 euros would be paid to the deceased’s relatives and 45,000 to his ex-wife, of which 20,000 relates to physical injuries, recovery time and after-effects, and 25,000 to sociological harm.
Guía de Isora: Jury rejects psychotic episode as a mitigating factor
In its verdict, the jury did not accept the mitigating circumstances put forward by the defence, namely that he had acted whilst suffering from a psychotic episode, and instead found that he had acted with treachery.
It also ruled out the possibility that the charge could be manslaughter rather than murder, and that instead of assaulting his wife, the offence was one of causing bodily harm, as the defendant’s solicitor had argued.
Following the announcement of the court’s ruling on Tuesday, the defence lawyer announced that he would lodge an appeal with the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC), having identified certain aspects of the verdict which he considers questionable, such as the existence of an alleged video in which the defendant is seen carrying a sharp object.
Fonsalía: Jealousy, an attack and a flight to Gran Canaria
The crime took place on 27 November 2022 when the man climbed through the window of the garage where his brother-in-law lived and where his wife had taken refuge following an altercation a few days earlier at the restaurant where she worked and on the bus that was taking them home.
He is alleged to have insulted her colleagues and threatened the woman so that she would not look at the men, all out of jealousy, as the jury found.
After the murder had been committed outside the garage, the defendant fled the scene in a taxi to Playa de Las Américas and from there took a flight to Gran Canaria, returning the following day, when he was arrested and taken into custody.
Jury: Psychotic episode did not prevent the defendant from realising the nature of the offence
Just as he was about to give his statement, the Guardia Civil decided to take him to La Candelaria Hospital after noticing that he was behaving strangely; he was subsequently diagnosed with a psychotic episode which, according to the doctor who treated him, was not feigned.
The jury, however, does not believe that this state of mind would have prevented him from realising that he was committing a crime when he took the life of his relative and caused injury to his wife.
It also dismissed his explanations that both of them had stolen from him, that he could hear constant whispers laughing at him because he had been raped, that he had gone to the garage to fetch the key to it, not realising his wife was sleeping there, that the knife used belonged to his brother-in-law, and that he had tried to help him after the attack.
The prosecution sought a 44-year sentence; the defence called for an acquittal
The Public Prosecutor’s Office initially sought a 44-year prison sentence for two offences of making threats, attempting to murder his wife and killing her brother, as well as the payment of 245,000 euros in compensation to his wife and the relatives of the deceased.
The private prosecutor supported this request and withdrew the application for a reviewable life sentence, whilst the defence sought an acquittal or, alternatively, argued that the defendant was not of sound mind and that the offence was not murder but manslaughter and causing bodily harm, rather than an attempt to take the woman’s life, for which the sentence would have been reduced to around 10 years.
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