Trial begins for the murder of a man in Valls over a 35 euro debt

The Prosecutor's Office requests up to 33 years in prison for the two main defendants accused of torturing, slitting the throat of, and burying the victim in March 2023.

Il·lustració genèrica d'una sala de judicis buida amb la taula de la defensa i l'acusació.

Il·lustració genèrica d'una sala de judicis buida amb la taula de la defensa i l'acusació.

The jury trial against five individuals accused of murder, illegal detention, and concealment of a man in Valls in March 2023 began this Thursday at the Audiència de Tarragona.

The Prosecutor's Office is seeking 33 years in prison for the two main suspects charged with murder, illegal detention, and a crime against moral integrity, while the private prosecution raises the request to 34 years. The other three defendants face sentences ranging from six months to three years for covering up the events, which included the torture, strangulation, and burial of the victim on the ground floor of a dilapidated building on Carrer de l'Església in Valls.
According to the indictment, the motive for the crime was a debt of only 35 euros for drugs. The main defendants, who habitually supplied narcotics in this building, tied the victim to a chair with duct tape and began beating him. To increase his suffering, they applied electric shocks using a wooden stick connected to the power source before slitting his throat.

Who is foolish enough to commit a crime in their home and leave the evidence there?

During the first session, the lawyer for one of the defendants accused of murder radically changed strategy, denying that his client had blamed the other suspect during the investigation and asserting that he "does not know who killed him." For their part, the defenses have requested the acquittal of all five, arguing a lack of direct evidence and questioning the credibility of the accusations.
The defense of the woman who confessed the facts, and who went from being a protected witness to a defendant, stressed that she reported the events out of fear of reprisals. This defendant, who lived in the property in exchange for cleaning tasks, was the one who alerted the Mossos d'Esquadra on March 21, which allowed the body to be located in the basement.
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