This Thursday, the trial with a popular jury began at the provincial court of Guadalajara against the three accused of killing a couple and their daughter in Chiloeches (Guadalajara) in April 2024. The facts that will be discussed in the trial occurred in a house in the Medina Azahara urbanization, where Ángel Villar and Elvira Fernández, aged 52 and 53, and their daughter Laura, from 22 years old, and where they were brutally murdered by the perpetrator, Fernando PS, with an almost 40 centimeter bayonet and a knife.
The young man attacked the house while the family was sleeping in a chalet in via Fuente Valdoma. The father, who woke up alerted by the noises, received 29 stab wounds, the mother, 14, and the daughter, seven. The young woman was killed on the stairs of her house while trying to escape from the alleged murderer.
According to the Prosecutor’s accusation, Fernando and the other two defendants, David MA and Cristian BM, would have devised a plan to rob the house by taking advantage of a hole in the fence surrounding it. It was Cristian BM, who had been the young woman’s partner, who, according to investigators, provided the information necessary to access the chalet and locate the luxury watches and cash that the Villars kept in their home.
While the crime was taking place, David MA was waiting outside with the car in which they then fled at full speed. The perpetrator of the crime, who set fire to the house before fleeing to erase all evidence, took refuge with his partner in a hostel in Daganzo de Arriba (Madrid) and where, the following day, he was arrested by the Civil Guard together with the stolen loot.
The hearing began with the parties’ first defenses. In the witness statement 20 people are mentioned and in the expert report 25 people. The Prosecutor’s Office is asking for permanent and reviewable prison for Fernando for the murder of Laura, 50 years for the crime of his two parents and compensation of 400,000 euros for the only living child of the family, Yeray, who managed to escape from the house through a window to alert the Guardia Civil. He is also asking the house’s insurer for compensation of 165,000 euros for the damage caused by the fire.
The investigation highlighted the “malice” with which the deaths occurred. The representative of the Public Prosecutor assured that Fernando PS was “perfectly” aware of what he was doing and that he took advantage of the “absolute helplessness” of the victims.
The Prosecutor’s Office is asking for five years’ imprisonment for the other two defendants for robbery with violence in an inhabited home and for having required cooperators. According to them, the person believed to be the material perpetrator of the crimes and Laura’s former partner would have prepared the robbery between the months of February and April 2024, taking advantage of the knowledge that the latter had of the house and the places where the family kept valuable objects thanks to the relationship he had with her.
The only public prosecutor, who represents the brother of the murdered young woman, complied with the requests of the Prosecutor’s Office, which highlighted the “coldness and planning” with which Fernando PS committed the triple murder. The Prosecutor’s Office denies that the main accused acted, as his defense claims, under the influence of drugs.
Defenses require some mitigating circumstances
Fernando PS’s defense asks the jury to take into account his previous drug use and the context in which the murders occurred. He claims that it was the father of the family “who started the fight” after catching Fernando while committing the robbery. Drug use, he said, “diminished his strong-willed abilities.” “My client is guilty, but he is not guilty of everything he is accused of. There are two guilty parties here: him and drugs,” he indicated.
The defense of Cristian, former partner of the murdered young woman, asks the jury to take into account the mitigating factor of 61% disability “demonstrated” by his client.
That of the third accused, his collaboration in going to the Guardia Civil, a few hours after the events, to denounce Fernando as the material perpetrator of the crimes after being “horrified” by the news. “It was the key that led to the arrest of the accused Fernando,” claimed the defense of David, who was arrested a few hours after the crime after being captured by the security cameras of a petrol station near the Medina Azahara urbanization while driving the car in which he had fled, together with the perpetrator of the stabbing, from the crime scene. David recognized what happened during the interrogation and indicated Fernando as the material author of the murders, as well as specifying the hostel in Daganzo where he was hiding.
The trial, which will last until November 19, will continue this Tuesday with witness evidence. The defendant will testify next Friday. Of them, only Fernando remains in prison. The other two were provisionally released under precautionary measures in November 2024.
