Jail for three of six arrested over Samuel's murder
National Police arrests two minors involved in the crime, one of them with a criminal record
BarcelonaNational Police have arrested a total of six people in connection with the murder of Samuel, the 24-year-old boy who was beaten to death last Saturday outside a club in A Coruña, Galicia. The case has highlighted the escalation of aggressions against the LGTBI community in recent weeks. This Friday the court investigating the case has decreed the imprisonment of three of them. They are three men - friends with each other but not related to the victim - who were arrested between Monday and last Wednesday. The court links them to the fatal beating and one of them is also responsible for having stolen the victim's mobile phone.
![Centenars de manifestants han omplert tota una cruïlla de la superilla de Sant Antoni en senyal de dol per la mort del Samuel.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 16 9"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On the other hand, the fourth arrested, a girl who was also part of the group that beat Samuel, has been released with charges because the Prosecutor's Office, according to sources consulted by the Efe agency, has not asked for preventive prison.
This Friday the National Police has made two more arrests related to the case (the fifth and sixth). They are two minors, also friends of the other four arrested and with prior no relation with the victim. One of them has a previous record for similar acts. A new judicial procedure will be opened against them, because they are minors.
Uncertainty over motivation
All of those arrested have been charged with the crime of homicide, which could turn into murder depending on how the investigation evolves. At the moment, neither the judge nor the National Police have classified it as a homophobic crime. The police investigation maintains that the beating started due to the use of a mobile phone because, a few minutes before, Samuel was video calling a friend. According to the police, this could have caused confusion within the group of youths who assaulted him because they could have thought that they were being recorded. Neither the Ministry of the Interior nor the police wanted to say whether the crime was motivated by the fact that the victim was gay.
Investigators do not rule out arresting more people in connection with the crime in the coming days. The National Police believe that up to ten youths were involved in the deadly beating, which has been identified through the images recorded by security cameras in the area.
