Jubany case: the case against one of the first investigated is reopened

BarcelonaA new twist in the Helena Jubany case, the 27-year-old woman murdered in Sabadell in 2001, which remains unsolved more than twenty years later. The investigating judge has ordered the reopening of the case against Ana Echaguibel, who was initially investigated for Jubany's death and now, two decades later, will return to the same procedural status. The judge has also requested that DNA samples be collected from this woman to verify whether her genetic profile is present. in the jersey that Jubany was wearing the day she was pushed from the roof of a building in Sabadell.

This twist comes after the National Police confirmed that the sweater contained DNA samples from another of the suspects, Santi Laiglesia, who will have to testify again before the judge. The officers also found the genetic profiles of two women, which were not detected in the initial investigation. First, the Sabadell judge investigating the case asked the police to look for DNA samples from Montse Careta, the fourth (and last) person investigated for the murder. Careta committed suicide in 2002 in Wad-Ras prison, but samples from her body were preserved. However, the National Police report ruled out the possibility of her DNA on the sweater. This put the spotlight back on Echaguibel, and the Prosecutor's Office requested that she be reinstated as a suspect and that DNA samples be collected.

Now the judge has endorsed this step. According to legal sources, the Echaguibel case was closed on October 7, 2005, and would have expired if it had not been reopened before October 7 of this year. In this regard, the judge recalls that at the time, there was already a "fairly solid" but "insufficient" accusation to bring Echaguibel to trial. However, the case file stated that reopening was possible when "new circumstances" emerged that were "relevant" to the case. And this is precisely what has happened now with the new DNA studies conducted on Helena Jubany's body remains and clothing.

"Reopening the case against Echaguibel is essential to continue the investigation," the judge explains. When the data can be compared with the DNA of the suspect, she adds, "critical information" could be obtained to try to "establish responsibility" for Jubany's death. In the document, the judge also points out that this woman was the author of anonymous messages threatening Jubany days before his death.

Laiglesia's statement is pending.

In Laiglesia's case, the results of the DNA tests prompted the judge to request a return testimony. The testimony was scheduled for September 26, but was postponed, and the court and the parties' lawyers are seeking a date between October and November. The Jubany family has always considered Laiglesia the prime suspect in the murder, who was the partner of Montse Careta, whom the first judge in the case preemptively sent to prison, where she committed suicide.

Careta lived in the apartment building from which someone threw the victim into the void, and Laiglesia spent many nights with her. The three were part of the same group, the Sabadell Hiking Union, which also included the second suspect, Xavi Jiménez—who wrote some of the anonymous letters the girl received before her death—and Echaguibel. Meanwhile, the forensic results ruled out the possibility of Jiménez's DNA on the sweater.