The murderer of the Rambla in Figueres says he wanted to kill "a Catalan"
He had stopped taking medication and was angry because he was not given a flat
BarcelonaThe accused of having killed a man with a knife in the neck in the Rambla in Figueres on April 29, 2019 has recognized the murder in the trial with a popular jury. The confessed perpetrator has stated that he had been living on the street for five days, that he was angry because he was not given a flat, that he had stopped taking the medication he says he had prescribed for a mental disorder, that he suffered "hallucinations" and that he decided he wanted to kill "a Catalan and from Figueres". Before committing the crime, he bought a knife in a bazaar in the city and at half past eight at night attacked a man who was chatting quietly with two friends. The 63-year-old victim had started to enjoy his retirement.
He chose the victim at random and it could have been "anyone", assured the murderer, Mohamed Regrad. According to ACN, Regrad has reiterated the same version that he had maintained since 2019, when almost a year ago he had stopped being in psychiatric internment for having killed another woman in Figueres in 2006 and received outpatient treatment. The confessed perpetrator explained that he had tried to rebuild his life but could not. According to his account, he went twice to social services to ask for a flat but was told that "they didn't have one". He also added that he had stopped taking his medication: "I have paranoid schizophrenia, not toxic, it cannot be cured".
Regrad has argued that he had been having hallucinations for days and that he had been thinking about killing a person for a week. On the same day., April 29, 2019, he bought the knife of the crime and he had originally hidden it in a bushy area in the city center. When he tried to take it, a woman saw him and alerted the police. The patrol stopped him and searched him, but did not find the knife because he had already hidden it. At dusk, he took the knife again and put it in the inside pocket of his jacket. Then he went to the Rambla and walked up and down it until he found a target: he saw three men sitting on a bench talking in Catalan.
Regrad said he approached them, pulled out the knife and plunged it "into the first one who stood up". He admitted that the attack was quick and "by surprise" and that the victim had no chance to defend himself. After the crime, he threw the knife and sat down on another bench a few meters away. He stayed there until patrol cars arrived and arrested him.
23 to 25 years in prison
The prosecutor asks for 23 years in prison for premeditated murder and the aggravating factor of recidivism. The lawyer for the private prosecution raises the request to 25 years in prison. On the other hand, the defence argues that his disorder "cannot be cured" and therefore asks the jury to grant him a complete exoneration and acquit him.
