The accused of killing a woman in Esplugues enters the prison's psychiatric unit

BarcelonaThe suspect accused of stabbing a woman to death last Saturday in Esplugues de Llobregat spent his first night this Wednesday in the Brians 1 prison, in Sant Esteve Sesrovires. He did not spend it, however, in a conventional cell, but in the Psychiatric Hospital Unit. According to sources consulted by ARA, the resolution issued this Tuesday by the Esplugues judge did not request that he be admitted to such an area, but the director of the penitentiary center has decided so. The objective is for psychiatrists to analyze him before deciding whether to send him to a conventional module.

The main police hypothesis is still that the man was deeply disturbed by a psychotic state. This is the judicial conclusion that was also reached when the man was arrested in 2022 in Burgos for barricading himself in the city's castle and throwing stones at the police, among other incidents. The investigation by the Mossos remains open: the detainee's phone is being examined and his last steps in Catalonia are being retraced to completely rule out other hypotheses. In fact, at no time have there been any indications pointing to a religious motivation, although anti-terrorism specialists did look into the case.

According to sources consulted by ARA, the man recently arrived in Catalonia. Before that, he had been in Burgos, where he was arrested, and had also been in Andalusia. His country of origin is Morocco. Once here, the Mossos were not monitoring him and did not know him, as he had not been involved in any incidents or been flagged in the country. Everything suggests that the man came to Catalonia because he had a relative there who helped him rebuild his life here. In fact, he would have been working in a workshop and living in a rented room in an apartment. Although the police could not initially find the detainee's address, they eventually located this room.

Phone data extraction

In parallel, they found the suspect's mobile phone, which is what the Mossos are now examining to find the last searches he had made on the internet, which videos he had watched, with whom he had spoken, which messaging groups he was part of... This is a key piece of evidence in any investigation. However, in addition to the hypothesis of a psychotic state, the Mossos also consider that he chose the victim at random and that there was no prior relationship between them.

The victim is a 41-year-old woman of Chinese origin who had arrived in Catalonia a year ago. She was a neighbor of Joan Miró street in Esplugues, the place where the terrible crime occurred. First, they stabbed her several times in the back and then cut her throat. In addition to the woman's death, the detainee is also accused of attempted homicide against a neighbor, assault on another person, serious threats, and property damage. All of this is being handled by instruction court number 3 of Esplugues.