A chemical 'match' reopens the Sabadell shoemaker's murder 18 years later

BarcelonaIt was a Tuesday in February 2007, and some customers entered the Acín shoe store in Sabadell. They saw that everything was in disarray. The shop assistant lay on the floor, covered in blood. She was dead. Eighteen years Afterwards, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) are closer to solving the crime. The Central Homicide Unit, responsible for the most difficult murders to solve, never stopped investigating the case and finally found evidence against a 78-year-old plumber. This Wednesday, the man appeared before the Sabadell Court of Instruction Number 5 and was released on bail – his age was a significant factor in the decision – but his passport was confiscated, and he must appear in court every week. He is being investigated for murder with premeditation.

The fact that this man is the main suspect in the crime is not new. In 2017, the Mossos' special unit took over the case and focused on a plumber who had worked on a repair at the store that day, but who had never been investigated. He also had no criminal record and, a priori, did not know the victim. It all seemed like a robbery that had ended in death, but investigators tried to turn the tables: what if the robbery was staged? The hypothesis that the alleged perpetrator had attempted to sexually assault the woman, who had resisted, and had ultimately killed her with a box cutter, began to gain traction. He then allegedly ransacked the place to simulate a robbery, even leaving bills from the victim's purse on the floor. The box cutter was found at the crime scene, stained with the victim's blood, and was similar in size to those typically used by plumbers. The most important piece of evidence for investigators, however, was a ticket from the victim's wallet where they found the man's fingerprints, which allowed them to arrest the plumber in 2019. After appearing in court, he was released on bail, but his passport was confiscated. The case was eventually shelved pending further evidence, which finally arrived in 2025.

The 'match' of the jerseys

In 2019, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) also searched his workshop and home, seizing several of the plumber's belongings, such as the jacket he was wearing that day. They wanted to prove that physical contact had occurred between him and the shop assistant, and after much deliberation, they had an idea: if the contact had been violent, traces of various chemical components from the materials the plumber typically handles when working might remain on the victim's clothing. The next step was to ask the forensic police if this was possible. Using state-of-the-art equipment and an advanced chemical tracer analysis technique with spectrometry and high-resolution electron microscopy, they were able to... matchThe shop assistant's sweater contained traces of copper, iron, lead, tin, and lanthanum-cerium-neodymium, materials commonly used in plumbing. These same elements were also found on the front of the plumber's jacket. This evidence allowed the case to be reopened before the statute of limitations expired.