The popular jury that has ruled in the Provincial Court of Valladolid in the trial against Pablo Antonio S., known as Chiqui, considers him guilty of murder for the death in 2022 of a former friend, whom he killed at point-blank range, and of manslaughter for also ending the life of a civil guard who went to the scene. The prosecution has raised the initial request for a sentence from 58 years — as requested at the beginning of the process — to 60 for the double murder. The private prosecution of the deceased agent has increased the request to 80 years of imprisonment against the 12 and a half claimed by the defense of the detainee, who argues for manslaughter and not deliberate murder, which the prosecution rejects. The events took place in Santovenia de Pisuerga (Valladolid) on June 30, 2022, where Chiqui, his old friend Dionisio A. P., and their relatives got into a fight, leading to the former being hospitalized. After being discharged, the next day, Dionisio went to Chiqui’s house and was received at gunpoint, being fatally shot in the torso, with no chance to defend himself.
During the trial, it was shown that the perpetrator also tried to reach Dionisio’s eldest son, who had come with his father to the accused’s home. The prosecutor highlighted how this family member of the victim was “chased” while Chiqui aimed the gun at him, which jammed and prevented a possible second death. The accused stated in his statements that he did not want to kill him. After the shots, Chiqui took his son-in-law as a hostage and barricaded himself in his home. The Civil Guard surrounded the building and sent negotiators to persuade the man to release his daughter’s boyfriend. In his testimony during the trial, the young man said he feared for his life. “I thought I was next,” he said about the 12 hours of “crying, panic, and anxiety attacks” trapped by his captor, who tied his hands, locked him in the bathtub, forced him to swallow a mobile phone card, and tried, unsuccessfully, to cut off several fingers from his hand. Additionally, according to the son-in-law’s account, Chiqui used him as a human shield and placed him against the door of the house.
At another point during the ordeal, Chiqui began shooting at the door of the house. On the other side was the former head of the Special Intervention Unit of the Civil Guard (UEI), Colonel Pedro Alfonso Casado, who was killed by a gunshot to the head. The defense argued that the son-in-law was not being held against his will and that the author did not know where the agents were, but the rest of the Civil Guard members testified that he did know and shouted, “The first one has a cost, the rest are free!” in reference to the death of the first victim. The now convicted individual only agreed to leave the house after receiving a dose of methadone. Chiqui’s lawyer, Agustín Domínguez, known for representing defendants in the group rape case of La Manada, claimed that his client did not commit murder but manslaughter, feeling threatened by Dionisio, and another manslaughter, due to negligence, because he allegedly only wanted to scare the agents. He also does not see illegal detention in the kidnapping of his son-in-law and only admits to the unlawful possession of weapons. The accused, who did not have a license for firearms, used a Mauser rifle with a partially erased serial number.
During the trial sessions, the now convicted individual apologized to the relatives of the deceased, but the wife of the Civil Guard told him, “Who can forgive you is dead.” The jury as a whole found a murder charge, another manslaughter “in a composite offence with attempted murder,” as well as an aggravated offense of unlawful possession of weapons. However, they acquitted him of a kidnapping charge as there was not enough evidence to suggest that the son-in-law was being held against his will.
