Efe Valencia
Valencia
Updated Thursday, January 25, 2024-09:18
The
National Police
has arrested a young man for the murder of the canon emeritus of the Cathedral of Valencia
Alfonso López Benito
, whose lifeless body was found this Tuesday at his home in the historic center of the city, according to the newspaper Levante-EMV.
This newspaper indicates that he was arrested this Wednesday afternoon and it is a young man with whom the victim had a
sexual relationship
and who is also accused of robbery, for taking the priest's cell phone to send messages and pretend that he was alive. .
This young man had frequented the priest at his home in recent times and knew his customs and his relationship with the building's doorman, which is why he sent messages to him to pretend that he had gone on a trip.
Investigators are now collecting data about the motive for the crime and trying to find out if the canon received threats from this and other
vulnerable young people
who came to his home and whom he helped financially.
The visits were frequent and caused some altercations in the neighborhood community that forced the police to intervene on occasion.
The body of the 80-year-old priest was found in his bed by the building's doorman this Tuesday morning in his house on Avellanas Street, located very close to the Valencia Cathedral, with signs of violence.
The first forensic analysis indicates that
he could have died from asphyxiation
.
The Archbishopric of Valencia made itself available to the authorities after hearing the news in case its collaboration could serve to clarify the facts.