Efe Valencia

Valencia

Updated Friday, February 2, 2024-15:22

  • Events The man arrested for the death of the canon of Valencia took his cell phone, cards and visited his house frequently

  • Investigation The young man arrested for the murder of the canon of the Cathedral of Valencia is sent to prison

The recent murder of the octogenarian

ALB, the canon emeritus of the Cathedral of Valencia

, has revealed that he could have maintained a hidden life far from the spirituality and exemplarity that was assumed of him as a religious, and whose consequences could be closely related to his death.

The body of the priest, who lived in a central house a few meters from the church and the Archbishop's Palace, was found in his bed on Tuesday of last week with signs of violence, possibly caused asphyxiation or strangulation, and a day later The murder suspect was arrested.

This is a

34-year-old man

, apparently a foreigner and in a situation of marginality or social exclusion, who according to various information would have met the clergyman at the Valencia bus station and would have been invited by him to spend a few days at his home. .

Sexual contacts and possible extortion

The police investigations and the story of the deceased's neighbors seem to indicate that this type of contact

was common

for the canon, who apparently used to have sexual relations with men in exchange for money and who could have been the victim of extortion, or at least a try, before.

Police sources have confirmed to EFE that this

is not the first time

that a canon of the Valencia Cathedral appears linked to one of these sexual plots.

A few months ago, another partner of the deceased was extorted by a woman, who apparently worked as a prostitute and after having relations with a clergyman,

asked for money claiming to be pregnant

. The victim, however, did not file a complaint and the matter did not come to light, the same sources have indicated.

On this occasion, according to several media outlets, the detainee was able to be arrested quickly because

he took the deceased's credit card and his phone with him

, and used both in the hours after the crime.

Homicide and fraud

This young man entered prison last weekend, accused within the framework of an

open case

, initially and without prejudice to further qualification, for the crime of homicide and another of fraud.

Both the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Archbishopric of Valencia - initially appearing as an accusation

but now withdrawn

- asked the judge to send the detainee to prison "due to the seriousness of the facts, the evidence contained in the proceedings and the risk of escape, given the irregular situation of the detainee".

The Archbishopric finally chose to withdraw from the process because it considered that the victim "is already well represented by the Prosecutor's Office" and because it is something that

"corresponds to the family

. "

Subsequently, he issued a statement in which he reported that "he was never aware of these alleged events" and added that "two years ago the priest was directly warned when the neighbors of the same property where he resided, property of the Archbishopric ",

presented verbal complaints"

about the people who attended, although in no case did they allude to events of a sexual nature.

"Since then, after two years, no type of complaint

has ever been received

," he says.

Unexemplary behavior

The Archbishopric also expresses its "deep pain" for some events "manifestly contrary to the commitments of priestly life,

freely assumed

at the time of ordination."

Likewise, they express their "regret for the scandal, confusion and pain

they cause to everyone, very directly to the faithful

, and especially to the members of the presbytery."

This event has also sparked debate in the political sphere and this Friday, the PSPV-PSOE has asked the Valencian Government to provide

legal coverage to the victims

of sexual abuse that may have been committed within the Church in the Community. Valencian.

The spokesperson for Historical Memory of the PSPV-PSOE in Les Corts,

Mercedes Caballero

, lamented that "what happened in recent days shows that these are not issues of the past."