The accused of the Paterna crime: "I don't even remember how many times I loaded the shotgun"

Four years have passed since that horrific crime that left the entire town of Paterna dismayed. A fight over an inheritance "and other family discussions" is the first hypothesis that is considered in the investigation of the murder of February 11, 2018, in broad daylight and in the middle of the street, in Paterna de la Rivera. Juan Colón, a well-known man in the area, 65 years old and owner of a pizzeria and the El Cerrillo nightclub, both located on Calle El Perro de Paterna, died at the gates of his house as a result of a shot in the chest by a shotgun at the hands of his brother-in-law (FH) and his sister's husband.

The detainee, a well-known 65-year-old man in the area, could also seriously injure his nephew and son of the deceased from behind. This Monday, four years after that horrific event, FH has confessed in the jury trial that is being held in the Court of Cádiz that he has been the author of the shots. Now this same jury is focused on whether or not he did it on purpose.

According to the testimony collected by Lavozdecadiz.es, the confessed murderer was sick with a cold in bed and had taken medication and cognac. It was when he was asleep around one in the afternoon that he began to hear screams coming from the street. "I looked out the door and saw my wife lying on the floor and they were beating her," he insisted. According to his testimony, those who attacked him were his brother-in-law (Juan Colón, the fatal victim) and his son and his nephew, FJ, who, as he has stated, had a kitchen knife in his hand.

“I got very scared, I went into the house and took the shotgun (which I had as a hunting fan) from the room. I went out and shot in the air, ”continued his account. Next, and always according to his version, “I went to close the gate when my wife was able to enter and then I saw my nephew coming towards me, he would not let me close it and he had a knife in his hand while he listened to his mother encouraging him: 'Kill him, kill him, don't let him go!', Narrates the detainee according to the same medium.

So, "I blocked myself, I panicked and it went off...I don't know if I hit anyone." "I never shot straight ahead or aimed," he has assured. An extreme questioned by the prosecutor of the case since, as indicated, the defendant fired several times and not just once accidentally. “Yes, I was trembling, you don't know how they were...”. "I don't even remember how many times I charged it, I think twice," she testifies.

Different version of the son of the deceased

Although they cited not being related, different witnesses have stated that the wife of the confessed murderer, the day before, began to record with her mobile some conditioning works that her brother and nephew were doing in a nightclub they had under their home. FJ, the son of the deceased, has also contributed his version: “I told him to leave us alone and to dedicate himself to his life and he began to say that the works were illegal. He started insulting me and my mother came out. So they started arguing and my father went out to appease, "he said.

Next was the defendant's entry into the scene with a shotgun. “He didn't say anything to us and started shooting. She -referring to her aunt- told him: 'kill them, kill them!' Thus and, according to this story and as collected by the same medium, the first to be shot with the shotgun in the abdomen was Juan Colón. “I saw how he shot him from the front and my father fell. I went on all fours but he threw me behind my back. I took refuge for about fifteen minutes in the house of my other uncles and when I went out again because I wanted to help my father, he hit me again ”.

Civil Guard version

The Civil Guard agent who arrived when the events happened has also declared. “As soon as we arrived, a neighbor told us that 'Juan had been killed.' The body of this man was lying on the ground and covered with a blanket. I, who knew him, uncovered him and actually saw that it was him. And at that very moment they observed how a few meters away some family members, among whom were the alleged perpetrator and his wife, “began to run towards his house. We told them to stop and I caught the detainee in his own house door”.

Then, as he has explained, they had a short conversation. “I asked him what he had done and he told me 'I have killed my brother-in-law and I am going to jail.' He surprised me that despite everything he was relaxed and calm”. "He told his wife that she should divorce him, that she was going to go to jail and that she should go live in Arcos and not come back to town because she was going to be the murderer's wife." And, always according to the testimony of this agent, the woman of the defendant "very nervous" also told them: "He was my brother, he has raised me since I was little like a father but now he is dead and he is well dead."

The Prosecutor's Office requests 26 years in prison for the only defendant for the crimes of murder and attempted murder with aggravating superiority, in addition to compensation to the son of the victim and also injured. The private prosecution asks that he be sentenced to 44 years in prison for a crime of murder and two of attempted murder, considering that he wanted to kill his nephew twice.