The defense strategy of Nelson David M. B. was to portray a young man with a difficult childhood, who had surrounded himself with inappropriate people and who, in an extreme situation, had committed several economic crimes. The first trial against the alleged killer of the gay app, however, has exhibited a very different profile. The experts who have interviewed him and given him personality tests have referred to the accused as a “cold and calculating”, “egocentric and selfish” person, and have estimated that he has an “antisocial personality disorder” with “ psychopathic traits.
This profile was revealed in the last session of the first trial against Nelson David M.B., arrested in May 2022. In the previous session this Tuesday, one of the ertzainas in charge of the investigation indicated that the investigators see “absolutely related” to the accused of up to seven deaths of homosexual men (until yesterday there was talk of five deaths), found in their homes in similar circumstances - lying on the bed and dressed, so that they looked like natural deaths -, as well as two more attempts.
This agent put on the table the numerous clues that investigators have and pointed out that they point to a “serial killer”, a possible murderer who would have used a similar modus operandi in all cases. Basically, the young man would have met with homosexual men through dating applications or chats, and then, at their homes, strangled them using the mataleón technique and, finally, robbed them.
This modus operandi would have also been used to try to murder the victim whose testimony he has had to listen to these days from the dock. A survivor whose complaint would have been key to uncovering the case. The professionals who have testified in this first trial against this 25-year-old Colombian young man have indicated that this way of acting denotes a calculating attitude, not at all impulsive, which led him, first, to become interested in learning the mataleón technique and, later, to put it into practice in a calculated way and taking advantage of the trust of people who had opened the doors of their homes to him. “I had everything well planned,” said one of the professionals.
The forensic doctors who have interviewed him have indicated today that the interviews they have had with him and the personality tests reveal that he has an “antisocial personality disorder” with “psychopathic traits.” It would be, as they have explained, a "self-centered and selfish" person, "insensitive to the suffering of others" and who "shows no signs of repentance."
The three sessions of this first trial have also revealed that the young man had a double life in relation to his still-current partner, a young woman to whom he confessed that he is bisexual and that he had relationships with men once the case was uncovered. . During the trial it has also emerged that the accused previously defrauded other men, in some cases up to 6,000 euros.
On the opposite side of the profile drawn by professionals, the defense has tried to present a young man who had a difficult childhood in Cali (Colombia), where his mother abandoned him, always according to his testimony, and who was now trying to survive in a extreme economic situation.
Nelson David's story has exuded victimhood. The accused has indicated that he worked as a “card holder” for a gang that used him and that forced him to stun victims to rob them. "He was scared. They insisted that he try to stun him, but I have never been aggressive,” he has come to point out about the facts for which he is being tried for attempted murder. After that episode, he has indicated that they told him “you've screwed up, we have to open up.” However, the Ertzaintza has not found any of the members of this alleged gang, despite the fact that they have thoroughly investigated the young man's surroundings.
The accused has also not hesitated to try to discredit the victim by alluding to his alleged sexual tastes or to the fact that, as he has testified, he used drugs. Nelson David has also shown himself to be a father concerned about his son and has presented himself as a migrant in a situation of lack of protection. “I am alone in this country,” he noted.
In response to the request for a discriminatory aggravating factor for choosing homosexual victims, Nelson David has indicated that he is a member of the LGTBI community. “I am one of them,” he said.
The accused concluded this first trial with a 10-minute speech aimed at defending his innocence and delving into his role as a victim who is not even paid attention to in prison, as he denounced. “I'm not a serial killer. I have made many mistakes in my life. I have taken a lot of drugs, I have stolen, I have always recognized it, but I have not harmed anyone,” he concluded.
This first trial has been considered for sentencing, although in view of the testimonies provided by the investigators, the case, divided into seven proceedings, still has a long way to go, both at the investigative and judicial levels. The deaths of seven men, whose deaths were initially associated with natural causes, still need to be clarified and, according to investigators, the evidence “links” Nelson David to these cases.
