The husband of the young Paraguayan resident in Lanzarote Romina Celeste Núñez, Raúl Díaz Chacón, has confessed before the jury that is trying him for murder that he killed her at dawn on New Year's Eve 2019, something that he admits for the first time four years later, and that then he made his body disappear.
On the first day of the trial that is taking place against him at the Las Palmas Court, Díaz Chacón has rejected what had always been his version since the day the Civil Guard arrested him: that his wife was found dead when he returned home at dawn and that he burned and threw the body into the sea because he feared that he would be blamed, since Romina had previously denounced him for sexist violence.
Her confession definitively confirms that Romina Celeste Núñez, who was 29 years old, was the first victim of gender violence in Spain in 2019 and puts an end to a case that had been awaiting trial for more than four and a half years for different resources and vicissitudes, to the point that the defendant was released in January because he had already exhausted the maximum time in prison without sentencing.
During his statement, Díaz Chacón has acknowledged to questions from the Prosecutor's Office and one by one all the crimes that were accused of him in the indictment, where homicide and habitual mistreatment are added two crimes of injuries in the field of violence of gender, desecration of a corpse and simulation of a crime, since it was he himself who reported the disappearance of Romina to the Civil Guard.
In his speech, the prosecutor Jesús Lomba has admitted the difficulty of proving the murder despite having evidence and indications that the death was violent, and has made reference to the complexities that occur to prove treachery and cruelty "unless Díaz Chacón recognizes these aggravating factors", an extreme that is not going to occur.
In the opinion of the Public Prosecutor, the acknowledgment of the homicide is "the best possible agreement because it clears up the unknowns and the defendant acknowledges the authorship", although he has defended not applying the mitigation of confession because the stories that Díaz Chacón has offered, especially at the beginning of the proceedings, were not sincere and made the investigations difficult.
The family's lawyer, Emilia Zaballos, has pointed out that Romina Celeste endured during their relationship "situations that no woman should endure" and has expressed that there is "more than enough evidence for each and every one of the facts, especially the abuse."
Zaballos recalled that Romina had to leave her home for a month in which she was living at the home of some friends to "free herself" from the pressure exerted by Díaz Chacón, such as removing her from the municipal register, something that made it difficult to life of the woman as a migrant without documentation, which, according to the family's lawyer, was the trigger for a suicide attempt and, later, depression.
The lawyer for the private prosecution regretted that during Romina Celeste's visits to hospitals, in view of the situation of fear, tension and panic she suffered, the gender violence protocol was not implemented.
For the family lawyer, if it had been activated "perhaps Romina would be alive today." She has also regretted the undue delays and has stated that the problems in the system "benefit the defendant and they are things that should not happen."
"We are very clear and we agree that this could be a murder, but what we can prove is that it is a homicide. There is evidence that the beatings began on the floor below the home, that there was her blood in the bedroom and in the bathroom, so she was not found dead as if she were asleep, as she declared," said Zaballos, who condemned the defendant's "coldness" in filing a false complaint despite having disposed of the body.
In addition, the representative of the Canary Islands Institute for Equality, Pino de la Nuez, who acts as public prosecutor, has affirmed that, at least until Monday, they will maintain their petition for a crime of murder, although she has slipped that from that day on her position would probably change during the final conclusions.
"Regardless of whether there is recognition by the accused, the contradictory versions mean that we do not change our opinion. The crime, the degree of execution and his participation as the author are clear," De la Nuez stated.
Díaz Chacón's lawyer, the lawyer Nicolás Revuelto Lalinde, has defended that "contrary to the doubts that arose about his client's escape", the defendant was in the room "to make it easy".
Revuelto recalled that he is the fourth lawyer for the confessed perpetrator of Romina's death and has said that the recognition is also part of a "gesture" to avoid further delay, after assessing "the pain caused to the family", at the same time who has said that his client is aware that he will never be able to repair the pain of the death of his ex-wife.
"Although Romina cannot be brought back to life, that at least her mother, who is proposed as a witness and has to be on the other side of the door, can stare at the back of her neck," Revuelto Lalinde added.
The trial will continue next Monday with the testimonial evidence, which by agreement of all the parties has been considerably reduced to expedite the judicial process after the recognition of the facts.
