Son of woman found dead in Malaga manhole admits involvement: 'I didn't intend to kill her'

Alejandro Ángel - the adopted son of Ángela Medina, whose body was found in a sewer manhole in Malaga in May 2022 - admitted being involved in the crime during his trial on Monday, 27 October. The 26-year-old said that he regretted what he had done, after which he burst into tears. He only answered the questions his lawyer asked him. According to his testimony, he had taken drugs before the incident, which is what had influenced his actions. "I didn't intend to kill her," he said.

The jury members responsible for the verdict were selected on Monday. The sentence is expected next week. Since the only prosecuted defendant admitted to the facts, the main weight of the evidence will now rest on the expert reports concerning his degree of disability.

A forensic medicine report states that Alejandro Ángel had the capacity to understand his actions at the time of the crime, despite a mental disorder. However, the defence said that another expert had determined that the young man had the mental capacity of an eight-year-old child.

The body of 60-year-old Ángela was found in a sewer in the Teatinos district of the city on 12 July 2022, five weeks after the family had reported her disappearance. According to the prosecution, Alejandro Ángel, together with a 17-year-old minor, killed his mother with the sole purpose of robbing her. This is also the account of the private prosecutors, who represent Ángela's siblings and her other son.

The crime took place in Ángela's house on 25 May 2022. Around 1pm, Alejandro Ángel and the adolescent forced the lock of her front door and waited for her inside. When Ángela came back about two hours later, an argument ensued and the two boys threw her to the floor and dragged her to the living room, where they continued beating her. According to the investigation, they were trying to get her to tell them where she was keeping money and what her debit card PIN code was.

When Ángela eventually told them her code, the two young men tied her hands and feet and gagged her with a cloth and a rope. She was able to take the rope out of her mouth, but it remained fixed around her neck, at which point the two men pulled the rope with force. According to the prosecutor, they did that with the intention of killing her.

Then, they took 900 euros that the victim had withdrawn that morning from an ATM. They reportedly put her body in a freezer, after which they cleaned the flat to remove all possible traces of the crime.

According to the public prosecution, the young man and the minor moved the body to the storage room, where they reportedly hid it in a trunk.

In the early hours of 29 May, the pair threw the body in a manhole on Calle Juan de Robles, where it remained until the police found it on 12 July.

The prosecution has asked for 21 years and ten months in prison for Alejandro Ángel for the crimes of murder, robbery with violence and desecration of a corpse. The minor was convicted in 2023, after admitting the same offences. He was sentenced to eight years of juvenile detention and eight years of probation.

The private prosecution has also asked for three years in prison for the minor's (who is now of age) mother and her partner, considering that they had helped conceal his involvement. Both have admitted that the boy had confessed the murder to them. However, they maintain that they did not know that the victim was Ángela, although they moved to her home after the young perpetrator offered it, as they were on the verge of eviction.

According to their testimonies, the boy has a very violent temperament and had threatened to harm them and his younger siblings if they reported him. They said that they had left Ángela's home after two of the victim's brothers showed up at the house. According to their account, that was when they realised that she had been murdered. The trial continues on Thursday, when the expert witnesses are scheduled to testify.