Spain civil servant murder: suspect claims he did it because his son threatened him at gunpoint

He says his son took him by car to a National Police station two days after the killing and threatened to kill him unless he confessed to murdering María Antonia. The father, who made the confession in September last year, is now seeking to withdraw his original statement and secure his release from prison.

The crime came to light on Thursday, 25 September 2025, when neighbours saw smoke coming from the windows of María Antonia's flat. She was a 29-year-old civil servant from La Haba who had moved to Badajoz a few months earlier after securing a post with Spain's Social Security system.

It was 9.30am when firefighters forced their way into the property. Inside, they found six separate areas where someone had started fires. The worst damage was in a bedroom, where they found the young woman's body. She had not died in the fire: someone had stabbed her in the chest and neck, then thrown a mattress over her and set it alight in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence.

From the outset, investigators suspected a neighbour who lived across the landing with his partner and their two-year-old daughter. The civil servant had been in a relationship with him but wanted to end it. Indeed, while investigators were still at the scene, in the entrance hall of the building, people who knew the victim told them she had arranged to meet the neighbour the previous evening. He therefore came under suspicion immediately.

Two days later, however, it was the suspect's father who went to the police station and confessed to the killing and the fire.

Investigators doubted from the start that the father had acted alone, both because of the earlier evidence pointing towards his son and because the two men had a poor relationship. They were estranged and the father was awaiting a court hearing in an attempt to gain access to his two-year-old granddaughter, whom his son and partner would not let him visit. Police eventually arrested the father, but they also detained the son a few hours later.

A year after the killing, the investigation is approaching its conclusion. Experts have examined the mobile phones, investigators have gathered CCTV footage and dozens of witnesses have given statements.

One outstanding piece of evidence (the forensic examination of the crime scene) was completed a month ago. The father's defence lawyer, Estrella Santiago, is relying on its findings to seek his release.

"This man is innocent and should not spend another day in prison," Santiago says. She has filed a complaint on her client's behalf against his son, alleging threats and coercion intended to force the confession. She has therefore asked the court to set aside the father's original statement.

Santiago also holds that the forensic evidence shows her client neither took part in the killing nor helped start the fire afterwards. She points to the timeline of telephone calls, a taxi driver's testimony and CCTV cameras on Avenida Santa Marina as evidence that should exclude her client from the criminal proceedings.

The evidence suggests that the killing took place at around 11.30pm on Wednesday, 24 September, inside the civil servant's flat. A short time later, the son called his father. According to the father's latest account, his son sounded extremely agitated and said: "Come over, Dad, I've got a problem."

A taxi took the father from his home on Avenida de Pardaleras to Paseo Fluvial, where he arrived at around 12.30am. He left about half an hour later and returned home. The taxi driver's testimony and a CCTV camera that captured his return at around 1am support this timeline.

The defence holds that the father entered the flat, was shocked by the sight of the crime and left. His lawyers deny that he started the fire during that visit. Had he done so, the defence says, the flat would have continued burning from around 1am until neighbours spotted the smoke at 9.30am, causing far more extensive damage and potentially spreading to the rest of the building.

Instead, the fire caused only limited damage inside the flat, and the victim’s body was not completely charred, with burns affecting only parts of it.

One possible scenario, therefore, is that the murder took place at around 11.30pm, after which the son returned home and went to bed. His partner, who is also the mother of his daughter, has confirmed that he slept in their bed. The defence suggests he may then have got up early the following morning, crossed the landing and returned to the victim's flat to start the fires.

In any event, the father's lawyer holds that her client could not have been present when the killing took place because the son’s call came afterwards. She also maintains that he was not there when the fire started. On those grounds, she has applied for his release from prison.

This is not the first time the father's defence has sought his release. His lawyer previously cited his health, explaining that he had mental health problems before the crime and that his condition had deteriorated significantly in prison. The courts have rejected his earlier applications. His latest request remains pending.

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