None of the four defendants accused of trying to kill three men by causing a fire in a house in Arrecife have admitted to the facts during the trial, which began this Tuesday. "I don't remember," two of them said after being asked about what happened that night, while another defendant denied that she set fire to the house or robbed and beat the occupants. "The house caught fire, but I didn't see what happened," said the fourth defendant.
The four defendants, who have only answered questions from their lawyers, have stated that they are regular drug users and, in addition, in the case of the two women, they have said that they have been diagnosed with personality disorder and take medication for it. Thus, although it will not be until this Wednesday when the Prosecutor's Office and the defense lawyers present their conclusions, everything indicates that the latter could argue that their defendants were under the effects of drugs or medication or, in the case of the two women, allude to their mental illness.
One of the defendants, Cristina Dolores H.V., has stated that she went to the house located on Blas Cabrera Topham street that night, although she has stated that she did not go "to steal or burn" anything, only "to consume" drugs. "I used to go regularly, several times every day," she pointed out, noting that she went both to consume and "to buy." And, as the victims of the fire themselves have acknowledged, the house was used as a "smoking den" and as a drug sales point.
According to her testimony, when she was inside the house "it caught fire", but she "didn't" see how it happened. "I saw that it caught fire and I left," she indicated, stating that she left through the door "that was open" and that she does not know if anyone was left inside when she fled. "I went home and that's it," she insisted.
Another of the accused: "I was stoned"
The other accused woman, Ylenia A.R., has also stated that she did not hit or rob anyone, and that she did not set fire to the house either. "I was stoned," she also stated, also stating that she only went to the house that morning "to use drugs" and that she did so "alone" and not with the other three defendants.
Both she and the other accused woman have said that they have been drug users since they were 13 years old, in addition to stating that they have a "psychiatric illness." In this regard, in the case of Ylenia A.R. she has even stated that psychiatrists have told her that it is "because of drugs" and that she also has "multiple records" because of it. "I stole to consume," she stated, pointing out that when she does not consume it she suffers "withdrawal syndrome and anxiety."
The other two defendants say they don't remember anything
"I don't remember, really," were the words of another of the defendants. Rayco T.G., after being asked about what happened that night. And, in his case, he has stated that he was in "several smoking dens" using drugs, after the day before he received 430 euros of unemployment benefit. "I blew it on drugs," he said.
According to what he stated, he had been using heroin and drinking since three months before the events that are being judged, after he was given parole and returned to Lanzarote from Seville. In addition, he has also stated that at that time he was taking "many medications" for a knee operation.
Regarding the house where the fire took place, he has not confirmed whether he was there the night it occurred, although he has stated that he had been there "twice" to buy drugs and that he knew one of the occupants, because he was the one who sold them. In addition, he pointed out that he once "cheated" him. "I bought 10 euros because I was in a hurry, I left quickly and when I went to smoke it, he had cheated me, it was melted candle wax," he said.
As for the fourth defendant, José María H.A., he stated that he spent "whole nights" in the house on Blas Cabrera Topham street using drugs. "The door was never closed," he also stated, also pointing out that there were "more ways to enter" the property.
However, about the night of the events he also said he did not remember anything, nor that he tied anyone with flanges or that anyone sprayed gasoline. "From the 10th onwards I don't remember," he assured, attributing it to the fact that he was consuming those days. Of course, he stated that he did remember that he was "alone."
The warning from a woman to the owners of a nearby business
The four defendants were the last to testify this Tuesday and previously, in addition to the victims, other witnesses have also done so. Specifically, the owners of a car repair shop located next to the burned house have testified, who have stated that days before the events, a woman who frequented the house and who also used to go to the shop "to ask for water", told them to be careful, "that they were going to set fire to the house."
About the same they have indicated that she was "a blonde woman" like one of the defendants. However, none of them has recognized her as the one who gave them the warning. "She is the one who looks most alike, but the one who came to the shop was thinner," one of them pointed out.
However, in the trial several agents of the National Police and the Local Police have also testified who intervened that night and who have related how the defendants were pointed out by at least two of the victims of the fire as the culprits of the same, assuring that they had wanted to "burn them alive."
In addition, one of them has confirmed that the man who suffered the most injuries had "a flange tied to one foot" and that he later collected "another" at the scene.
"It cannot be proven that they were under the effects of drugs"
On the other hand, the forensic doctors who carried out both reports of those harmed by the fire and of the defendants, have indicated that it cannot be concluded that they were under the effects of drugs or other substances. "There is no medical information to prove it," they pointed out.
Likewise, they have indicated that "cognitive alterations" could not be verified in the defendants who say they suffer from personality disorder, through the interviews and tests that were carried out on them. In addition, they have indicated that this mental illness "has nothing to do" with drug use.
Finally, two experts testified at the trial who assessed the damage to the burned house, which was valued at 420 euros with respect to the property, given the "ruinous" state in which it was before the events, and at 180 euros in terms of the furniture it contained.
It should be remembered that the four defendants are charged with three counts of attempted murder, one count of robbery with violence and intimidation in an inhabited house, and another of arson and that the Prosecutor's Office initially requests 22 and a half years in prison for one of them and 23 years in prison for the other three, as the aggravating circumstance of recidivism occurs in relation to the crime of robbery. In addition, compensation is requested for the victims for a total of 28,029 euros and another 600 for the entity that owns the property in which the events took place.
