Young man detained in Valencia for killing his stepfather with a dumbbell thanks to former teacher
Spain's National Police arrested Danil R., 23, ten days after he killed his stepfather with a blow to the head from a dumbbell in the San Isidro neighbourhood.
Former teacher recognises fugitive in street and alerts police
Spain's National Police detained Danil R., a 23-year-old accused of killing his stepfather, Antonio Gómez, 50, with a dumbbell weighing approximately 15 kilograms in the Valencia neighbourhood of San Isidro, on Friday, 18 September, according to levante-emv.com. The arrest took place at 18.50 on Calle Tres Cruces, near number 25 Calle Arquitecto Segura Lago, where the crime occurred on 8 September.
The detention was made possible by the intervention of a former teacher of Danil, who recognised him whilst walking in the street. The witness immediately called the police and discreetly followed the suspect, providing officers with real-time information about his movements until a patrol car and a motorcycle unit intercepted him on Calle Tres Cruces, after the junction with Archiduque Carlos, heading towards the San Isidro neighbourhood. The young man, who had been surviving on the streets for ten days and apparently was trying to return home, offered no resistance.
After his arrest, Danil was taken to the Superior Police Headquarters in Valencia, where the Homicide unit, which had assumed the investigation from the outset, took charge of the proceedings.
Psychotic episode in the early hours of the crime
The events date back to the early hours of 8 September, when Antonio Gómez called 112 after being attacked by his stepson during a heated argument. Officers from Valencia's Local Police and an ambulance from SAMU attended the residence. Once the young man had been calmed, he was transferred to the emergency department of the General Hospital, where doctors decided to admit him to the Psychiatry ward to stabilise a schizophrenic episode.
A few hours later, Danil escaped from the medical centre and returned on foot to the family home, which is barely a couple of kilometres from the hospital. It was then that he attacked his stepfather with the dumbbell, causing his death from a single blow to the head. The weight, according to sources consulted by levante-emv.com, belonged to the victim himself.
The facts were not discovered until 14.00 on the same day, when Antonio's ex-partner and Danil's mother made a call to 112. The first officers to arrive, from the Local Police, found the victim lying on the ground in a pool of blood and confirmed his death, subsequently alerting the National Police.
Intensive search with warning of dangerousness
From that same day, the Homicide unit searched intensively for Danil throughout Valencia and beyond the city. All police units had received a special warning about his potential dangerousness: in addition to suffering from a diagnosed mental illness and being without pharmacological stabilisation, the young man is nearly two metres tall and possesses considerable physical strength.
The alleged perpetrator of the crime has a police record. The investigation suggests that the homicide began to take shape in the early hours of 8 September, with the first assault that forced Gómez to call for emergency help.
Officers from the Scientific Police unit combed the residence to gather evidence against the suspect. After the arrival of the judicial commission, the medical examiner examined the body of Antonio Gómez and the judge ordered the release of the body shortly after 4.30 pm. The body was transferred to the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) in Valencia, where an autopsy was performed the following day.
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)