Man arrested nine years later for rape and murder of Asun in Tenerife
A 31-year-old man was arrested in Santa Cruz de Tenerife accused of the murder and rape of Asunción González in 2017. The arrest was achieved using genealogical DNA techniques and biogeographical analysis.
Suspected killer of Asun arrested in Añaza, nine years after the crime
A 31-year-old man was detained last Monday by the National Police Homicide Group, accused of the rape and murder of Asunción González Hernández in the Añaza neighbourhood, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which occurred in the early hours of 19 October 2017. According to laprovincia.es, the arrest was made precisely when the ninth anniversary of the crime was being observed.
The arrested man was 22 years old at the time of the offences. Asunción, a resident of the neighbourhood, had got up early in the morning to go to her job at a meat products distribution company in El Rosario. She entered the communal car park on Calle Bentacayse at 02:30 hours, about 200 metres from her home on the Rambla de Añaza. Inside her Opel Astra, she suffered a sexual assault and a series of blows that ended her life. At 02:35, her telephone stopped responding to messages.
The victim was just over 1.60 metres tall and weighed around 45 kilos, according to people from the neighbourhood who knew her. The absence of direct witnesses and the lack of a defined profile of the attacker made progress difficult during the first months of the investigation.
The scarf that changed the investigation
The turning point came six months after the crime. A woman suffered an attack inside a building in the nearby nucleus of Santa María del Mar. On that occasion, the victim managed to call for help from neighbours, which caused the attacker to flee. Officers recovered a scarf abandoned at the scene. Analysis by the Scientific Police Brigade yielded a DNA sample that matched the one obtained at the Añaza garage scene.
From that moment on, the Homicide Group directed all its hypotheses towards establishing a link between both events and determining whether the suspected perpetrator lived in one of the neighbourhoods of the South-West District: Añaza, Santa María del Mar, Los Alisios or Acorán.
Novel techniques and examination of parish records
To identify the suspect, the National Police employed methods that went beyond standard investigations. The force reported that "novel techniques of biogeographical origin analysis of the samples collected" were used, applied by specialists from the University of Santiago de Compostela, which provided "an approximate physical description" of the man linked to both crimes.
In parallel, genetic screening techniques were used to build a family tree that would lead to the identity of the suspected perpetrator. Homicide officers consulted parish archives and registers from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day. The DNA-Biology Laboratory of the General Directorate of Scientific Police also proved decisive in the process.
Remanded in custody without bail
Following the arrest, officers conducted a search and seizure of the arrested man's home in search of additional evidence. The detainee was transferred to the cells of the South District Police Station in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The following day, he was brought before the Court of First Instance of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on duty. The court ordered his remand in provisional custody, with notification and without bail, in Tenerife II prison.
Source: Google News PY — Asunción