The judicial investigation that links members of , Barça’s most violent ultras, risked collapsing. : the telephone conversations of a pimp inside her car, which placed the radicals—among them, one of their current leaders—at the epicenter of the crime. That judicial error (the vehicle’s sound system was not well founded) has been attempted to be amended with the dumping of the suspects’ mobile phones, and in particular their WhatsApp conversations, which have provided the Mossos with evidence of the same caliber without, for now, , have been invalidated.
The pimp at the origin of this story is Jasmenn O., aka Martinawhich invited South American women to travel to Spain and forced them to prostitute themselves in an apartment in the Gràcia neighborhood of Barcelona. Through their partner, the Casuals found out about the business and wanted to make a profit. Paco el Gordowho is in provisional prison for the homicide, convinced the woman to become partners: the ultras —which were born in the stands of the Camp Nou as a split from the Boixos Nois and transformed into a criminal group— offered him muscle and protection in exchange for a portion of the profits.
But the brothel activity also offered ideal cover for other businesses. On March 8, 2023, according to the investigation accessed by EL PAÍS, Martina He offered the leader of the Casuals to organize a “turnover” (a violent robbery of drug traffickers) for two men who were supposedly going to appear at the premises that night with three kilos of drugs. He entrusted the mission to two people he trusted, both casuals: Victor N, alias Thorand Pablo G., alias Brazil. The matter got out of hand and, after an argument, . Paco el Gordo He was not there, but according to the judge and the Mossos he is involved in the crime because he was “the person who contacted the material authors, chose them and sent them to the place where the events that led to the homicide took place.” “He actively participated in the acts that led to death,” they conclude.
The Mossos knew that the “overturn” was going to occur and were guarding the brothel in the early hours of March 8 to 9, but they did not know what. They found out the next night when, during a new surveillance, they observed how a van parked in front of the premises and how four men loaded a double bed inside. The agents stopped the vehicle, detained two people and, upon opening the trunk and removing the bed, they discovered an elongated human-shaped package: the victim’s body.
“Be aware that there is a job”
He casual Victor N, alias Thor, tried to break his cell phone at the time of being arrested. But the Mossos computer scientists have managed to repair it. And they have accessed, with judicial authorization, WhatsApp messages that allow the events of that day to be reconstructed, even partially. In the morning, Thor He had testified in a trial for another matter. Paco el Gordohis boss in the organization, was interested in it and offered him a job: “Brother, how has it been, is everything okay? (…) Be aware that there is a job. Nothing, a pillI’ll tell you, nothing difficult. This way you will get a uphill Okay. Brother and we deduct something”, alluding, according to the researchers, to the “partial forgiveness of a debt incurred to meet legal expenses.”
Throughout March 8, Paco el Gordo “constantly supervises the execution of the commissioned crime” (theft) and maintains up to ten conversations with Thor whose content is unknown. At 9:40 p.m., they talk again on WhatsApp:
—Thor: I stabbed one and it’s bad.
—Paco: Hehehehe. Are you dying?
—Thor: I have them here. I hope not.
—Paco: Hehehehe.
—Thor: I think bad.
The conversations recorded in the following hours inside the car Martina are more explicit, although not always incriminating for Paco el Gordowhich at one point says that the victim must be taken out of the premises and left “at the door of a hospital or something.” But the judge investigating the homicide, Francesc Xavier Paulí, is aware that he cannot use them in his investigation. in the Gràcia brothel concluded, last July, that the installation of the audio capture device did not comply with the law, which is more restrictive. That appreciation, in fact, led to the gang of pimps led by Martina.
The magistrate and the Prosecutor’s Office trust that the dumping of the phones carried out by the Mossos will be saved from any attempt to annul it. And they believe that they can bring those investigated for homicide before a popular jury; also to Paco el Gordopresumably as an instructor. Judge Paulí considers that the dump should have been done in its entirety and that it has also shown evidence of other crimes “within the scope of the criminal organization based in Catalan territory known as Casuals.” And he orders these evidence to be sent to another court in Barcelona, which, in June 2023, will have almost 30 arrested for around twenty crimes.
But the defenses are going to fight. They have already achieved important victories that have left the investigation of the main cause affected; for example, that the analysis of telephones be temporarily limited. In the case of the homicide, they consider that without the conversations in the car (declared null) there would have been no surveillance; and without surveillance “the discovery of the body and the arrest of those investigated would not have taken place (…) The sound system is the origin and the end of everything,” stated in a document from the defense of Paco el Gordowho seeks, based on nullities, to empty the process of solid evidence against his client.
