The four accused of murdering Javier Ardines, IU councilor in Llanes were found guilty
The popular jury has unanimously found the four defendants guilty of the murder of the IU de Llanes councilor Javier Ardines. The defendants are the accused of inducing the crime out of jealousy after discovering that his wife and the mayor had a relationship, two men who executed him for money and the person designated as an intermediary.
The jury, which began to deliberate last Monday, has read its conclusions in the Provincial Court of Oviedo, where the oral hearing has been developed throughout eighteen sessions.
The Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution request for Pedro NA, accused as inducer, the Algerian citizens Djilali B. and Maamar K., accused as hitmen, and Jesús M., indicated as an intermediary, an individual penalty of 25 years in prison in a sentence that now it will have to dictate the Hearing of Oviedo.
The Second Section of the Provincial Court has held one of the most mediatic trials in Asturias for a month, over 18 sessions, in which, in addition to the four defendants, the widow and children of Ardines, the wife of Pedro NA –with whom the mayor had a secret relationship–, the wife of Maamar K., the woman whose DNA was found at the crime scene, as well as investigators from the Civil Guard, local police, residents of Llanes and the doctors forensics.
An ambush
The popular court has been able to hear the story of the agents of the departments of Chemistry, Biology, Technological Research, Tracking and Analysis who participated in searches, arrests, DNA analysis and of the objects allegedly used in the ambush to the mayor, as well as the geopositioning of mobile phones, which are one of the main circumstantial evidence available to the Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution.
The defenses requested that the verdict be of not guilty when questioning the Civil Guard investigation due to the lack of direct evidence, both from cameras and witnesses, that place the accused in Belmonte de Pría on August 16, 2018, when Javier Ardines was ambushed when he got out of his vehicle to remove one of the fences blocking his way and, after being sprayed with pepper spray, he was beaten with a stick and a baseball bat and later strangled to death.
