Logroño, (EFE).- “I did not do anything to him or threaten him,” assured Óscar PR, tried as the alleged perpetrator of the murder of Javier Ovejas, whose body has not appeared since July 2021, when he went to the defendant’s house in Entrena (The Rioja).
The defendant has used his turn to speak at the end of the jury trial held at the Provincial Court of La Rioja, in which the prosecutor has requested a sentence of 22 years in prison for a crime of murder with treachery and another year for possession of weapons and compensation of 300,000 euros (100,000 for the victim’s father, 100,000 for his girlfriend and 50,000 for each of his two brothers).
The private accusations brought by Ovejas’ father and partner have demanded sentences of 25 and 3 years for the same crimes and 100,000 euros of civil liability; and the defense has requested his free acquittal.
In his final speech, Óscar PR has stressed that he had recorded Ovejas and his girlfriend entering his house, so he only wanted to recover the collectible coins that they had stolen from him, but he has assured that he never threatened them.
“I don’t wish any harm on anyone. The only thing I wanted was to get my coins back, I didn’t want to know who it was, leaving it downstairs was enough for me, ”she added.
Ambush to kill him
In his report of conclusions, the prosecutor has assured that Óscar PR set up “an ambush” to “kill” the victim, “with advantage and surprise” and, although his body has not appeared, there is “concrete, direct and objective evidence” that demonstrated.
He has said that the 50-page report of the Civil Guard includes all the evidence that proves that the blood that appeared in the patio of the house in Entrena and in the vehicle with which his alleged murderer transported the body belonged to the victim, which supposes “a direct proof”.
In his opinion, “nobody disappears voluntarily just like that” and, furthermore, “it is impossible not to leave a personal, banking or technological trace” in two years.
Ovejas’s father’s lawyer has insisted that, for the family, “the cruelty in this case is greater by not being able to bury him and save the corresponding mourning.”
The accusation by the girlfriend has added that “there is scientific evidence, direct and indirect witnesses that it was not a disappearance: it was a murder and there is evidence against Óscar PR”, for which it has asked the jury to issue a sentence damning
voluntary disappearance
The defense lawyer has asked the jurors to respect the principles of presumption of innocence and “in dubio pro reo”, in order to favor the defendant when there is doubt or insufficient evidence against him.
He has questioned that the three witnesses who said they witnessed the crime from their homes “heard and saw different things” and other testimonies are based on third-party accounts, “but in a murder it is not worth playing on the broken phone, what is worth is the proof” .
This lawyer has opined that this case is a pseudocide or voluntary disappearance, so he has conjectured that Ovejas “could be in Pananá enjoying the gold coins.”
Once the trial is over, the judge is expected to hand over the verdict tomorrow, Tuesday the 27th, to the members of the jury, who will isolate themselves to deliberate.