The Court of Seville has dealt this week the umpteenth blow to the family of Marta del Castillo, more than thirteen years following the crime. The magistrates of the Third Section have confirmed the decision of the investigating judge to archive the investigation opened to Javier Delgado, brother of Miguel Carcanoas a result of the seventh and last version that the young man who is serving a sentence for the murder has offered and in which he precisely blames his brother for having killed Marta with several blows with the butt of a pistol. The court considers that this version of Carcaño continues to be “illogical, absurd and incredible”, despite the fact that Miguel has kept it intact since 2013, more than nine years ago.
Both the instructor and the Seville Prosecutor’s Office, and now also the magistrates of the Court agree that there is not enough evidence to reopen the investigation of Carcaño’s brother.
It is true that this position does not lack legal logic. In Law there are always multiple explanations; nothing is completely black or white. It is evident that Carcaño’s credibility is greatly damaged by his continuous fluctuations in testimony.as is the fact that the documents provided by Marta’s family prove that the mortgage loan on the house of León XIII It was achieved with false documentation, as false as Carcaño’s alleged job payroll in a bar in La Rinconada.
These facts might be constitutive of separate crimes of falsehood and fraud which, however, might be considered to have prescribed due to the time elapsed since these events occurred. But that is perhaps not the most important thing.
There is an element on which I consider on which has tiptoed. The approach that the investigators of the National Police have developed since this new line of work began. In all these years, the Sevillian Police has not come out well in terms of its investigative work in the case. That Marta’s body has not been found remains a slab for officials who, I think everyone knows, have developed a huge job which, however, has unsuccessful result regarding the discovery of the body.
The case has moved from the Grume to Homicide, which has solved the crimes of recent years
In recent years, the case has moved from the Group of Minors (Grume) to that of homicides, which also has a new chief inspector from whom only good references comeeven in the judicial field, due to its form methodical and efficient way of investigating this kind of crime. In fact, so far this Group has solved all the crimes that have been committed in Seville in recent years and some of them quite complicated.
And what has the Homicide Group said regarding the new line of investigation on the brother? The report that the Homicide Group presented in court confirmed the new facts brought to the court by Marta’s family and that once once more placed Javier Delgado in the spotlight of what happened on the night of January 24, 2009 in the flat on Calle León XIII, whose mortgage takes on a special role in this new line of research.
The police report, dated February 2, 2021 and consisting of 211 pages –with the corresponding documentary annexes– is blunt in affirming that the proceedings carried out have made it possible to know “in greater depth” the economic situation of Javier Delgado in 2008 and his “personal interest” in the sale of Leo XIII’s apartment to “pay off his debts”.
The new head of the group asked to continue investigating before offering her “conclusions” to the judge
This is the reason why, according to the chief homicide inspectorJavier Delgado “convinces” Miguel Carcaño to apply for that mortgage with false documents. And for this, the brother “He has not hesitated to engage in criminal conduct even, attitudes that completely contradict the version that he has been maintaining over the years when he was questioned regarding the reason for the sale of the house. Javier always said in this regard that the flat was sold so that Miguel Carcaño “had responsibilities and matured”.
But the Homicide investigation was abruptly cut short. The agents asked the judge to take a statement once more from Javier Delgado and his ex-wife, Rosa, in order to “collect the maximum data on the loan request” qthat Carcaño’s brother made to a private lender and the documentation used to grant the mortgage to Carcaño on the apartment where Marta was murdered.
The judge, with the support of the Prosecutor’s Office, and now with the endorsement of the Provincial Court of Seville, have aborted the investigation when the police had not come to offer their opinion.
The closure of the investigation has prevented the Police from offering their final opinion. The head of Homicide explained it as follows in the report sent to the judge. “If Your Lordship pleases that said declarations be practiced, Once they have been taken, they will be taken into consideration with the rest of the actions carried out by this Group, making available to you the conclusions reached by means of an extension letter to this document”, then announced the head of the Group.
Marta’s family, who are not satisfied with the file, are studying how to appeal the Court’s decision. The message is clear: Let Homicide investigate.
