Francisco Javier Almeida has pronounced the last word today in the trial for the sexual assault and murder of the child Álex, the crime he allegedly committed in Lardero (La Rioja) on October 28, 2021: "I apologize to all those who have done hurt and the family”.

The accused of raping and murdering the nine-year-old has expressed his regret before the popular jury that must now issue whether or not he is guilty of these crimes.

He has confessed that he killed Álex, but he did it, according to his testimony, without the intention of doing it: “My intention was not to kill him.

I'm sorry".

The defendant faces a reviewable permanent prison sentence, the maximum sentence provided for in Spain, requested by the Prosecutor's Office and the private and popular accusations.

Almeida has confessed to being "sorry" for his actions.

He summoned little Álex to accompany him home, there he passed "his penis across his face" and, when the victim tried to flee, he covered her mouth and grabbed her by the neck, causing her death.

He left home in a hurry, always according to the version he has given today, and when he was surprised by the police on the stairs of the house, he handed over the lifeless body of the child.

Unlike his first statement in the same trial, in which he said he had "a cloud" that prevented him from remembering exactly what happened on the present day (on that occasion he acknowledged the rape and said he did not remember how the death of the child), Almeida has made a much more precise account of the events on Tuesday.

With his last words,

The 20 minutes that passed from when Almeida left his house that day to go to the park where Álex was, until the alleged murderer was arrested, unfolded as follows: “I went down to the park, it's true, but not with him. end of hunting, looking for children.

There I saw Álex wandering around.

I asked him if he wanted to come home to see a lovebird [bird] so he could see how beautiful it is.

Nothing else.

I neither forced him, nor did I force him, nor did I grab him, ”the defendant has narrated.

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Almeida has recounted what happened inside his home like this: “We entered the portal;

he went up the stairs quickly and I went up the elevator.

Inside the flat, Alex saw the bird and nothing happened.

At that time I began to have a certain fantasy.

He told himself that I put my penis [in his mouth].

All I did was show him my penis and pass it over his face.

There are no semen samples in the pharynx or on clothing.

There is no proof that I ejaculated because I did not have an erection.

There could be no sperm.

I didn't ejaculate."

The time has come to explain how Álex died.

The alleged murderer has said that they began to hear “noises and ringing”: “Álex wanted to flee.

I grabbed him by the shirt from behind, it's true.

I covered his mouth and with the other I put it on his neck, but without pressing.

Because I had no intent to kill.

He moved and that's why he has those scratches on his neck.

At that moment I realize that he lost consciousness and the first thing I did was not try to hide it.

I went out to ask for help, with my fly down and without a coat.

I was coming down the stairs with the child in my arms.

When the police arrived I handed over Álex, I did not hide him”.

The defendant has tried to dismantle the theory of sexual assault with oral penetration, although his latest testimony has clashed with the one he offered at the beginning of the court hearing, when he admitted that he introduced his penis into the minor's mouth.

He has also insisted that the victim acted voluntarily until the last moment, when he was held tightly by the assailant when he tried to escape.

And, in his defense, he has repeated that he did not intend to kill the child.

He did it without the will to commit the crime, which could not be criminally considered as murder, but as homicide.

Almeida has also referred to the instance that he processed in the Logroño prison, in which he acknowledged being the author of the death of Álex.

In that letter he said verbatim: "I am the one who has killed Lardero's child, I know that I have no forgiveness and I am sorry for the damage that I have caused to the family."

In the last session of the trial held at the Rioja High Court, the defendant explained why he wrote that: “I filed the case because I regretted it.

It was not calculated, no.

It was real."

He has finished his statement, lasting just eight minutes, joining the palms of his hands, as a sign of pity and compassion: “I just want to say that I'm sorry.

It was not my intention to kill him at any time.

I apologize to everyone I have hurt and to the family."

"Forgiveness is worthless"

"Forgiveness is worthless, it only increases the pain of the family," said Gonzalo Martín, Álex's great-uncle.

“Today we left truly devastated.

It has been very hard, it makes you want to pounce on him ”, he stated in statements to journalists at the door of the Palace of Justice in Logroño, collected by the Efe agency.

Martín, who has not missed any of the seven sessions to shelter Álex's parents, has verified that the account made this day by the accused has been "totally different from that of the first day, but the facts are proven: he is a predator and nothing more".

At the hearing, the prosecutor reminded the jurors that the testimonies and analyzes carried out by the "best professionals" have been used in the trial and that these allow us to conclude that Almeida "is a man of extremely cold blood."

“He was calm when he was surprised by the police on the stairs and he has continued like this throughout the trial.

Horrible photos have been shown, Álex's father collapsed, and a psychologist cried.

Have you seen any regretful, sad gesture, any anguish or empathy towards the parents? ”, He asked the jury.

He has insisted that, for him, Almeida is "a predator" who sought a small child as "prey" because he was an "easy target", "He did not kill Álex, he murdered him", because there was treachery, not having the child defense ability, has concluded.

The defense lawyer, chosen by the office, has said that there is no doubt that the child went up to the house "by his will" and has rejected that his client had "a preconceived plan" to kill him, because he did not try to hide the body and went out with the child in her arms to seek help.

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Last word of the accused of the Lardero crime: "I really regret it"

The defendant for the murder of Álex, Francisco Javier Almeida (d), during a trial at the Provincial Court of La RiojaPhoto: ANTONIO MUÑOZ