In the Villa Patro urbanization, in Lardero (la Rioja), the residents celebrated the Halloween party on October 28, 2020. The children played dressed up in the street and their parents chatted happily in a place they rented next to the park. Francisco Javier Almeida waited for an oversight to kidnap little Álex, nine years old, and take him to his home, where he raped and murdered him.
The enraged neighborhood tried to lynch him that same night, when they saw him go down the street with his victim in his arms. The security forces prevented them from taking the law into his hands. At the trial, which was held three years later at the Logroño Provincial Court, Almeida first feigned mental blackouts, but ended up acknowledging everything that happened on that fateful evening.
Those who knew Lardero’s monster from his previous crimes verified and concluded that despite having served more than twenty years in prison, his behavior was exactly the same and that, in any case, he was smarter, more devious and, therefore, , more dangerous.
All the rivers of passion flow into the black chronicle: desire, greed, jealousy, anger, hate, love, greed, ambition… There are no stories only of good and bad. There are stories full of nuances, half-truths, strengths and weaknesses, innocence and cruelty.
Dossier Negro is a biweekly black chronicle podcast. You can also find its chapters on podcast platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Google Podcast, among others.
