The Mossos confirm that there is an open investigation and that a large, tall, middle-aged man is being sought as the alleged perpetrator of the death of 3 farmers in Tudela and Ribaforada (Navarra) and in Vilanova de la Barca (Lleida).
Crimes committed between November 22 of last year and this January 5. There are pieces, in this strange puzzle, that fit together to suspect that the same person could be behind the murders of those three farmers on their farms, far from towns.
The most obvious, the discovery of the car stolen from the attacked farmer in Ribaforda, a few kilometers from the field where the Vilanova de la Barca farmer was murdered.
Another complicated thing at this time, the investigators admit, is to venture a motive, if we are talking about a serial killer, that explains the search and selection of victims on agricultural farms.
It was the last of the deaths, that of Ramon Rosell, 84 years old on a farm in Lleida, which has set off all the alarms and prompted these investigations in which the Mossos, National Police and Civil Guard are working together.
Ramon left his house, on January 5, to prune fruit trees in a field on the outskirts of Vilanova de la Barca. It was his wife who found the farmer’s body, when she went to that farm, surprised because the man did not return to his home at mealtime.
Ramon Rosell had several bruises and it is believed that some of the blows were caused by his murderer with the pruning shears that he had in his hands when that stranger approached him and surprised him in his fruit field. The murderer stole the farmer’s car and it is known that he managed to get to Andorra (he had a few hours to move in total peace before the body was discovered) and then crossed into France. That vehicle was later located abandoned in a service area.
The Mossos began the investigations to clarify the strange crime (the economic motive was ruled out from the beginning) and the investigation took a turn when an Opel Astra that was recorded as stolen was located in Lleida (a dozen kilometers from Ramon’s farm). .
The mysterious death in Vilanova de la Barca (Lleida) of Ramon Rossell, aged 84, has therefore been what has uncovered the existence of a possible serial killer of peasants and has set off all the alarms.
When the agents cross-checked the data, they discovered that the car abandoned in Lleida was the vehicle of another farmer, José Luis Aguado, 80, who also died under strange circumstances in the Navarrese town of Ribaforada a month earlier, on December 21. They stole his car after killing him.
Upon pulling the thread, it was also confirmed that the modus operandi of the crimes in Lleida and Navarra were similar. The victims suffered blows and stab wounds. The three were attacked without witnesses when they were alone on their farms and away from strange eyes.
There was a case and the investigators went back in time to check if there could be more victims of similar cases. And second surprise. Those investigations took them to Tudela. Another farmer, Pedro Oyón Villahermos, 68, was found dead on November 22 in an olive grove located on the outskirts of the town with numerous stab wounds on his body. It was also his wife who found the retiree dead when she went to that field due to the man’s delay in returning home.
The three crimes were committed during the morning, a circumstance that was not the result of chance. These farmers were alone on their farms, far from the towns, and it is easy to assume that no one was going to miss them until lunchtime. Those hours can be the best gift for a murderer, with time to escape and get away from the crime scene.
The investigators’ priority is to now identify this murderer, because if it is the same person there is a high probability that history could repeat itself. The results of the analyzes obtained with samples taken from these different agricultural properties are being cross-referenced to confirm whether there may be the same DNA there. That would be the definitive proof to talk about a serial killer.
