What happened to José Parejo, the husband (and murderer) of Ana Orantes?

this in the name of Main Orantes It’s whispered over and over, regardless of the date, but resonates at the highest two times a year: around November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and around December, the date Orantes was killed. . The story of this Granada woman, though unfortunate, was of great importance: after this event, she saw the light. First comprehensive law against sexist violence in Spain.

Orantes was born into a modest family, from a very young age he had to help financially at the expense of his education. At the age of 19, Ana Orantes met her boyfriend, then her husband, and finally her executioner. As she told it in ‘De tarde en tarde’, which she made with Irma Soriano in Canal Sur in 1997, she had only three months of courtship before she got married. “My father used to say to me, ‘Mom, that man doesn’t suit you, let him go’.The truth is that Parejo married him because he himself threatened her: “While we were drinking soda in the Alhambra, she said to me: “I already told my parents and friends that you’ve already disappeared. You want to come, if you don’t… I will raise my voice and no man will come near you,” said Orantes himself in the program.

Orantes and Parejo during marriage they had eleven children, the first was born three months after they moved in together. It marked the couple’s 40-year marriage. the Parejo’s continued physical and psychological abuse of his wife and children, that they started with a slap in the face in the workshop and finally begged him for forgiveness. Orantes detailed Parejo’s abuse on that program – “He grabbed my hair, hit me against the wall … I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t speak because I couldn’t read or write, a lump … it wasn’t worth a penny. It’s been like that for 40 years” – two years apart from him.

Constant complaints by Orantes, however, led to a court-ordered separation, even though the decision forces him to continue living with her. She lived downstairs while she lived upstairs with some of her children. Two weeks after the program, the news and newspapers repeated the headline “He killed his ex-wife by setting fire”. The protagonists of this story were again Ana Orantes and José Parejo. The 61-year-old dragged his wife and mother of their children to the outdoor porch of their home in Granada’s municipality of Cúllar Vega, beating him until he nearly passed out. He tied him to a chair, poured gasoline on him and set him on fire.. All this in front of his own 14-year-old son on his way back from school. Parejo fled soon after.

It was her sons who alerted the neighbors and the Civil Guard, but nothing could be done for Ana Orantes, who was already dead when they reached her. Despite his escape, José Parejo appeared before the authorities a few hours after the murder and said that while he was cleaning the machine, his ex-wife insulted him and therefore attacked him with a “explosion”. However, he had already warned his neighbors that he would not be able to come until the end of the year. Ana Orantes was the 59th victim of gender-based violence in 1997, but they weren’t counted that way at the time. but yes it was 59th woman killed by her partner or partner that year

The case against José Parejo

Cúllar Vega Magistrate Gerardo Moreno, on the second day of the oral hearing against José Parejo, The murder of Ana Orantes That’s exactly what he looked like on TV. Moreno assured him that after the program he came to summon the accused to court. advise him not to “do anything on his own” Seeing Orantes “hurt him a lot” with what he said on TV.

Two days later, in the final session of the trial, Parejo’s lawyer assured him that it was this man who was “harassed” and “sorry” by Ana Orantes and her children; This, in the lawyer’s words, “combined with pressure” and “insult” (sic.), “caused such an intense reaction that he acted without knowing what he was doing.” Parejo himself assured he would “sign” the “death sentence” at that moment.

I would sign my death sentence right now

On December 15, 1998, a year before his murder, the people’s jury read its verdict at the Granada Court, giving assurances that José Parejo Avivar had not been arrested. He had deliberately killed his wife. six men and three women they later denied any degree of mental impairment they felt that there was no reason to apply the self-repentance discount, as he had never tried to help his ex-wife and his victim, even if he had surrendered to the accused and to the authorities.

After reading the verdict, all charges—prosecutor, private and popular— They wanted 17 years in prison for ParejoIn addition to compensation of 25 to 35 million pesetas; meanwhile, his defense sought a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison for the crime of murder. The day that marked the first anniversary of Orantes’ death was the day the Granada Court sentenced Parejo to the then maximum sentence of 17 years in prison and 30 million in damages for murdering his ex-wife. pesetas and two years exile from the town where the children live Parejo’s after he got out of jail.

José Parejo never got out of jail

Parejo only served six of the 17 years he was convicted. in November 2004 Parejo suffered a heart attack in Albolote prison (Granada); Ruiz was transferred to de Alda hospital and although they tried to save him, he eventually died days later. As published by the Granada newspaper ‘Ideal’, Parejo earlier in the same year had requested a prison regime that would allow him to enjoy occasional outings, but was denied because of the social alarm it might arouse.