The suspect was arrested in his home just a kilometer from the crime scene after a 30-hour manhunt.
The Spanish government has been criticized for failing to make any comment for over 24 hours following the murder of an 11-year-old boy that left the nation in shock.
A thirty-hour manhunt and investigation eventually led to the detention on Monday afternoon of the principal suspect in the murder, which took place in the small town of Mocejón.
The little boy was stabbed to death on Sunday morning while playing football in an enclosed pitch in the municipal sports center with other children from the small town of some 5,000 residents. The killer, with his head and face covered by a hoodie and face mask, had also entered the enclosed area. He chased the group of children, and attacked the little boy named Mateo, stabbing him in the throat and then fleeing the scene in a car. Emergency crews arrived quickly at the scene but were unable to save the youngster’s life. Security cameras captured an image of the murderer and his escape vehicle.
At first, all that was known about the criminal came from the security camera images—that he was thin, had dark hair tattoos on his hands, and fled in a gray vehicle. It soon became apparent, though, that the attacker had to be a local, as he had entered the football field through a gap in the enclosure around the football field known only to residents. The football field was not open for use when the group of children had gathered to play but, as regularly happened, they had entered it through small gaps in the two fences around it.
Police found the suspect in the house of his father just a kilometer from the crime scene. Once in police custody, he confessed the crime in an incoherent narrative, stating that it was his “other self” who had committed the murder. According to the young man’s father, his son suffers a severe psychological disability.
The horrible event has also reverberated in Spanish politics with criticism falling on the central government for its lack of reaction to the horrible crime that gripped not only Mocejón but left all of Spain in shock, fear, and sorrow. The regional president of Castilla-La Mancha, in which Moncejón is located, was the first to post his condolences on social media and call for swift justice.
At 12:30 p.m. Emiliano García-Page, president of Castilla-La Mancha and member of the Socialist party, which also heads the current national government, posted on X, “I was shocked by the events that occurred in Mocejón this morning.”
“I express my condolences and my closeness to the family of the minor and also the wish that the perpetrator of the events be found soon and brought to justice as soon as possible. These situations are unacceptable and must result in a just punishment,” he said.
Less than an hour later, the national leader of the main opposition party, the center-right Partido Popular, also posted his condolences to the family and encouraged authorities to find the murderer quickly.
However, none of the several social media posts that went live on Sunday from members of the central government headed by prime minister Pedro Sánchez and his Socialist party said a word about the crime that had gripped Mocejón, and Spain as a whole.
Not until Monday night, 9:37 p.m. to be precise, did the X account of Sánchez contain a post related to the murder and expressing his condolences and solidarity with the family of Mateo.
For many, it is a sign of the prime minister’s priorities.
For their part, the family of Mateo asked on Wednesday for “respect” towards the family of the suspected murder of their son.
“We don’t want vengeance. We want justice and that the full weight of the law falls on the murder of Mateo,” Matero’s parents said through a cousin who has taken on the role of public face of the grieving family.
