Costa Blanca
Accused in Elche triple murder says he was taken over by the Devil
By m.p.
Feb 27, 2008 - 6:42 PM

José María Maciá was questioned for around three hours on Tuesday, on the first day of his triple murder trial for the deaths of his wife and two young children in April 2005. They were beaten to death with a mallet as they lay sleeping in their beds in their home in Elche. The victims were 34 year old Teresa Asunción Maciá Torres, and her two sons, Vicente, aged 6, and José María, just two years old.

The accused is then said to have washed the mallet in the shower and gone out to a club with friends who were waiting outside the house, unaware of what had happened inside.

Reporting on the day’s proceedings, La Verdad newspaper said the accused claimed he was not responsible for his actions as he was ‘taken over by the Devil.’ He said he is now reformed, and spoke of his ‘conversion’ just 12 days after the murders, when Christ forgave him. The paper said he made constant references to sin, which he said made him ‘steal, kill, and destroy.’

José María’s lawyer said outside the court on Tuesday before the session began that he is applying for acquittal on the basis of temporary mental impairment caused by drugs and alcohol, and a congenital brain lesion detected by an MRI scan. The prosecution argue that the suspect was fully aware of what he was doing.