Spain: Murdered Priest Moved in the Homosexual Milieu
López was found dead in his home on 23 January. Some newspapers reported that he was "fully clothed" on his bed, others that he was "dressed only in underwear". According to the autopsy, López died of strangulation. Some newspapers said he had been beaten. The murder took place between Sunday morning and Monday evening, when the porter was absent.
Four transfers were made from the priest's bank account hours before his death. Immediately after the murder and later, the suspect sent several WhatsApp messages from the victim's mobile phone, saying that López would be away from home for a few days to deal with some "personal matters". The intention was also to give the impression that he was still alive.
The suspect, who also used the victim's bank card in a local bar, was regularly seen at López' home. López claimed that he was "helping criminals reintegrate into society". He recruited these men on the streets, most of them parking attendants in the city centre. They were mostly marginalised, young and foreign.
López would take them home and offer them money, almost always 50 euros, to do various repairs around the house, although he almost never paid them the agreed amount. On many occasions, his demands were of a sexual nature. He reportedly received threats from a young man to whom he may have owed money.
Levante-EMV quotes "reliable sources" as saying that the Peruvian was López's lover. People close to López Benito confirmed that the suspect regularly went to López's house and stayed there for several days. It was easy for the police to track him down because he carried the victim's mobile phone on him.
According to local media, several of the men said they had been paid to engage in homosexual acts with López whose penchant for taking young boys home had led to conflicts with his neighbours. The police was called to his flat on several occasions. Two years ago, it had to mediate between him and a Romanian boy of just over 20, after a violent argument triggered by the disappearance of the priest's mobile phone.
As a result of these complaints from the neighbourhood, the archdiocese asked López to stop bringing young men to his house, but he turned a deaf ear to his superiors' instructions.
Picture: Alfonso Benito López © Social Networks, #newsPlqfwdhtqw