VALENCIA – On August 30, police made a macabre discovery in a hotel in Valencia: the bodies of a woman and her son were found in their hotel room. It now appears that the mother poisoned her 25-year-old son.
She had mixed the poisonous substance with the porridge he ate. After the murder, the mother allegedly committed suicide by ingesting the same poisonous substance. This is the conclusion after an autopsy and extensive investigation by the homicide unit of the Valencian police at the place where the bodies were found.
Possible altruistic child murder
According to the police, no letter has been found that could provide more clarity about the mother’s motivations for this crime and subsequent suicide. However, there is speculation that it may have been an ‘altruistic child murder’. In such cases, parents think their criminal act means an end to their child’s suffering, Paz Velasco said. The criminologist and lecturer at the International University of Valencia (UIV) said this in the newspaper Las Provincias.
The alleged murderer is a Colombian psychologist with a residence permit in Spain. Research showed that she and her son made a habit of withdrawing from time to time. The boy’s father therefore did not find it strange that they were absent from the hotel for 48 hours.
The crime took place on August 30 in a hotel room, but the bodies were not discovered until two days later. CCTV footage showed no one else had entered the room. And anyone other than the mother and son have been ruled out of involvement. Now, it remains to be seen from the autopsies which toxic substance was used.
This tragic incident follows a similar incident on July 20 in Fitero, Navarre. There, a mother attempted to kill her three minor children by first poisoning them, then attacking them with a knife. Fortunately, the oldest two children were able to escape and call for help, and everyone involved was taken to hospital.
