The pre-trial hearing for the murder of Helena Jubany, which occurred in Sabadell in 2001, has been suspended following a new appeal from the defence of the main suspect, Santiago Laiglesia.
The judge in charge of the case concerning the murder of Helena Jubany, the librarian from Mataró who was found dead in Sabadell in 2001, has had to suspend the preliminary hearing scheduled for this Tuesday, July 21. The reason is a new appeal presented by the defence of Santiago Laiglesia, the main suspect, who claims that they still do not have a biological counter-expert report on the DNA.
Laiglesia's lawyers have explained that they have commissioned a genetic report from a private institution in the Canary Islands and that this may not be ready until mid-September or late October. The judge has accepted the postponement and will need to set a new date for the hearing, which is the necessary prior step to decide whether to open a trial and send the case to the Barcelona Court to be judged by a jury.
The decision has provoked outrage from the private prosecution, which represents Helena Jubany's family. Their lawyer, Benet Salellas, has described the manoeuvre as "procedural filibustering" and has asserted that the defence has known since August or September 2025 about the DNA report on which they now wish to present a contradictory opinion, but did not announce their intention to commission it until the final phase of the investigation.
The judicial resolution itself indicates that the defence had almost a year to prepare this evidence and describes their actions as "deliberately dilatory." The private prosecution has reminded the court that all necessary documentation has been available to the defence since June 20 and has requested that the court grant a reasonable but limited timeframe to prevent the procedure from being indefinitely stalled.
Initially, the defence had stated that they would need between twenty days and a month to complete the counter-expert report, but now their experts are claiming several months. The private prosecution has requested that the new preliminary hearing be set for the first half of September, arguing that by then Laiglesia's experts will have had more than two months to prepare the report and that, if they do not deliver it, the hearing should still take place.
The victim's family, who have been waiting for justice for nearly 25 years, considers these delays unacceptable. The case, which has been stalled for years, is now in the hands of the Sabadell court, which must close the investigation and send the alleged murderer to trial. The defence, for its part, insists that it needs time to ensure its client's right to defence.
The murder of Helena Jubany shocked Catalan society. The young woman, aged 31, was murdered in Sabadell in December 2001. Her body was found inside a well at a farmhouse in the city. Since then, the family has fought for justice and for the case to go to trial. Now, a new procedural obstacle further delays the process.
The private prosecution argues that the right to defence of the accused must be guaranteed, but also that further delays in a case opened nearly 25 years ago must be avoided, and that the process should not become, as they claim, a space to maintain the impunity of the crime. The trial, when it finally takes place, will be with a jury in the Barcelona Court.
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