Pioz killings: premeditated massacre TV called a crime of passion

Pioz killings: premeditated massacre TV called a crime of passion

What drives a 20-year-old, athletic young man to murder four members of his own family? The Pioz case, in Guadalajara, Spain, became one of the most chilling stories in Spanish crime news. The most widely reported version at the time, that of a crime of passion, falls apart when you look at the killer's WhatsApp conversations: a planned execution, with taunts directed at his victims as he attacked them.

The version that was edited on television

The TV show Espejo Público reported live that the Brazilian had delivered pizzas to the house, had slept with the woman and, after an argument because she refused to leave her husband, killed her along with her children. The clip hinting at that relationship disappeared from the platform days later. For others, the affair story was questionable; the only solid fact was the premeditation.

A profile of cold calculation

The description repeated by those who trinc the case is that of a young, strong man who had everything going for him, yet chose the most extreme violence. The WhatsApp messages sent in real time, with comments about the children's resistance, portray someone who took pleasure in other people's suffering. He was not a madman: he was a psychopath. The courts convicted him, but the question remains: what breaks in someone like that?

The handsome 1.90-metre-tall young man became the monster some still try to explain away with compassionate labels. It was not unbridled passion: it was a chill-inducing coldness.