Nine months after architect Josep Juanpere died at his home in Baqueira, Mossos d'Esquadra arrested his partner in Madrid. The 64-year-old woman is suspected of being linked to his death and will be taken to the court in Vielha for questioning. The arrest shifts a case that initially appeared to involve a natural death.
Agents from the División de Investigación Criminal (DIC) entered the woman's home on Wednesday morning and detained her on suspicion of responsibility for her partner's death. The arrest followed an investigation opened by the Vielha court, after questions arose about parts of the account of what happened. Mossos d'Esquadra confirmed the detention and said the investigation remains under judicial secrecy. Police have not publicly disclosed a specific criminal charge.
Juanpere was 72 when he died on 26 December at his residence in Baqueira. He had been spending Christmas there with his partner. He became unwell on 24 December during Nochebuena and went to the Vielha hospital for treatment. He later returned home and spent Christmas Day at the property.
The first autopsy found no signs of violence and identified a heart attack as the cause of death. That finding did not close the case: the court ordered an expanded autopsy because some details in the account of events, along with statements from his partner, needed checking.
Josep Juanpere i Miret was a prominent architect and the founder of GCA Architects. His professional profile brought the case added public attention, although the authorities have not announced a final legal qualification in the death.
The initial investigation places the final episode on the day after Christmas. Juanpere again felt unwell and lay down on the sofa. He did not wake up.
During the afternoon, his nephew tried to contact him without success. Worried by the lack of response, he went to the home and found Josep Juanpere's lifeless body beside his wife. She is described as both Juanpere's partner and his wife.
The case has moved from an unexplained discrepancy in testimony to a formal arrest and a pending court appearance. The detention does not establish guilt, but it shows that investigators and the Vielha court no longer consider the original heart-attack finding enough to settle how Juanpere died.
ABC and Cadena SER report that the DIC is handling the investigation under the supervision of the Juzgado de Instrucción de Vielha. The detained woman is expected to give evidence there. The case follows an earlier Madrid case involving a very different dispute in the same city.
The woman's statement before the Vielha court is the next step. Until the judicial process establishes what happened, the allegation against Juanpere's partner remains unproven.
