Mossos d'Esquadra have arrested Josep Juanpere's partner in Madrid. His death was first attributed to a heart attack after an autopsy found no signs of violence, but a Vielha court later ordered further examination.
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. She will be taken to the court in Vielha for questioning. The arrest changes a case that first 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 over the alleged responsibility for her partner's death. The arrest followed an investigation opened by the Vielha court. Doubts had emerged about parts of the account of what happened.
Mossos d’Esquadra officially 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. The 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 to be checked.
Josep Juanpere i Miret was a prominent architect and the founder of GCA Architects. His professional profile gave the case additional public resonance, 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. The source account refers to the woman both as Juanpere's partner and as 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. It does show that investigators and the Vielha court no longer regard the original heart-attack finding as enough to settle how Juanpere died.
According to ABC and Cadena SER, 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.
For now, the next step is the woman's statement before the Vielha court. The arrest shows that unresolved contradictions can reopen a case even after an initial autopsy identifies a natural cause. Until the judicial process establishes what happened, the allegation against Juanpere's partner remains an allegation, not a proven conclusion.
