Months before Javier Sánchez and Esther Latorre were killed, they asked a court to appoint a curador to assist their eldest daughter with aspects of her legal capacity, according to Heraldo de Aragón. The couple's younger daughter, Olga, has continued the civil proceedings, seeking judicial authority to assist or represent Carlota. Heraldo identified Javier as a former secretary general of the agricultural organization UAGA.
The distinction matters: the curatela sought by the parents was described as a measure to help Carlota with administrative and legal matters, not an automatic transfer of all decision-making authority. Spain’s Law 8/2021 replaced the traditional model of judicial incapacitation and ordinary adult guardianship with a support-based framework centered on a person’s decision-making rights. The civil case is separate from the criminal investigation, and Olga’s requested role has not been established by a court ruling. If granted, the measure could give her authority to manage financial matters and, in serious circumstances, represent Carlota legally. Reports said Carlota had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was pregnant.
The civil case is proceeding alongside the murder investigation. Olga is also participating as a private prosecutor in the criminal proceedings, El Español reported. The judge handling the case considers Carlota a suspected instigator who urged her boyfriend, Luis Carlos, to carry out the killings, Heraldo reported. The judge's order described the deaths, which occurred in the early hours of 8 August 2026, as planned and allegedly carried out by both suspects. It said the pair entered the victims' home while they were away, then waited for them to return.
Carlota and Luis Carlos were placed in pre-trial detention without bail by a judge at the Court of First Instance in Ejea de los Caballeros, Zaragoza. They entered Zuera prison on Thursday, 13 August 2026. Both are suspected of involvement in the deaths; pre-trial detention is a provisional measure, not a conviction. El Español reported that the suspects would initially face homicide allegations, with the legal classification potentially changing as the investigation develops. The report said murder convictions could carry a maximum sentence of 25 years for each victim.
El Español reported that Carlota regularly asked her parents for money and that visits to their home were often marked by shouting. She had no job and relied financially on her parents, while she and Luis Carlos lived in a flat in Zaragoza owned by Javier and Esther. Luis Carlos, a 30-year-old Colombian national, was reported to have no job and no regularised status in Spain. These details provide background but do not establish motive or guilt. The Tauste case is separate from the killing reported in earlier Gijón coverage.
