The attack on Gilet Monastery (Valencia) was fast and brutalrecounts one of the surviving brothers of the assault during which one of his companions was murdered. Around 10 a.m., the attacker stealthily approached the compound fence and after jumping over it, entered the monastery and began forcefully beating the monks. Fray Ángel, the cook and the tallest of the seven brothers, heard the cries and went to see what was happening: “When I left the kitchen and entered the convent It looked like a terrorist attackIThe walls were spattered with blood and the brothers lay on the ground covered in blood.
Fray Angel came face to face with death. The attacker hit one of the older brothers with some kind of stick: “I found him on the patio, he was violently hitting the superior”. Fray Ángel addressed the stranger, making him understand that he was not going to flee: “he looked at me, he started to hit me too and He shouted at me “I come with the mission to kill all the brothers”.
Fray Ángel’s response was to grab his cell phone to ask for help. In the monastery they have no coverage but the phones have a button to call emergency services: “I took my cell phone, pressed the SOS button and told him that I were going to call the police, then He looked at me and ran away angrily.», Explains the brother.
After putting the attacker to flight, Fray Ángel ran into the monastery. The attacker had surprised the brothers shortly after breakfast, while they were already in their room: “When I left the kitchen and entered the convent, it looked like a terrorist attack, the walls were splashed of blood and the brothers were lying on the ground. ” there he found Fray José Antonio dying: “I lay down next to him, took his hand and gave him absolution, there was almost no life left in him, I hugged him until help arrived,” the clergyman told journalist Alberto Catalán. of the program Mornings from TVE.
This Monday, Father Juan Antonio, 76, finally died at the Valencia Clinical Hospital following head trauma. The other three injured monks, aged 57, 66 and 95, received medical treatment at Sagunto hospital for trauma and violent beatings.
A criminal with psychotic attacks
The description that Father Ángel gave to the Civil Guard was decisive. The murderer was a man 1.80 meters tall with tattooed arms. It didn’t take long for them to arrest him. He is a criminal with criminal record suffering psychotic breaks for months in which he was involved in scenes of tension and violence in Sagunto.
Today, after learning of the death of Father Juan Antonio, Fray Ángel continues to keep his faith in humankind intact: “I am not afraid, I continue to trust in the goodness of people“There was one that was damaged, but we don’t know how many people called us to give us their love and even brought us groceries.”
Today, the Court of Instruction number 6 of Sagunto (Valencia) accepted the provisional prison, communicated and without bail, for the attacker of the brothers of the monastery of Gilet. The murderer He is the subject of an investigation in connection with an open case for two offenses of murder, one committed and the other attempted, three offenses of wounding and one offense of burglary.
