José Rabadán, known as the katana murderer

On April 1, 2000, his name would be known throughout Spain. José Rabadán, at only sixteen years old, He had just murdered his father, his mother and his sister. From that moment on he would be known as “the katana murderer”, and his image, despite being a minor, was shown without any qualms in various media.

This case marked a before and after, as we were able to see how the labels that the media assign to people who have committed certain crimes, especially in serious cases with a great media impact, create unnecessary morbidity as well as excessive social alert. On too many occasions without waiting for a psychological expert opinion, a trial or a conviction.

Childhood and adolescence

José never had any out of the ordinary behavior. He was a shy, lonely and reserved child, but always polite. He did not carry out activities typical of adolescence, since he did not go out with his friends at night or share other common interests at his age, such as trying alcohol. He was also described as a spoiled and spoiled child by his parents, even though his whims were excessive for the family’s purchasing power (his father was a truck driver by profession).

Besides, he spent dead hours in front of the computer and the console. One of his obsessions was the video game Final Fantasy VIII.which led to his parents giving him a Samurai sword, also called a katana (according to the RAE, a type of cutlass of Japanese origin), and attending karate classes.

But José was not happy and sought solitude. He was not a good student, which is why he decided to abandon his studies, thinking about leaving and starting a life far away from there.

The truth is that he had already tried to run away from home the year before the crime. And he thought of a definitive solution: if he left, they would look for him, but if he ended the life of his family, the torment for everyone would end. He knew what he was going to do and decided that his new life had to begin.

The murders and the search for a new life

On April 1, 2000, when José got out of bed, he was carrying his katana in his hand, and he had slept with it under the sheets. He went to his parents’ room, and attacked them there.

His father tried to defend himself by covering his face with his hands (proof of this was the discovery of several amputated fingers and a deep cut at neck level), but he could not survive and his body had approximately seventeen blows, and his head was found in a bag. of plastic. Everything seemed to indicate that he killed her mother while she was sleeping, since no signs of resistance were found. Lastly, she murdered her nine-year-old sister diagnosed with Down syndrome.

Later, he tried to prevent the stench of the three corpses from alerting the neighbors, so he decided to fill the bathtub with water with the intention of putting them inside, but he only succeeded with the corpse of his sister. The body of her father was left halfway and that of her mother appeared mutilated where she was attacked.

Then, he changed his clothes and left. The scene that José Rabadán left behind him will be Dantesque. According to the forensic report, the murders took place between six and eight in the morning. His goal was to go to Barcelona and meet a girl with whom he chatted until the wee hours of the morning over the internet. But a security guard alerted the police to the minor’s presence at the train station.

According to the agents, José Rabadán He “behaved naturally, very calmly and even coldly”. They took him to the Alicante Central Police Station to proceed with his identification and there they verified his identity.

Three days had already passed since the murders. Later, José was transferred to the Alicante Police Headquarters and his statement was taken in the presence of a lawyer. His actual words were:

Asked about the murder of his sister, he answered:

Internment in a juvenile center

José Rabadán was transferred to the Juvenile Court of Murcia and after a short appearance that was resolved without going to trial, He was sentenced to eight years of confinement in a juvenile center and two years of probation.. During this period, José received psychiatric treatment.

On January 1, 2008, José was released. From then until December 2017, he remained immersed in silence and anonymity, but integrated into the society from which one day he had to be separated.

Current life of José Rabadán

The issuance of a DMAX documentary about his life, titled I was a murderer (2017), allows us to see what remains of that teenager who is now over 30 years old. He is married, has a three-year-old daughter and works as a stock broker.

As you can see, if you decide to watch this documentary, his image is completely different from the one we remembered about him:

The story he tells about the murders he committed impacts and he assures that “if I had known the consequences, I would not have done it.” Javier Urra, Forensic Psychologist, who interviews José in this documentary, indicates the following: “He explains it very well, but he doesn’t feel it”.

It was even suggested, by the two defense psychiatrists, that José Rabadán suffered an idiopathic epileptic psychosis, but Javier Urra assures in this documentary that they were wrong, and that in reality he is a very insensitive boy and that His personality is consistent with a picture of psychopathy.

In any case, once his sentence was served, today We can assure that it is an example of reintegration. However, the label that was once placed on you will probably follow you wherever you go. He himself acknowledges:

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