On June 8, 2019, Ismael Molina killed his father and set his own house on fire before leaving, leaving the body inside. in just a few hours confessed to the murder in front of the Mossos d’Esquadraassuring that he did not see “another option” but to put a “knife in the back.”

It was a strange case that shocked everyone in the Barcelona municipality of Vilanova i la Geltrú, which has less than 70,000 inhabitants. And although the main author of the facts admitted the crime, the case was far from solved. There was a whole plot behind it, in which several elements were mixed: manipulation, lies, money, mafia and mental illness.

Susana Peix, a writer and librarian, knew Ismail from a very young age. He was a classmate of his eldest son from three to eighteen years of age. And although he says he didn’t talk much to him, he remembers him as a “closed and big” child who, simply by crossing out a couple of sentences, could be classified as a “very good person”. and someone “good-natured”. So when he found out what happened, he thought it was “impossible”. However, as more details of the case began to emerge, he came up with an idea: to write a book to tell Ishmael’s version of the story.

Ishmael agreed. And he began to tell in detail a completely implausible story. He killed his father because his girlfriend Alba manipulated him for months until she made him believe he was a dangerous gangster. that he put his entire family in danger. That’s why Ishmael saw no other option than to take him out of the middle for his own safety and the safety of the people he loved more than anything in the world. A story that is supported by a key element. Although no one knew about it at the time, Ismael suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.

“I was at the epicenter of the epidemic. suffering. That’s why reading the book should focus on mental illness. A sane person would never believe any of this.“Besides, he took everything in a moment of vulnerability. His friends and family thought he was addicted to drugs or even to a cult. But no one around him ever suspected what was really happening to him. That is why everyone was so angry when they found out, ”adds the author.

Secret police group and two children

Always according to Ismail’s story, that Alba eventually convinced him to kill his own father was just the latest of his manipulations based on increasingly intricate lies. I already convinced him before donate money to an alleged secret police groupwhich Ishmael wanted to be a part of.

He also posed as a girl named Julia for several months, who eventually became Ismael’s virtual girlfriend. They talked on their cell phones, but never got to know each other in person. Despite this, when Julia asked for a sample of his sperm in order to have children with him, Ismael did not hesitate and gave Alba a bottle so she could give it to Julia. Just four months later Julia told him that he was the father of twins.. And I always believed in everything.

Those who did not were his friends, who found it very strange that for several months his virtual girlfriend never once wanted to meet in person, despite the fact that he assured that he lived in the same city. When they started doing some research They came to search the Internet for the photographs that Julia gave Ismael as if they were her own.. However, when they told Ishmael, he did not believe them.

His reaction was that he gradually distanced himself from his loved ones and opposed them to the point that He even left his house and lived on the street for several days. Peish claims that Ismael himself told him that at that moment, if his alleged girlfriend had asked him to commit suicide, he would have done so. He was ready for anything.

Evidence that was not in the summary

The whole story is collected in a book written by Peiks. Intimate Enemy: Virtual Girl, Scam and Murderwho has just seen the light and tells, in addition to Ismail’s testimony in the first person, with Police evidence and statements from people around you.

“The summary is very chaotic, there are a lot of information spots. When you read this, you didn’t understand what was going on. That’s why when I talked to Ismael, the priority was to set the timeline. We started posting the evidence we had, like conversational chats, statements and even some things that were not included in the resume. And then he explained the scenes that happened, and we fit them into the timeline, ”explains the author.

It took Ishmael months to process everything that had happened. Only when he manages to stabilize does he begin to tell the whole story. “He continued to protect everyone, thinking that all this exists. And thanks to the work of psychiatrists, he was dismantled. There was a moment when he called his lawyer on the phone. It was a three-minute conversation during which he asked if Julia and the children really existed. When she told him no, Ishmael says it was like a domino effect. There, she learns that her friend, who was practically her sister, is actually a close enemy, and that her father was innocent. It was a shock,” Peiks says.

Ismael spent almost three years in the prison psychiatric ward. At the trial, the prosecutor’s office demanded his acquittal and 29 years of placement in a psychiatric center. He was eventually acquitted of mental distress, although he was placed on probation for 19 years, during which he must undergo ongoing psychiatric and psychological examinations. Alba was acquitted, although an appeal filed by both the prosecutor’s office and the private prosecution is pending.

“To this day, he is still in treatment. He is well aware of everything that happened, and now he says that he liveswhen, until recently, only survived. He is under medical supervision, he feels very secure with a network of people around him who he knows will cause an alarm with any symptom. They calm him down,” Peiks says.

The author concludes by explaining that the book seeks to debate the issue of mental illness and the dangers of social media: “This is to listen to the story of Ishmael so that it doesn’t happen again. Because many people only see the child who killed his father and is on the street. But there is a brutal rollercoaster behind it. I believe Ishmael’s version, which is why I wrote this book.”, the author concludes.