DIANA Quer's father has contacted the mother of his daughter's killer and assured her he does not blame her, and that his heart goes out to her family.
Property tycoon Juan Carlos, from Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid), was interviewed on the radio station Cadena Ser this week and said: “When I saw the mother appear on TV crying the way she did, I called her and said, Madam, you are not to blame, you have my full forgiveness. Because I can assure you that in a small town like Rianxo [where Diana's body was found on New Year's Eve] she will be condemned for life.”
Juan Carlos Quer also expressed his sympathy for the killer's sisters and13-year-old daughter. “As far as I'm concerned, all my support and condolences to this family, and to [the killer's] daughter, whose life he has destroyed; poor little girl!”
But his empathy does not extend to Rosario Rodríguez, the wife of murderer José Enrique Abuín Gey, since she initially lied for her husband to provide him with an alibi for the night Diana, 18, went missing – at around 02.30 on August 22, 2016 – and has said she would stand by him, as well as calling him daily in prison. Juan Carlos says he has 'many reasons' for having no sympathy for Rosario, 29.
“The authorities took a decision to place her formally under investigation; no inquiries into her have been carried out, and the preliminary reports of Diana's post-mortem have not ruled out the possible participation of other persons; at the very least [lifting the charges against Rosario] appear hasty,” Diana's father said.
He told the presenter that he felt 'serene and at peace', and that Diana was 'sending him strength from heaven' to allow him to 'help other people' who had lived through a tragedy such as his own. Juan Carlos has already said he hopes Diana's death will mark a 'before and after'.
A petition on Change.org started by a mother whose two young daughters were murdered by their father in Galicia has now gathered strength and turned into a full-on campaign titled 'Your protection is our fight', and is backed by Juan Carlos and his ex-wife Diana Cristina López-Pinel – Diana Quer's mother – as well as the parents of Marta del Castillo who was killed by her ex-boyfriend in Sevilla when she was 17, and whose body has never been found; the parents of Mari Luz Cortés, a little girl murdered in the province of Huelva, and Ruth Ortiz, whose ex-husband José Bretón is serving a 40-year prison sentence for murdering their children, Ruth, six and José, two as 'revenge' for his wife's wanting to end their marriage. The campaign seeks to make permanent custodial terms, subject to regular review, a legal standard in Spain and to battle against those hoping to overturn the law before it becomes effective.“All we want to transmit is that we want to protect our children,” Juan Carlos Quer said. “I'm against the idea of lifelong prison, but permanent prison subject to regular review is necessary in those cases of extreme seriousness, committed against innocent children, or cases like Diana's; cases of repeat rapists with no interest in rehabilitation and who, as soon as they have served their time, are out on the street and putting society in serious danger of their child being the next victim. And let's not forget that it is always a life sentence for the parents.”
Abuín Gey had been under scrutiny by police since three months after Diana went missing when walking home from the fiestas in A Pobra do Caramiñal, where she spent every summer in the family holiday home, but detectives admitted they were not expecting him to reoffend. Yet he was caught after trying to kidnap a 30-year-old woman on Christmas Day, who escaped a fate similar to Diana's after two passers-by came to her rescue.
“There are plenty of repeat sex offenders who rape again once out on the street,” stressed Juan Carlos, “and I'm quite sure he didn't put my daughter in the boot of his car tied up with reins in order to take her to church.”
The Quer-López Pinel family has always had nothing but praise for the Guardia Civil's efforts in trying to solve Diana's disappearance, and their 'humane and sensitive approach', but Juan Carlos believes 'set procedures' should be put in place for missing persons because 'the first 48 hours are absolutely decisive'. He has also praised the media in general for their interest, help and sensitive coverage; with some exceptions. “Seeing a photo of the body of a little girl covered in a sheet on the front page of a newspaper was not pleasant, especially as I did not have the emotional strength to see my daughter's body after she was found. We need a code of ethics for this type of news,” he criticised.
Finally, he called for everyone to sign the petition on Change.org. “Diana could be your daughter, and with your signature, you can help us make sure our daughters do not become a headline in the 'crime and incidents' section of the newspapers,” he concluded, commenting that 'politicians need to deal with modern social reality'.
Diana is believed to have been tied up with reins, gagged with duct tape and raped before being strangled and her naked body, tied down with weights, dumped in a well on an industrial estate. Forensic investigation is still under way, including examination of underwear found nearby and of Diana's jacket and handbag, which were with her in the well.
A MAN declared dead at his home in the province of Tarragona was on his way to the funeral parlour when he turned out to be alive, according to police sources.
A NEW child protection law named after a British musician living in Spain has been approved in Congress and is set to be signed off by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, June 8.
