Overview
- Prison staff at El Dueso in Cantabria discovered the body of Julio Pardo in his cell, and initial reports from penitentiary sources indicate a possible hanging while the cause remains provisional.
- Pardo was serving a 24-year sentence imposed in March 2018 and was ordered to pay €420,000 in compensation after the Audiencia Provincial of Oviedo found aggravating factors in the case.
- The conviction stemmed from the January 2016 killing of his wife, Ascensión 'Susi' Amores, whom prosecutors said he attacked while she slept using a wrench and inflicted fatal blunt-force injuries.
- Court testimony and the sentencing judge emphasized extreme brutality and the presence of aggravating factors including kinship, gender-based contempt, ensañamiento, and alevosía.
- Officials have opened or will open judicial and penitentiary inquiries to confirm the cause of death and to review prison procedures, and the development may reopen public scrutiny in Avilés where the crime had strong local impact.