Overview

• Ten eyewitnesses recounted a calm, silent assailant who fixated on sacristan Diego Valencia, pursuing him from the church patio to the Plaza Alta before delivering fatal machete blows.
• Testimony outlined the sequence across two churches on January 25, 2023, including an earlier machete attack on priest Antonio Rodríguez and an assault on a passerby, followed by the suspect kneeling and being detained at a nearby overlook.
• The prosecution seeks 50 years in prison on terrorism charges and asks for civil compensation for the victims, while several popular accusations press for a reviewable life sentence.
• Defense lawyers argue complete insanity due to a psychotic episode with mystical delusions and request psychiatric internment, as the prosecution acknowledges a severe disorder but only as an incomplete exculpation.
• Police witnesses, digital evidence on alleged radicalization, and psychiatric experts are scheduled next, and the defendant has opted to testify after the evidence is presented.