The trial of César Arribas Calvo, 26, opens on Monday at the Brussels Assize Court. The defendant, currently detained in Haren, is charged with the premeditated murder of Teresa Rodriguez Llamazares.
The victim was 23 years old. Teresa Rodriguez Llamazares had been in a romantic relationship with César Arribas Calvo for nearly two years, but had decided to leave him.
Her body was found on 27 October 2022 in the flat where she was staying, near the Grand-Place in Brussels. The autopsy report describes a ‘truly relentless’ attack, citing 153 stab wounds, not including superficial wounds.
According to the investigation, César Arribas Calvo, a Spanish national living in Spain at the time of the incident, had been in Belgium since 22 October 2022 to visit his former partner.
Teresa Rodriguez Llamazares was also a Spanish national. She arrived in Brussels in June 2022 and was working part-time as a nurse at Erasmus Hospital while also pursuing her studies.
During the investigation, certain elements pointed to possible premeditation, and the investigating magistrate requested that the murder be reclassified as manslaughter, i.e. voluntary homicide with intent to kill and with premeditation.
The indictment does not include the concept of ‘femicide’, since the stop-femicide law passed in July 2023 is not a criminal law. From a criminal law perspective, femicide therefore remains homicide, which may be aggravated by the fact that the acts were committed by a partner.
The trial of César Arribas Calvo will open on Monday morning with the selection of the jury. The substantive proceedings are scheduled to begin on Thursday morning.
