Joan Vila Dilme

Background

Joan Vila Dilme was a security guard and care-home worker at the La Caritat home in Olot in Catalonia, Spain. He was dubbed “the angel of death” and was also known as the “porter of Olot.”

Psychologists Miguel Soria and Lluis Borrás said that Vila felt “like a woman trapped in a man’s body.” Vila revealed his homosexuality and admitted to “wearing my mother’s heels and clothes around the house when I was young.” Vila also said he suffered from manic depression and had been examined by psychiatrists while in custody.

The offence

Joan Vila Dilme was found guilty of killing 11 elderly residents at the La Caritat home. According to his later account, he killed the patients “to ease their sufferings,” and he said he carried out the killings to “end their suffering.”

The killings included cases in which three elderly residents were forced to drink bleach. With eight other murders, committed between August 2009 and October 2010, he gave the victims overdoses of insulin or various fatal pharmaceutical cocktails to “end their suffering.”

A prosecutor, Enrique Barata, told jurors that Vila had been aware of what he was doing and that he had carefully covered up the murders of his 11 victims.

Investigation

Investigators became suspicious when an 85-year-old woman, Paquita Gironès, was transferred to hospital in agony after Vila had given her an acid substance to drink. Doctor Josefina Felisart examined Gironès and found burns on her chest and face, and she said the doctor did not sign off the death as resulting from natural causes.

Doctor María Elena Trasserras testified that seven of Vila’s victims had died from natural causes, giving an example of Montserrat Canalias, 96. Trasserras explained why the body had not been examined by saying, “I didn’t have a car to get there.” In her report, she recorded “multi-organ failure.”

Vila confessed three months after Gironès’s death that he had administered a lethal dose of barbiturates. Trasserras, who has not been charged with a crime, said the process for certifying deaths at La Caritat was to check for vital signs and revise their medical records. She told the court, “A young person dying suddenly might be surprising but in the elderly it is expected.”

Even in the case of 80-year-old Carmen Vilanova, an apparent thrombosis on her inner thigh had been noted, and “Natural causes,” was recorded again on Vilanova’s records. Vilanova’s husband, Vila’s next-door neighbor, also appeared as a witness and said, “He killed her.” He added, “Carme didn’t want to die. It’s a crime as far as I’m concerned.”

A judge ordered the eight bodies exhumed as part of an investigation into suspicious deaths at the home.

Arrest

Joan Vila Dilme was arrested in October 2010 after the death of an 85-year-old woman in a local hospital. On the day of his arrest, October 18, Vila admitted killing Paquita Gironès, 85, by forcing her to drink a descaling agent in her room at La Caritat nursing home.

Vila broke down when he confessed to killing 11 elderly residents at a care home in Olot, Girona province.

Trial

A jury in Girona handed down 11 guilty verdicts. Vila was found guilty by a unanimous jury decision at a court hearing in Girona. The court hearing was in the northeastern town of Girona in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region.

At the beginning of his trial, Vila explained that he killed the patients “to ease their sufferings.” After sentencing, Vila said:

“I just want to say that I am sorry for what I did and for allowing it to come to this extreme; I don’t want to say anything else.”

Vila’s defense argued that his client suffered mental problems, and his defense lawyer said his client suffered mental problems but the jury found no extenuating circumstances. The defense lawyers asked for a 20-year probationary period, while prosecutors asked for a 194-year jail term.

Sentencing

On June 20, 2013, Joan Vila Dilme was sentenced to 127 years in prison. Under Spanish law, the sentencing specified that he could serve a maximum of 40 years in jail.

Outcome

Vila was convicted by a unanimous jury decision for killing 11 elderly residents at La Caritat. The prosecution had sought a 194-year jail term, and sentencing resulted in a 127-year prison term with a maximum of 40 years to be served under Spanish law.

Aftermath

The case became known as “the worst serial killing spree in Spain in recent decades.” It stirred high emotions in Spain. María Dolors Costa told the court that on the day before his arrest, her aunt had been found with serious injuries:

“left cheek black and burned; her eyes wide, black and burned,”
Costa said.

When a doctor asked if she wanted her aunt sedated, Costa replied:

“morphine.”

Costa said:

“I shook his hand and thanked him. It was as though I was thanking him for what he had done,”
Costa said.

The trial continued at the time the account was published.