María Jesús Moreno, known as sparrow and with the literary nickname of the “black widow of Patraix,” returned 180 degrees six years after the murder of her husband that she planned with her lover. The prisoner, who enjoyed great popularity among his cellmates at the Fontnivel penitentiary center (Alicante), gave birth to him as the result of a relationship with another prisoner in the prison of Valencia in Picassent.
On August 16, 2017, the body of engineer Antonio Navarro was found lying face down and lifeless in a garage located on Calamocha Street in the Valencian neighborhood of Patraix. He had eight stab wounds, one of which was to the heart. Two months later, the police intercepted a telephone conversation between Maje, a professional nurse, and her co-worker Salvador Rodrigo, making them prime suspects in the horrific crime.
In January 2018, the lover of the “black widow of Patraix” confessed to the murder and revealed to the agents the place where he threw the murder weapon, a knife to cut onions that he bought at a hardware store. Salva, who suffered from “a deep emotional dependence on the accused,” decided to reveal that the crime was planned between the two, although he later exonerated Maje during his time in prison. However, encouraged by the pressure of his daughter, he ended up telling “the truth”—that”her lover prompted her to the activity by giving her all the necessary information, such as the time, license plate, and model of the car, changing her husband’s shift, and even giving her the key to the garage.
Two years later, after a media trial, the Provincial Court of Valencia sentenced Maje and Salva to 22 and 17 years in prison for the malicious murder of her husband, respectively, after the verdict of a famous jury. Regarding women’s participation, the magistrate’s judgment showed him that “the nuclear issue In the investigation It really requires a great deal of imaginative effort and stupidity to accept the thesis that María Jesús, who had nothing to do with planning the death of her husband, was limited to covering her confessed murderer, whom she despised and for whom he has nothing to do. “Not at all in love, although he continued his romantic relationship with her,” said the judge.
A new life for the mother of Fontcalent
Six years ago, Maje left the Picassent prison, where he started a sentimental relationship with a prisoner named David, 38 years old, who has served a sentence of fifteen years for homicide and has already enjoyed a third-degree permit. As a result of their encounters, María Jesús became pregnant, so she was transferred to the Mothers’ Unit of the Fontnivel Penitentiary Center (Alicante).
As exclusively reported by ABC, the “black widow of Patraix” gave birth a month ago on the ninth floor of the Alicante General Hospital, reserved for prisoners. When the good condition of the two was confirmed, he was transferred back to the prison, where he became a star among places where she stays with her baby until the age of three.
There, she enjoyed the comfort of the 3,751-square-meter maternity module, which was inaugurated in 2020 after eight years under the honorable name of Irene Villa. A pioneering unit with 32 rooms in 22 square meters with a dining room, bedroom, office, and bathroom, as well as playgrounds for children and other classrooms for children’s workshops.
The unit has “non-aggressive” security due to the low dangerous profile of inmates, based on electronic surveillance control systems supported by cameras, alarms, and presence detectors along the perimeter. The Alicante maternity section is the fourth of its kind in Spain, after similar facilities were opened in Madrid, Seville, and Mallorca.
Last year, the Fontnivel Mothers Unit received a visit from the Ombudsman in his capacity as head of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture (MNP), within the framework of the “prison and gender” project that was started in 2018. During their stay, the professionals asked to improve the care of women who are victims of gender violence, the effective use of inclusive language in prison forms, and promote staff training on gender issues.
