On 1 April 2000, 16-year-old José Rabadán Pardo killed his parents and sister in the Santiago el Mayor neighborhood of Murcia, Spain, using a katana and machete. The case was the first serious crime case to be tried under the new juvenile law, which had been passed a few months earlier.
Incident and arrest
José Rabadán Pardo, popularly known as "The Katana Killer," was a fan of martial arts and bladed weapons. Originally from Murcia, the young man's behavior was described as "reserved" and "polite." A year before committing the murder, Rabadán attempted to run away from home and dropped out of school
At 6:30 a.m. on April 1, 2000, Rabadán went to his father's (R. R. T.) bedroom while he was sleeping and inflicted several fatal wounds with a 71 cm long Japanese katana. He then entered the rooms of his mother (M. P. P.) and his sister, M. R. P. (nine years old and with Down syndrome), who had been awakened by the noise, and seriously wounded them with the same weapon, before finishing them off with a machete. The victims suffered amputations of their fingers while defending themselves from the cuts. Having committed the murders, he placed bags over the heads of the corpses and moved them to the bathroom. Then he took his mobile phone and 15,000 pesetas and left the house around seven in the morning.
Rabadán was arrested by the National Police Corps (now the National Police) two days later at the Alicante train station.
Trial and imprisonment Regarding his mental state, Dr. García Andrade stated that the minor suffered from "idiopathic epilepsy," which, according to him, would have caused the young man to lose control of his actions during the homicide. For his part, Dr. Barcia Selorio also confirms that, despite suffering from epilepsy, she was the victim of a mixture of confusion and outburst motivated by absurd and fantastical beliefs that "triggered behavior disconnected from her personality."
Rabadán was sentenced to eight years in a juvenile detention center, plus an additional two years of supervised release. At the time of the crime, Rabadán was 16 years old, so the adult regime applied due to the regulations in force at that time, prior to the enactment of the new Juvenile Justice Act. For this reason, prior to being transferred to a specialized educational center known as the "La Zarza" Juvenile Center, the minor served nine months in an adult prison.
In an initial ruling, it was established that his confinement would end in August 2006, thus beginning the period of supervised release until August 2008. However, through a court order dated December 22, In 2005, the juvenile court judge, with the help of the prosecution and the court's technical team, modified the measure and decided to reduce his stay at the center by the last eight months less six days, bringing forward the start of his supervised release to January 1, 2006. This decision was based on the fact that Rabadán had already served three-quarters of his sentence at the center and that extending the measure could negatively affect his personal situation.
Organic Law 5/2000, of January 12, focused on the criminal responsibility of minors, was accepted on January 13, 2001. In the case of José Rabadán, this law was taken into account throughout the execution of his sentence, making him one of the first beneficiaries of this new law.
This case illustrates how the transition from the previous legislation to the new law on juvenile criminal responsibility allowed for the application of rehabilitation and social reintegration criteria, favoring the minor's adaptation to their individual development rather than simply serving the punitive sentence.
He lives in Santander, is married, has a daughter, and works as a stockbroker.
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