Salvador Rodrigo Lapiedra, also known as Salva, had been a family man when he first met the woman who was going to destroy his entire life. The 46-year-old man and his wife worked as nursing assistants at Hospital Casa de Salud and had a daughter who was in her twenties when Salva started an extramarital affair with his 26-year-old co-worker, Maria “Maje” Jesus Moreno. Maje was 20 years younger than Salva, almost the age of his daughter, yet the lover in him believed that he deserved a second chance in life so he could live it to the fullest. Behind his wife’s back, the two started exchanging romantic letters promising to spend the rest of their lives together. It was obvious that Salva was bewitched by the young girl’s beauty, and her rampant flirtation just made the matter worse. It made Salva believe that Maje “really” loved him, and therefore he was willing to do anything to be with her or to see her happy. Well, Maje was never really interested in Salva. She was just using him as a tool to further her goals. The woman had her eye on her husband’s insurance policy and the widow’s pension, which was why she wanted someone to get Antonio Navarro Ceran out of the picture. But Maje knew that no sane man would help her, not unless he was obsessively in love with her. Someone she could easily manipulate with her fake story of domestic abuse.
Why Did Salva Kill For Maje?
As soon as Maje got hooked on the idea of killing her husband, she tried to portray herself as a victim of abuse so one of her Prince Charmings would step in to help a damsel in distress. But after all her “young, athlete-looking guys” backed off, she quickly approached the one person who always knew that Maje was way out of his league. You have to really give this one to Maje and appreciate her efforts, because who else would have been able to seduce a married man into risking his entire family just to be with a young princess? And trust me, it wasn’t just the looks. As seen in the film and in real life, Maje and her words gave Salva the feeling of butterflies in the stomach, something he’d likely never experienced before. Salva was married young and likely had never been with anyone except for his wife, which only made Maje’s advances more effective. Her letters made him feel young. He was back in high school, sneaking around under the teacher’s nose and meeting the love of his life in secret. It was all like a fairy tale for Salva, who was unaware of the fact Maje wasn’t the person she had been pretending to be.
When all of Maje’s lovers refused to be a part of her folly, she went straight to Salva. They used to meet in secret at a farm that Salva owned in Ribarroja del Turia. Here, she first told Salva how she felt “caged” in her suffocating marriage, and then revealed her desire to see her husband dead. At first, Salva didn’t respond, and therefore Maje had to pull out the big guns. She kissed him with that puppy look so Salva couldn’t refuse her request again. And all this while, Salva had been trying to ignore the conversation, but Maje didn’t give up. She convinced Salva that once Antonio was dead, they would start their own relationship, and she would be faithful to him forever. Well, the woman lied through her teeth, but Salva, with so much testosterone raging inside him, finally decided to sneak into the multi storey parking lot using the key Maje had given him earlier, and kill Antonio to free the bird from her cage. He had purchased a 15-centimeter blade from a hardware store on Calle Lerida, using which he stabbed Antonio multiple times in the chest. Later, he got rid of his blood-stained clothes and wiped the murder weapon clean. He finally wrapped it in plastic and threw it in a septic tank on his farm.
How Did The Homicide Group Catch The Culprits?
Soon after Salva finished the impossible task, Maje started to show her true colors. The thing is, Maje was never really interested in Salva. He wasn’t her type. In fact, he disgusted her, yet he was the only man who was willing to take such a risk for her, and therefore she played along. After the murder, Maje’s only obligation towards Salva was to keep him calm so that he wouldn’t snitch to the police in a panic. She distanced herself from him physically, but remained in touch through calls and texts, so he carried out her day-to-day chores while she was away partying with her lovers. However, things started to unravel when Salva saw an email on her computer. Now, in Netflix’s A Widow’s Game, Salva saw an email from one of her lovers, Daniel Garcia Iglesias, on Maje’s computer while he was cleaning the house. However, in real life, he saw the mail when Maje logged in from his computer. Nevertheless, it was this email that made Salva see the cracks in Maje’s story. It made him realize that Maje was lying to him to his face because she wasn’t interested in him. She’d told him that she was going to her mother’s house to spend New Year’s Eve, while in reality, she was going to Italy with her new boyfriend. And this was where their perfect crime spiraled into a failure. Struggling with mixed emotions, an envious Salva made an impulsive call to Maje and started discussing Antonio’s murder while the police were listening to their conversation on the other end. In order to calm Salva down, Maje asked him to meet face-to-face, and this was when the homicide group caught sight of Maje’s co-conspirator for the first time during their four-month investigation. They found out that Salva had given Maje a burner phone, which was why they hadn’t been able to find their mystery man sooner. And so, with much substantial evidence in hand, the police finally arrested the two culprits on 12th January 2018.
Why Did Salva Change His Statement?
For the longest time, Salva was really convinced that Maje was indeed a victim of abuse. This was why he tried to protect her till the very end and took full responsibility for Antonio’s murder after they were arrested by the police. And as shameful as someone could be, Maje didn’t think twice before pinning the entire blame on the old man, calling him an obsessed psycho lover who had been stalking her in the hospital. Unfortunately, she didn’t say the same to Salva’s face, or it would have made things easier for the police. Without any incriminating evidence in hand, the homicide group had to put both accused perpetrators in provisional detention in Picassent. And this is where things got interesting. In prison, they both started exchanging letters again. Maje didn’t want Salva to expose her, and therefore kept him on a leash through her words. However, in the course of a year, Salva heard numerous stories from media reports and fellow inmates about Maje having a great time with the other prisoners. Likely, she found some athletic-type lads inside. Morally, it’s not ethical to discuss anyone’s sex life, but you see, this was actually the piece of information that challenged Salva’s loyalty towards his Maje. His goddess, the one who had promised him forever, was fooling around with other men, and it wasn’t the first time it had happened. It happened with Andres (Tomas) and then with Daniel (Jose). Additionally, the defense used Salva’s daughter to make an already vulnerable man more vulnerable. His daughter requested Salva to come clean so the world would know the truth, and that’s when Salva finally contacted his lawyer, Maria Julita Martinez, telling him that he wanted to amend his statement. In the end, Salva collaborated with the justice department, for the sake of his daughter, and helped them to initiate the long-awaited trial.
Where Is Salva Now?
On 16th November 2020, almost a month after the trial, the court announced the final verdict and found Salva guilty of first-degree murder. However, his sentence was reduced to 17 years in prison because of his cooperation with the police. Without his statement, it would have been impossible for the authorities to expose Maje’s crime to the world and get justice for Antonio. As of now, Salva is still serving time in Picassent. He had been in prison since January 2018, which means he will likely be released somewhere around 2035, or earlier, in case of good behavior on his part.
