Isabel Fuentes was brutally attacked with a claw hammer while sleeping on her sofa.
She survived the assault against the odds. But 37 days later, while still recovering in a hospital in Ourense, Spain, her attacker returned during the night and stabbed her to death.
The devastating case is explored in the new Netflix documentary Unprotected: Murder in Galicia, which investigates what unfolded during those 37 days, why authorities failed to keep the 66-year-old safe and the shocking identity of the person who wanted her dead.
“He’s a calm killer, he’s a patient killer, he’s a person who deceives the public,” Sgt. Eduardo Novoa says in the documentary. “He killed Isabel twice. Twice in extremely cruel fashion.”
Here is what to know about the tragic case:
Who Was Isabel Fuentes?
Friends and relatives remembered Isabel for her warm smile. Although she had many admirers, she had dated very few men.
That changed when she met Aniceto Rodríguez, a former bar owner and butcher from Riós, Spain, while she was working in a shop. He would eventually become her husband.
Eduardo Pérez Jr., the son of Isabel’s cousin, described them as the “perfect couple.” Others recalled how devoted Aniceto appeared to be toward his wife.
What Happened to Isabel Fuentes?
April 1, 2015, began like an ordinary evening for Isabel. She and Aniceto spent the night at the home of her cousin Corona Salgado and Corona’s husband, Eduardo Pérez “Perreras,” who lived directly across the street.
At about 1 a.m., Isabel and Aniceto returned home. Shortly afterward, Perreras was suddenly jolted awake.
“Aniceto yelled, ‘Perreras, someone killed Isabel. Isabel got killed,’” he recalled in the documentary. “I put on some pants and went over there shoeless and shirtless.”
Inside the house, he saw that “the windows were broken, a flower pot had been knocked onto the floor, there was a hammer and the floor was covered in blood.”
Isabel was still on the sofa where the attack had taken place, barely clinging to life.
“When I examined Isabel in the recovery unit at the hospital in Ourense, the nature of her wounds made us think that whoever inflicted them wanted to be certain she would die,” forensic examiner Fernando Serulla explains in the documentary. “The injuries were caused by three precise blows directed exclusively at the head.”
He said the blows had been delivered with the claw end of the hammer.
Police Question Aniceto Rodríguez’s Account of the Night
Aniceto told investigators that burglars had broken into the house and violently attacked his wife.
“From the very beginning, there were several clues indicating that Aniceto’s story was a lie,” Novoa, who led the judicial police team in Verín at the time, says. “We immediately noticed that nothing had been stolen. There had been no theft. But when we examined the scene, we also saw that the timing described in the report did not make sense.”
Aniceto claimed he went straight to bed after arriving home, while Isabel remained in the living room watching television. He told police that when he reached the kitchen, the attackers had already fled. Investigators, however, found it difficult to believe he had not heard the breaking glass or Isabel’s screams—or encountered the intruders as they searched two handbags.
A set of keys was discovered outside in the garden, indicating that the attackers had somehow taken time to locate the correct key to enter through the garden door.
As Novoa explained, “All of that would have had to be accomplished in six or seven seconds, which is how long it would take Aniceto to cover the distance between his bedroom and the kitchen.”
Evidence also indicated that Isabel had still been lying down when she was attacked, suggesting she may have been asleep.
Authorities began to suspect that Aniceto was responsible and grew increasingly alarmed that Isabel remained in danger.
“The attack Isabel suffered was so brutal,” Novoa explained, “that I was certain Aniceto would try again as soon as he had another opportunity.”
Her friends and relatives, however, believed Aniceto was a loving and devoted husband.
“In the ICU, no relative spent as much time with the patient as he did,” Corona recalled in the documentary. “He would say, ‘My queen, when you get better, we’ll go on vacation. We’ll go anywhere you want.’”
Even so, investigators brought their case against Aniceto before a judge in Verín on three separate occasions, seeking his arrest. The judge concluded that authorities had only “mere suspicions,” not evidence strong enough to withstand scrutiny in court, Spain’s ABC reported.
The judge also denied requests to monitor Aniceto’s phone or prevent him from visiting Isabel in the hospital, according to the outlet.
Isabel Fuentes Stabbed to Death at Hospital
On the night of May 8, 2015, Aniceto told nurses he intended to stay with his wife. By then, Isabel still could not speak, but she had been transferred to a general ward with less supervision.
The 77-year-old brought a boning knife into the ward and stabbed Isabel to death before attempting suicide by cutting his throat, El Pais reported.
A security guard stopped Aniceto, according to Martin CID Magazine, and he was taken into surgery.
“When I learned Isabel Fuentes’ story, what affected me most was not only the crime,” writer and director Jorge Laplace said about taking on the project, “but an uncomfortable question I could not answer: How could she be murdered inside a hospital when everyone knew she was at risk?”
Isabel’s death sparked outrage throughout the community, with many questioning why stronger measures had not been taken to protect her.
What Happened to Aniceto Rodríguez?
Although investigators considered several possible explanations, Aniceto’s motive for killing Isabel was never established.
He was eventually arrested and convicted in June 2017 of attempted murder and completed homicide, according to the documentary. Under Spain’s law addressing gender-based violence, he received a 31-year prison sentence.
Aniceto died in prison in 2018.