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SANTIAGO, Chile. Ana Alejandra Almonacid Aguilera was a 39-year-old lesbian woman. She lived in Puerto Montt, in southern Chile, and died on April 15 after spending a month in intensive care. A man identified by authorities as José Omar Barría doused her with gasoline in her home and set her on fire.

Barría was a fugitive for all those days, but police arrested him on April 25. Over the weekend, the Puerto Montt Prosecutor's Office reported that his body was found in an isolation cell at the Alto Bonito prison while the investigation was underway. He was charged with the crime of intimate partner femicide. Prosecutor Pamela Salgado told local media that the investigation ruled out the involvement of third parties, indicating that it was a suicide. 

Carla Barrientos, Ana's sister, confirmed to Presentes that the gasoline attack occurred after Barría learned of her sexual orientation. The family and the Prosecutor's Office kept the lesbophobic aspect of the crime confidential until recently so as not to hinder the investigation.

“There was no family relationship or connection between the accused and the victim. They only knew each other. (…) It was determined that the motive for the attack by the accused was solely and exclusively due to the victim's sexual orientation,” Puerto Montt prosecutor Nathalie Yonsson told the local press.

“We condemn the lesbian killer and his entire protective circle.”

Last week, at a protest outside the Prosecutor's Office and hours before Barría committed suicide, Ana's sister said he was involved in a homicide in 2019 and had been a fugitive ever since. Presentes attempted to confirm this information with the Puerto Montt Prosecutor's Office, but there was no response by the time of publication.

“If he had been in prison, none of this would have happened. The Chilean justice system is to blame,” Karla said in a video taken during the protest and uploaded to Instagram by the Melipulli Lesbofeminist Collective , an organization that, along with the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh), has been supporting the Almonacid family.

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A post shared by Lesbofeminists of Mellipi (@colectiva_lesbipullipm)

The family demands that the authorities continue the investigation, regardless of the outcome for the accused.

“We condemn this cowardly act because a family was left without the justice they expected. We condemn the murderer and his entire circle of protectors. We condemn the institution for failing to search for and find the killer,” said the Melipulli Lesbofeminist Collective in a statement.

Minister for Women: “This ministry also looks out for lesbians”

Immediately after the attack, Ana was transferred to Dr. Eduardo Schütz Schroeder Hospital in Puerto Montt. Doctors had told the family that she would remain in intensive care for at least six months and that recovery outside the hospital could take up to a year. Ana did not survive, and according to information from MOVILH, the burns covered 53% of her body. In medical terms, this condition is known as "extensive burns."

Both Movilh and the National Women's Service and Gender Equity (Sernameg) announced legal action in this case. "This ministry also looks out for lesbians," said Minister Antonia Orellana on her Twitter account.

According to Movilh, this would be the first crime investigated as an intimate femicide based on the victim's sexual orientation, following the 2020 legal amendment with the approval of Law 21.212, also known as the Gabriela Law.

The law expanded the crime of femicide to cases that occur outside of a marital relationship and its article 390 establishes the grounds in which a death will be considered with gender-related reasons.