Naman Shrestha
In November 1996, Juan Antonio Álvarez Litben died under suspicious circumstances, but the investigators didn’t dive deep into the case until nearly two decades later. Initially, they treated it as an open-and-shut case, but when the murder of Ana María Páez Capitan was linked to someone close to the deceased man, the case generated new interest. In Netflix’s ‘Angi: Fake Life, True Crime,’ the sudden demise of the businessman is explored in a detailed manner as the officials took a fresh look at the evidence. It also features Juan’s two sisters, who pressured the authorities into reopening the case.
Juan Antonio Alvarez Litben Was Found Dead in His Room in 1996
Born around the mid-1950s, Juan Antonio Álvarez Litben was born and brought up in a seemingly loving household alongside his parents and siblings, including two sisters, Rita and Silvia Alvarez Litben. After completing his education, he became a businessman and in the later phase of his career, started managing The Garage, the number one bar in the Canary Islands’ Playa del Inglés at the time. One day, when he was leaving his workplace in a taxi, he noticed the site of an accident involving a woman named Maria Angeles Molina “Angi” Fernandez, who had suffered minor injuries.
Juan didn’t think twice and took Angi to the hospital, where he would visit her every other day for the time she was receiving treatment. She introduced herself as the daughter of a prominent judge. Eventually, they formed a romantic connection and got into a relationship. As their relationship intensified, the two tied the knot and entered a new chapter in their lives. In the following years, they entered parenthood as they welcomed a loving daughter into the world. Not only was he a devoted husband, but he was also a doting father who focused on his daughter and wanted to give her all the good things in the world.
However, his dreams of watching her grow up to be a woman were shattered on the fateful evening of November 23, 1996, as the 40-year-old businessman met his untimely and mysterious demise in his house. At the time, Angi and their daughter were on vacation. When the authorities arrived at the scene, they found him on the floor with one of his hands resting on the bed. The house was in a disarray, with the safe unlocked. Moreover, his wallet and wristwatch were also missing from the scene. In the end, given the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death, it was announced as a suicide or accidental poisoning.
Juan’s Wife Was Linked to His Murder After a 2012 Murder Conviction
For more than a decade, Juan Antonio Álvarez Litben’s demise was considered an open-and-shut case, with the evidence pointing toward poisoning or suicide. It all changed when his wife, Maria Angeles Molina “Angi” Fernandez, was linked to the 2008 murder of her employee and friend, Ana María Páez Capitán. After Angi was sentenced to 22 years for killing Ana in 2012, Juan’s sisters, Rita and Silvia, spearheaded the reopening of their brother’s suspicious death as they believed that she was also responsible for Juan’s 1996 murder. It was Angi who reported Juan’s death to the police on the fateful night.
According to Angi, she had returned home from a trip to Barcelona with their daughter on the evening of November 23, 1996. She claimed that she couldn’t get into the house as Juan didn’t answer the door. Assuming that he hadn’t returned from his workplace, she reportedly called The Garage from a neighbor’s phone to ask about his whereabouts, only to find out that he had long left the office. Angi allegedly climbed into the house through a window and let her daughter inside by unlocking the door from the inside. She claimed that a couple of hours later, she found her husband’s remains inside his room.
However, as the authorities dug deeper into the case, they learned that Angi had enrolled her daughter in a school in Barcelona in September 1996, where she also had an affair with another man. In addition, Juan had reportedly hired a private detective to find out what Angi used to do on her frequent trips to Barcelona. As per reports, she used to spend thousands of euros on gambling. After his demise, she also inherited his assets, which the authorities alleged could be another motive for her to get rid of Juan. Given all these pieces of evidence against Angi, the investigators suspected her. However, due to a lack of concrete and physical evidence, the case remains unsolved.
Read More: Ana María Páez Capitán Murder Details and Investigation Timeline
