Jonathan Andic knew where to park the car and which route to take when, on a sunny morning on December 14, 2024, I drove him to his priest, Isak Andic, on one of the countless roads that cross Montserrat, a mountain mythical for its unique silhouette and emblem of Catalan nationalism. They had to make a brief excursion on foot along the dirt road that leads to the Benedictine monastery. They did not intend to ride the new kilometers of the route because the founder of Mango had fallen later. But I had themes to discuss. And Isak enjoys it, carrying on conversations with friends and family as he walks, like a wandering philosopher.
Jonathan knew the terrain precisely since, a few days earlier, he had been there, just as he ended up recognizing it before the Mousses, according to surrounding sources. For what? Like many things to do with the behavior of the mayor during this trip, which could not yet provide a complete portrait, this preliminary visit invites reading or opinion depending on the prism from which it is seen. For an investigator, this could lead to a suspicious lead supporting the hypothesis of a planned homicide. For the defense, who insists that it was an accident, Jonathan’s explanation exonerates him more than incriminates him: he went with his car to Collbató (40 kilometers from Barcelona) because he wanted to study the route, prepare for the excursion.
On the occasion of the first anniversary, this Sunday, of the death of the richest man in Catalonia, at the age of 71, the open judicial investigation continues without being able to clarify what happened in mid-December 14. While the father and son were minutes away, the businessman fell from a height of approximately 100 meters and died from the trauma caused by the fall. Did I stumble and fail at one of the few points on the route which, if traveling, led to a fatal outcome, leaving the path to a bushless embankment to those who clung to it, and from where it was observed, dangerous and slow, on a road? Did he kidnap Jonathan, the result of a kidnapping or perhaps as part of a premeditated act?
The Mossos d’Esquadra, the Fiscalía and the judge in charge of the case dedicated themselves to clarifying this unknown. Those consulted admit that it will not be easy to obtain a solid, definitive and categorical answer. Yes, he lands with a dubious juega, in view of a hypothetical judgment, in favor of Jonathan. There is currently no direct investigation into a homicide. There are no cameras on the mountain of Montserrat, there is no satellite pointing towards the scene of the tragedy; and no visitors appeared, one runner or a Sunday which, this morning, traveled the same path (quite busy) and became a direct testigo. But doubt also has a cross for Jonathan: those around him believe that, even if a complaint is filed against him, a halo of hope will persist, convinced that a large part of public opinion considers him, whatever happens, guilty of parricide.
Contradictions in mobile
What happened alone on the way to the mountain, he knew for sure about the mountain and Jonathan. And before the majestic silence of Montserrat, the Mossos analyzed the words of Jonathan, which he had sometimes declared as a witness. Officers estimated that the first time, a few hours after the fall, he was in shock. The doubts arose during his second, more in-depth visit and after being advised by a lawyer. The contradictions into which they ventured led them to explore new paths. Los Mossos did not rule out the accident, but it was not the only hypothesis on the table.
Since then, a small mixed group of police officers from the investigation unit of Martorell (judicial party to which Collbató belongs) and the central prefecture of Mossos, have armored themselves to explore the uneven path of the peripheral streets. They have collected clues that together invite a sospecha, awaiting explanations that help them complete the interpretation of the facts.
Los Mossos demanded answers from Mango: he asked what happened last time with the phone Jonathan took on the day of his success. A few weeks after the fall, he requested a new mobile from the company, although it took a few months to get it back and it was active on March 26, the company confirmed. This is the phone that, on September 9, the Mossos asked hijo after intercepting his Mercedes as he was leaving the Mango headquarters, in Palau-solita in Plegamans, and that he is analyzing. Why this change? According to Jonathan’s entourage, he only wanted the new iPhone model, but he forgot to get it until he lost or stole it while traveling abroad.
An investigation tangled with clues summarizes the complexity of the profile of its protagonists. Isak Andic was one of the greatest fortunes in Spain, with an inheritance to share, divorced and with a new couple, with an inheritance of several years: Estefanía Knuth. She was one of the first people to call Jonathan after his father’s fall and she came immediately. In his statement to the police, Knuth revealed that the priest and his father had a delicate history from the past: Isak left Jonathan’s hands as head of the company in 2014, but he had to return a year later to bail her out. The succession did not work out and the professional relationship between the priest and his son was affected. Furthermore, once the will was opened – the last of the many versions that the founder of Mango had left in writing – Knuth was unhappy with the five million he had left and started a conflict with the hereditaries (the three children in equal shares) in which he demanded more than 70.
Declaration on sight
A year after the death of Isak Andic, the investigation entrusted to the Court of First Instance number 5 of Martorell (Barcelona) reaches its final part. The sources consulted coincide in the sense that, after analyzing his cell phone, there was nothing other than formally listening to Jonathan while he was the subject of a judicial investigation. In the only statement on the case, the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) declared that it was a case declared secret, “residing” in the police, in which “procedurally”, until now, “it was not directed against any specific person”.
Once the Mossos complete the certificate with the evidence collected, the judge will decide whether to continue the case and, possibly, send it to court. To do this, we must first listen to the opinion of the parties: the Fiscalía and Jonathan’s defense. The team that advises the father of the founder of Mango focuses on the collection of materials (analysis of the terrain in the rain of previous days, study of the accidents that occurred in Montserrat) which support the hypothesis of the accident and therefore contribute to distorting the homicide. Its goal is for the file to be archived and never reach court.
The prison of Andic case reached all the rooms. Mango is facing a reputational attack that could affect the company, which has not yet happened: led by Toni Ruiz, the fashion empire lived its first year without its founder with great solvency. The family, for its part, is experiencing the process with anguish but “united in adversity”, according to sources close to them: their sisters (Judith and Sarah) and Jonathan’s uncle (Nahman, co-founder of Mango) showed their unconditional support and, above all, they expressed that they believed in their innocence.
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