A British helicopter pilot faces up to 20 years in a Spanish prison for killing a man after he feared their sexual encounter was being live-streamed and he would end up dead himself.
Aaron Rainbow, 50, is accused of knifing Oscar Tornero Rovira, 38, six times, and has been in custody for almost three years after their planned night of passion took a sinister twist following a cocktail of drugs.
In what the Briton’s family have compared to a ‘Netflix thriller’, they say Spanish police have botched the investigation and failed to look into electronic devices that could back up his fears he was ‘being watched by others and set up’.
Mr Rainbow claims he acted in self-defense and ‘fight or flight’ kicked in after he became confused and paranoid following a six-hour drug binge at the Spaniard’s isolated rural apartment in Vallgorguina, 30 minutes north of Barcelona in February 2023.
Neighbours had been alerted to the stabbing after hearing screams and when police arrived, they found Mr Rovira dead and Mr Rainbow in a ‘confused state’ – forcing them to fire their guns in the air to subdue him.
He immediately confessed to the murder but insisted it was to protect his own life. His family has now spoken to the Daily Mail ahead of his trial opening in Barcelona and expressed their fears of a miscarriage of justice.
Specifically, they point to a Wi-Fi router that was in the house and later removed by a friend of the victim and returned with its internal components destroyed, preventing data recovery.
They say that a subsequent data log provided to the court was fake and that provider Orange has never supplied crucial records showing logged-on users. They also say that a phone App called iCSee on the victim’s phone has not been properly examined.
Aaron Rainbow, 50, has been in custody for almost three years after his planned night of passion with Oscar Tornero Rovira took a sinister twist
In court documents, it was alleged that Mr Rovira, who worked as an escort, had been hired after Mr Rainbow flew into Spain
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, Mr Rainbow’s brother Dan Rainbow said: ‘After his arrest, Aaron said that he had been drugged, and he was aware of people watching online via cameras and he feared for his life.
‘He wanted to get out of there because he had an uneasy feeling. He grabbed the knife in self-defense and that’s when he fatally stabbed the guy he was in the house with.
‘It really is like something out of a Netflix show, but this is real life here.
‘Aaron said what made him think people were watching is that Oscar started making hand signals to the camera and he thought “s*** – someone is watching, I need to get out of here sharpish”.
‘The guy made a dash for the door, my brother thought he was letting people into the house, so he grabbed a knife, the fight has started and he’s then fatally stabbed him but we say he was put into a position of fear, and the fight or flight response just kicked in.’
Dan, who like his brother is originally from leafy Weybridge, Surrey, added: ‘The main focus is that they are not looking at some serious evidence and the standout is the router that was removed from the crime scene the day after the incident by a friend of the deceased.
‘We believe people were connected to that router at the time, but it’s been professionally sabotaged, and the data cannot be extracted but the prosecution just don’t seem to be concerned.
‘We think that at least two other people were in close proximity to the house and connected to that router the night all this happened, and it’s critical to Aaron’s legitimate defence case.
‘We believe this was a secret sex studio and that Aaron was duped into going there, drugged, with the intention of whatever was going to happen being filmed and watched by people, with who knows what would happen at the end.
Authorities at the scene of the attack. Mr Rainbow is said to have stabbed Mr Rovira six times
Mr Rainbow is said to have believed his encounter with Mr Rovira was being live-streamed and claims he killed the victim in self-defence
‘My brother thinks he was the victim of a live show and says he heard heavy breathing from somewhere in the room that night via a camera and he really feared for his life.
‘We just don’t trust the police because they say that nothing of relevance was found on the electronic devices, but we say they haven’t been properly examined, and my brother is facing a long time behind bars.
‘We have our own IT experts sending documents to court saying the router was damaged, but no one is listening to us which makes us think they are protecting someone.
‘We have reached the point of maximum frustration, and, quite frankly, it feels as if the justice system can do whatever it wants and that’s just not acceptable. We need to know why they are not actively going after this data.
‘Surely the destruction of that router speaks volumes, and the prosecution and police should be saying we need to fully investigate why this has happened, but they are not interested.
‘We say people were connected to that router, and it makes you wonder who it was. Are there police officers connected? People from the judiciary? It just doesn’t make sense why they are not interested.
‘What is worrying us is that the court may put someone away without having a full picture of the evidence. This is real life here.’
Dan added: ‘I didn’t even know my brother was gay until all this happened. He’s in prison and his life has been taken away from him, he has a life to get back and career to get back to.
‘He and the family are just waiting for the justice system to deliver and we hoped they would, but it’s clear now they have no intention of doing that. It makes us think was something going on at a higher level?
‘If my brother didn’t do what he did how do we know he would have got out of there alive that night? There is more to this than meets the eye.
‘Aaron is a kind and gentle human being who is a highly respected professional and has no history of any violent behaviour or criminal record.
‘His actions on the night were initiated through extreme fear and in our opinion self-defense; however, the legal system has chosen not to fully investigate the truth.’
The victim worked in a fashion store in Barcelona during the day, but also hired himself out as a male escort and had been known to Mr Rainbow for six years after they met online.
The indictment for the trial, which begins in Barcelona alleges Mr Rainbow, ‘hired the victim for a night of sex and drugs’ after flying into the Spanish city that night.
It adds that Mr Rainbow attacked him in an ‘unforeseen’ manner when he was ‘in the tranquillity of his home and in the context of intimate relations that he was maintaining with the attacker’.
Prosecutor Felix Martin – who is demanding a 20-year sentence – says a cocktail of drugs, including date rape substance GHB, cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine and MDMA, were taken the night of the stabbing.
Court files say Mr Rovira jumped three metres in a bid to escape and was later found dead on the ground
It is alleged that neighbours called for help after they heard screams from the house
The indictment adds: ‘During the meeting they installed a mattress in the living room of the house and arranged various sex toys, Viagra and narcotic substances.
‘The party began at 9.45pm. At around 2.45am, the defendant went to the kitchen and took a knife, with which he stabbed the victim several times.
‘Oscar tried to escape. He went to the door, went down the terrace stairs and tried to escape, but the outer door was locked, so the young man had to jump to the street from a height of three meters.
‘He managed to walk a few steps but collapsed seconds later due to the severity of his injuries.’
Prosecutors say cameras were installed in the house for security but were switched off the night of the incident.
Mr Rainbow’s lawyer Pedro Javier Gomez Martinez told the Daily Mail: ‘Whether we are dealing with a drug-induced delirium or a real situation is something that only the destroyed router can clarify.
‘But so far, nothing has been investigated despite multiple requests, and we suspect evidence has been destroyed and this evidence could prove his innocence in the case.’
