When questioned at the police station, the influencer’s husband offers an intricate and contradictory version of the facts, trying to defend himself from the charges of attempted murder
“The blood was gushing.” With these words, Jonathan Maldonato36, describes the dramatic moment he found his wife, the Moroccan influencer Soukraina El Basri, known as Siu, who emerged from a coma yesterday after a deep wound to her chest. Questioned by the public prosecutor Paola Francesca Ranieri and the head of the Flying Squad of the Biella police headquarters, Maldonato offers an intricate and contradictory version of the facts, trying to defend himself from attempted murder charges.
Maldonato’s version
Maldonato says that on the morning of May 16th his wife she woke up very nervous: “For every little thing he got angry with me, even for stupid things. That morning she was angry because I hadn’t given the girls the same color socks,” she explained. “She was very nervous during this period, due to the death of her brother in Morocco, the health conditions of another brother and the current behavior of an ex of hers who persistently contacted her on Instagram”. According to the man, Soukraina had a relationship with this ex a year before they got together: “My wife had also attempted suicide at that time ingesting drugs. Following that gesture, she was hospitalized in psychiatry in 2012. We got together in 2013 and have been married for six years. Her parents had kicked her out of the house because they didn’t accept our relationship.”
The morning of the accident
Regarding the crucial moments of the morning of May 16, Maldonato describes an escalation of tension that culminated in violence. “He kept getting upset. He slapped me on the neck for no reason. I left her alone and went into the kitchen with the girls to prepare breakfast,” he said. “She started complaining that our cat, Gipsy, had disappeared and I told her that someone who saw it on social media might have stolen it, because she publishes everything. She got even more nervous.” The situation escalated when Soukraina took a jar of the girls’ hair oil and threw it at Maldonato. “I took the girls and we went to their bedroom. Then I heard a loud noise coming from the kitchen. Unfortunately it’s a noise I know very well because she always does this. When he can’t handle the pressure he commits self-harm.”
The scene of the wounding
Maldonato found Soukraina wounded in the chest. “When I got to the kitchen, she had something in her hand with a closed fist. There wasn’t much light, I didn’t see what she had in her hand. I intervened and she raised her hands causing something to fall to the ground,” he said. “I asked her: what the fuck did you do? And she showed me her wound. Blood gushed“. Then, he described the excitement of the 118 call: “He just said ‘help me’. I was on a video call with the doctors until the ambulance arrived. The girls saw their mother going out with the paramedics. When I returned to the kitchen I saw scissors on the floor.”
The contradictory versions
Initially, Maldonato said that Soukraina had injured herself accidentally, but he later changed his story, stating that she had attempted suicide. “I told what Soukraina had asked me, that is, that she slipped and I didn’t inform her family at Soukraina’s request, so as not to worry her mother.” When asked why she maintained that story even in the emergency room, she replied: “I didn’t think about it. I wanted to respect his last will.”
Accusations of mistreatment
Despite declarations of love and understanding, Maldonato admitted that there had been numerous arguments: “Let’s have that 5-minute argument and then make up,” he said. However, Soukraina had reported Maldonato for mistreatment in May 2023, a complaint later withdrawn in December. Maldonato claims that the complaint was forced by the police and that he and Soukraina loved each other. Further clinical investigations are expected in the next few hours to evaluate the consequences reported by Soukraina, who is remained in cardiac arrest for over half an hour. The investigators hope to be able to listen to Soukraina to definitively clarify what happened in the villa in Chiavazza in Biella, where she lived with her husband, now in prison on charges of attempted murder. The contradictory statements of Maldonato and the testimonies collected so far have not convinced magistrates and police. Soukraina’s chest wound is not compatible with an object indicated by Maldonato, and numerous witnesses speak of a relationship characterized by jealousy and violence.
Social mobilization
Meanwhile, he has been called up via social media for next Monday in Biella a solidarity rally for Soukraina. “We want each other alive” is the title of the event. “We are angry and sore for yet another episode of violence that sees our city hit the headlines. This is why we organized a solidarity rally for Soukraina El Basri, the woman who was on the verge of death and admitted to intensive care a few days ago,” we read in the flyer.
