Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalonia's regional police, are scientifically reconstructing a route in Montserrat walked on 1 December by Maria Julia Lüderwaldt, therapist to the Andic family, and Johana, a former collaborator identified as a British English teacher.

Investigators suspect the pair took the Camí de les Feixades, the path followed 13 days later by Isak Andic and his son Jonathan, where Isak Andic died after falling down a ravine of about 100 metres on 14 December 2024. Establishing the precise itinerary is a key evidential issue in the judicial investigation into his death.

For people in Collbató and Montserrat following the case, the police work is intended to determine whether the route was also shown to Jonathan Andic on 7 December, according to La Vanguardia's reporting.

Messages and phones form part of police evidence

La Vanguardia reported that Lüderwaldt had asked Johana, who knew the mountains, to recommend a hiking route for a patient other than Jonathan Andic that included a ravine. Johana is reported to have personally shown Lüderwaldt the route on 1 December.

Messages exchanged by the two women before and after Isak Andic's death are held by investigators after both handed over their iPhones for police to download their contents, the newspaper reported.

  • 1 December: Lüderwaldt and Johana are reported to have walked a route in Montserrat.
  • 7 December: Johana later told police that she showed Jonathan Andic the Collbató route.
  • 14 December 2024: Isak Andic, 72, died after a fall on the route investigators are examining.

People close to both women have denied that their 1 December walk was the path leading to the Salnitre caves. Mossos are reconstructing the excursion to establish whether it was the same route later taken with Jonathan Andic.

Accounts of the 7 December walk differ

Johana gave evidence to Mossos at the Martorell police station, within the judicial district that includes Collbató. She said Lüderwaldt asked her to accompany Jonathan Andic on the 7 December walk as part of emotional work aimed at improving his difficult relationship with his father, La Vanguardia reported.

She told police that the therapist had asked her to create an extreme situation at the edge of a precipice. Jonathan Andic has maintained in police and court statements that he learned of the route from friends, rather than mentioning Johana's presence, according to the report.

Jonathan Andic is under investigation in the case. His defence has argued that the involvement of third parties in the excursion supports its position that there was no premeditation or preparation with homicidal intent.

The defence is awaiting a decision from the ninth chamber of the Audiencia de Barcelona, the provincial court, on an appeal filed by lawyer Cristóbal Martell on 28 May against the order sending Jonathan Andic to prison. La Vanguardia reported that, after the August recess, the defence was considering whether to request a further court statement from him.

Reported by lavanguardia.com, elpais.com, elperiodico.com, Redacción digital Informativos Telecinco, efe.com, elnacional.cat, elmundo.es, RTVE.es, La Vanguardia Barcelona.