Defense says Mango founder's phone data shows two steps before fatal fall, argues accident not homicide

The fatal mountain hike

Isak Andic, founder of the Mango fashion chain, died on 14 December 2024 after falling roughly 100 metres while hiking with his son Jonathan on Montserrat mountain near Barcelona. Jonathan told police he was walking ahead when he heard a noise of stones, a shout, and did not see his father fall. A judge in Martorell later attributed the death to homicide, and Jonathan Andic was detained before being released on bail in May 2026.

The 39-second window

Defense lawyer Cristóbal Martell argues that the data extracted from Isak Andic's phone by the Mossos d'Esquadra shows the businessman was stationary, without any 'harmonic' movement recorded, for 39 seconds before taking two steps and plunging into the void. The defense says this sequence is compatible with an accidental stumble and slip, not an intentional push. They accuse investigators of omitting the two steps to support the homicide theory, calling it a 'patent display of bias'. A 3D reconstruction with mannequins, submitted to the court, suggested the fall could have been caused by a stumble and a slide triggered by knee osteoarthritis.

These two steps give space and sequence to the stumble and the accidental fall.

The Mossos had previously concluded that Isak Andic was not using his phone when he fell, because the device was found in his front trouser pocket and the images and video recovered came from the beginning of the Collbató trail, not the fall zone. The defense maintains that Jonathan never claimed his father was distracted by photography as the cause of the fall; he only mentioned it to explain why Isak Andic was lagging behind.

Leaked messages and prior condemnation

The defense sharply criticises the steady drip of leaked personal messages and intimate details, including a psychoanalytic therapy exchange in which Jonathan acknowledged his father's fear that he might kill him. They say these leaks are designed to achieve a 'prior social condemnation' before any final ruling, and that many assertions make sense only within a therapeutic context. They also reproach investigators for producing 'interpretative reports' aimed at eroding the accused's reputation.

The use and dissemination of certain phrases only pursues a prior social condemnation.

Mountain unit's inconclusive findings

The Catalan police mountain intervention unit carried out multiple simulations on the path, wall and slope but concluded it could not determine the causes of the fall or the involvement of third parties. The defense stresses that no piece of evidence is conclusive and that the investigation should stick to facts, not value-laden assessments.