A Spanish porn actor has been charged with murder in the death of a fashion photographer who died after inhaling hallucinogenic toad venom, according to reports.
Nacho Vidal, 47, is accused of killing photographer Jose Luis Abad by giving him Colorado River Toad venom during a 2019 “shaman” ritual in his home, a judge in Xativa ruled this week, according to the Spanish newspaper Las Provincias.
The venom from the rare toad, found in northern Mexico and the southern US, is used by some as a psychedelic drug — and Vidal gave it to Abad to try to cure his cocaine addiction, the newspaper said.
Vidal, whose real name is Ignacio Jorda Gonzalez, was arrested in the case last year.
Vidal described the psychedelic effect of the venom when he first used it in a YouTube video, the Times of London said in a report.
“My body turned into light, the light formed part of the ground, the sky, the plants, nature, the universe,” he says. “I was the universe. I was everything.”
But the judge ruled that Vidal failed to take precautions in case things went wrong when he gave the venom to Abad — and noted that the venom is not recognized by Spanish health officials for medical use.
According to the Times, dogs bitten by the deadly toad have died or been paralyzed.
Vidal has starred in over 600 pornographic films, according to the reports.