Who is Nacho Vidal? Porn star killed man by making him inhale psychedelic ‘toad venom’ to cure cocaine addiction
Popular Spanish porn star Nacho Vidal has been charged with the murder of a fashion photographer named Jose Luis Abad. Abad died after he inhaled hallucinogenic toad venom in 2019.
According to reports, Vidal — whose real name is Ignacio Jorda Gonzalez — was trying to help Abad cure his cocaine addiction by giving him the Colorado River Toad venom in a shaman ritual he was performing at his home. Vidal was arrested in connection to this case last year. A judge in Xativa charged Vidal with murder, as he failed to take any safety precautions in case things didn't go well following the ingestion of venom. The judge also pointed out that the venom is not recognized by the Spanish health authorities or officials for medical use.
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Who is Nacho Vidal?
Nacho Vidal is a Spanish pornographic performer, director, producer, writer, and camera operator. The 47-year-old quit school at the age of 14 to help out his family financially after they lost all their wealth in the 1987 stock market crash. He was a boxer and a member of a punk band before he ventured into the pornography industry.
Vidal began his career in the porn industry in 1994, when he performed live sex shows with his girlfriend- Sara Bernat in Barcelona. During this time he met the director of the Barcelona International Erotic Film Festival, José María Ponce, who brought Vidal into films. In 1998, Vidal was brought to Hollywood after he became a protégé of Rocco Siffredi.
Vidal has starred in over 1500 movies, and directed and produced several films. He even starred in a few Spanish mainstream movies and TV shows. In May 2005, he announced that he was retiring from acting in pornographic movies, and married Colombian model Franceska Jaimes. The couple separated just after six weeks of their marriage. He returned to acting in porn films shortly after the split. The couple divorced in 2015, and have two children together.
In 2019, Vidal revealed that he had Reiter's Syndrome, a highly painful, sometimes chronic or lifelong, reactive arthritis. He has previously promoted the use of the toad's venom via YouTube videos after a 2019 study suggested the substance may have therapeutic properties including easing anxiety and depression. Vidal claimed in a 2016 YouTube video that the effects helped him "reconnect with his soul" and "with the Earth and Mother Nature." After that, he suggested that his friends also try the venom to "help them clean up their acts."
What is toad venom?
The venom of Colorado River Toad, a rare toad found in northern Mexico and the southern US, is used as a psychedelic drug. The toad venom contains a substance known as 5-MeO-DMT, which stands for 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine. The venom is extracted, dried, and vaporized, from the toad's glands that are present on their head and hind legs.
An article in John Hopkins Magazine by Brennen Jensen people described the effects of 5-MeO-DMT, as "a powerful, mystical experience—a feeling of pure awareness, of freedom from self-limitations, and of a bond with something greater. Many refer to the drug's effects as ineffable, literally, indescribable in words. For some, perception of time, vision, and sound can be distorted. And then, in less than an hour, the trip is over, leaving its users with a new, mood-altering perspective on their lives.”