A Spanish court has sentenced a 53-year-old woman and her 33-year-old partner to nearly 14 years in prison each for killing their 56-year-old roommate, who also owned the residence, in the Spanish city of Alicante. The pair dismembered his body with power tools and burned the remains in an attempt to conceal the crime and take over his home and pension.
The case was heard by a jury in the Alicante Provincial Court. The events occurred on a date not precisely determined but shortly before June 12, 2024, in the Virgen del Carmen neighborhood. The victim was a man living alone without a partner or children. He had medical problems that kept him mostly indoors and shared the apartment with the woman, whose partner stayed there occasionally.
According to court documents, the convicted couple “by mutual agreement, driven by their desire to make use of the housing and keep the money of the victim, ended his life.”
The exact method of the killing could not be established by autopsy. However, forensic evidence showed “fractures in the skull and in the jaw of the deceased” that were considered “indicative of the homicidal action.”
After the killing, the couple “dismembered the corpse with a radial machine and a knife and burned the remains after pouring gasoline on them in two different places on the outskirts of the city of Alicante.”
On or around June 12, 2024, they purchased “a radial machine, a grinder and a pack of 10 metal cutting discs” along with other tools for about €38 in cash. These tools, together with a knife later found in the apartment, “they used to cut off the head and the extremities of the corpse with the intention of being able to remove it from the housing without arousing the suspicions of the neighbors.”
Police found ample amounts of blood stains in the room where they believe the victim was dismembered.
The torso was placed in the male accused’s Fiat 500, and according to court documents, was taken to “a dirt path on the so-called Portell de la Serreta road, a rural area located near the Fontcalent prison.”
There, they took the torso, poured gasoline on it, and set it on fire. Their goal was to hide their fingerprints and other evidence. The other parts of the body, the limbs and the head, were deposited at different locations within a mile of each other.
The pair then used the victim’s bank card to withdraw a total of 820 euros in cash. The apartment itself was described as being in a “lamentable state of dirtiness, full of garbage and without the slightest hygiene.”
The convicted individuals admitted that they dismembered the corpse “with the intention of avoiding problems after having found him dead.”
However, they denied having ended the victim’s life, claiming instead that he had died from a heatstroke. They also admitted to carrying out the money withdrawals with the victim’s bank book.
However, the court determined, based on all the evidence, that the two had ended the man’s life.
The sentence consists of 12 years for homicide plus 1 year, 9 months, and 1 day for the continued fraud offense. The verdict is not final and may be appealed to the higher court of the Valencian Community.
