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Police control in Madrid
Photo: Cavan Images / IMAGO
The alleged murderer of a woman who disappeared in Spain almost 20 years ago was caught a few months before the statute of limitations expired.
The victim's partner at the time, who was only arrested as a suspect on Wednesday in Madrid, has now confessed to the crime, the state television broadcaster RTVE and other media reported, citing a spokesman for the Spanish criminal police.
According to Spanish law, the act would have become statute-barred in February 2023.
Coincidence made a decisive contribution to the clarification of the case, which had caused a nationwide sensation and months of searches.
Market vendor Juana Canal disappeared in Madrid on February 22, 2003 at the age of 38.
The first parts of their buried remains were only found by chance in 2019 by a hiker in a rural area near the municipality of Navalacruz in the province of Ávila, a good 100 kilometers northwest of the capital.
The find led to the resumption of the investigation.
The victim's partner at the time was then added to the group of suspects and observed for months.
Among other things, because the 53-year-old comes from Ávila and owns a finca near the site.
His cell phone had been bugged.
During a conversation with an acquaintance, the perpetrator had recently blabbed and, among other things, indicated that another person was involved in the transport of the body from Madrid to Navalacruz, it said.
Collapsed during interrogation
The police assume that the woman was murdered after an argument with her partner in her own apartment, where her two children from a previous relationship lived at the time.
The suspect reportedly collapsed during interrogation on Thursday and confessed to the murder.
He dismembered the body and buried the remains in different places.
He now wants to lead the police to the places where he buried other parts of the body, it said.
sak/dpa