Walter Finch
AN Algerian mother and son have been arrested in Alicante on charges of kidnapping, torturing and killing an 18-year-old boy, also from Algeria.
The mother, 81, and the son, 40 are believed to have subjected the victim to over 15 hours of torment while sending horrifying images to the family in his home country via social media.
Their goal was to extort a ransom of €30,000 by showing them their son in a bleeding, bruised and in a vegetative state, his face covered up with a filthy mop.
The family contacted the authorities in Algeria, who in turn called the Algerian consulate in Alicante.
At the same time, the mother called an ambulance as her victim lay dying.
They told suspicious police and paramedics they had just stumbled upon the scene and found the victim like that when they arrived.
He was still alive at that moment, but succumbed to his injuries 24 hours after being admitted to the General Hospital on September 8.
It did not take investigators long to piece together what had happened and arrest the alleged culprits, despite their protestations that they were friends with the victim.
The videos and photos sent to the family fatally incriminated the duo.
The crime scene was covered in blood, splashed over the furniture and even the victim’s mattress, which had been turned over in an attempt to conceal the stains.
Comparing the photos to the scene, it was determined that they had been taken at the same location where the victim was discovered.
The mop that the old woman was caught using to clean the bloodstains had also been used to cover the victim’s face in the disturbing photos.
The investigation further revealed the presence of clothing belonging to the arrested man, clearly seen in the videos and photos, along with the victim’s documentation, which had been torn and hidden inside the bathroom cistern.
Additionally, the weapon used for torture was discovered.
The nightmare began for the victim over a dispute arising from allegations that he had stolen money, documents, and keys from his eventual killers.
In the early hours of the fateful day, the suspect arrived at the victim’s apartment demanding to get his items back.
Witnesses reported a violent altercation during which the victim appeared unfazed by his aggressor.
The confrontation escalated until the man hit the boy on the head with the murder weapon, dealing out severe blunt force trauma which would ultimately kill him.
From that point onwards and over the next fifteen hours, according to police, the suspect, possibly with the assistance of his mother, subjected the victim to continuous and unnecessary suffering.
They took advantage of the situation to try and shock and scare the family back home into paying out money in return for saving the boy’s life.
The horrifying images, apparently publicly viewable, prompted two friends of the victim, unaware of the situation, to go to the police station and report what they had seen on his social media profile.
The suspects face charges of murder, kidnapping, and invasion of privacy.
The male suspect has been placed in provisional custody, while the woman was released after her appearance in court.
READ MORE:
- Woman in her 70s ‘is repeatedly stabbed by her partner’ at luxury home on Marbella’s Golden Mile: Victim remains in a serious condition as police make one arrest
- British couple, 65 and 68, crushed to death by oncoming traffic after falling from motorbike in Spain’s Asturias: Intense yellow alert weather blamed
- Body of woman is found dumped by a zebra crossing on Spain’s Costa del Sol: Victim aged ‘around 25’ showed ‘signs of asphyxiation’ after being found by group of young people
