Simon Hunter
The Guardia Civil have made a grisly discovery in the Madrid town of Soto del Real, close to the home where a couple were found dead last week. A member of the public alerted the authorities of a strong smell in scrubland, leading them to discover a human head hidden in a bag.
The head is thought to belong to the dead woman discovered last week alongside her husband. The authorities are working along the theory that he murdered her, and then killed himself.
The human remains – which were found late on Monday night – will now be taken for an autopsy along with the body found, to confirm that the head does indeed belong to the female victim.
According to Spanish press reports, the man is thought to have shot her, before cutting off her head, which he then hid in the scrubland before killing himself.
The bodies were discovered inside their home last Tuesday, but they are thought to have been there for several days before they were found.
The couple were Spanish nationals and were in the process of separating, although there were no previous police reports of domestic violence nor were the couple on the VioGen register of domestic violence cases.
The female victim has been named in the Spanish press as Soledad, aged 65, and who was employed at Madrid’s Autonomous University.
Her husband was a retired local police officer.
So far this year, 16 women have been killed in Spain at the hands of their partners or ex-partners. Since official records began in 2003, the number of victims stands at 1,260.
