Dutch handyman faces nearly 15 years in prison for robbery in murder in Spain Abroad

The provincial court of Elche, just below Alicante, sentenced the 50-year-old to 13 years in prison for murder and 21 months for violent theft, Spanish media reported. In the first instance trial, the Dutchman was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment, but this sentence was overturned by the Spanish Supreme Court for lack of motivation in the decision of the popular jury. He had found the suspect guilty of beating the woman to death after he had stolen € 550 from her house in Granja de Rocamora.

In that first lawsuit the Public Prosecutor asked imprisonment for a total of 30 years against the suspect. In the new process, started in late September, lowered this requirement to 13 years and 21 months due to extenuating circumstances. This involved the confession that the man eventually made.

According to the regional newspaper Información, the verdict also stipulates that the Dutchman must pay 52,000 euros to a daughter of the victim and another 550 euros he stole from his mother. Since the other daughter is dead, the inmate has to pay her children another 52,000 euros if they ask her during the execution of the sentence.

The robbery murder took place on November 16, 2019 between 9pm and 10pm. The Dutchman and the British woman had known each other for four years. From time to time he did odd jobs for her. It involved painting, plumbing and electrical work. She too had lent him money several times, which he said he always paid off. That is why the woman was not at all surprised that she had asked for money again on the Saturday night in question. She let him in without asking questions.

The handyman, who had been brought to town by a Spanish friend, asked her for 50 euros. The woman agreed but as she opened her wallet and handed him the money, she saw that there were still 500 euros worth of bills. When the woman went into the kitchen moments later, the Dutchman jumped at the victim from behind her and grabbed her by the throat. Then he threw the woman on the kitchen floor and, according to her verdict, hit her numerous times in her face, head, chest and neck so hard that she succumbed to her injuries.

“As if that weren’t enough, the 1.85 meter tall, 103 kilogram heavy Dutchman pressed one of his knees to the victim’s chest and then tightly wrapped his hands around her neck,” quotes the regional newspaper’s verdict.

He then left the frail woman with a height of 1.56 meters and a weight of 57 kilograms per dead. She was only found 48 hours later by a friend. The victim was found to have broken all of his ribs, as well as his breastbone and jaw. She also had blood in her skull, due to a rupture of a blood vessel in her brain, as well as an injury to her heart.

The suspect was eventually arrested on 9 January 2020 in a village slightly further north. A week later, the police also arrested a 33-year-old Spanish accomplice. Both men confessed.

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