The man accused of killing his wife on Sunday morning in Orihuela Costa, has been transferred to the Vinalopó hospital in Elche for surgery to a stab wound to the stomach after first being admitted to Torrevieja hospital.
The transfer took place around 2:00 p.m., during which time he was accompanied by agents from the Civil Guard, who are now in charge of the investigation.
The murder of the woman, 64 years old and of British nationality, is a case that, in the early stages, points to sexist violence, according to the Government Delegation against Gender Violence.
The alleged murderer is understood to appear in the database of the Comprehensive Monitoring System of cases of Gender Violence (VioGen System) for an attack that took place in 2019, and although investigated at the time, became inactive the following year due to a failure, on the part of the victim, the woman who died on Sunday.
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The Government delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, said at that time no judicial measures were launched and the case became inactive in 2020.
The agents in charge of the investigation are now gathering information about the murder, which so far points to a case of sexist violence and, if confirmed, will bring the number of women murdered by their partners or ex-partners so far this year to 11, a total of 1,195 since 2003.
On Sunday morning, around 4:00 a.m., the Civil Guard received a phone call from a neighbour. The agents went to the home of a British couple in Orihuela Costa, where they found the deceased woman who had received several stab wounds. Her 69-year-old husband was arrested when he tried to flee the home he shared with the murdered woman. The couple had resided in Spain since 2017.
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Several neighbours of the couple told EFE that arguments and fights between them were very frequent, often with shouting and blows, and on one occasion the woman even stabbed the man.
A neighbour, Ana, said “It is very sad that this has happened when we constantly warned her, and that she has ended up dead for not paying attention to us”.
Amparo, another neighbour, said that they both “drank a lot” and “argued a lot”, and on one occasion the woman appeared barefoot, beaten and in her underwear, following which the Police were alerted, although she was not aware if follow up action was taken.
