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CRIME

Video game killer slays millionaire dad

A 19-year-old Spanish man who ended his wealthy father's life with a spiked bat modelled on a video game weapon has been remanded in custody without bail by a Majorca judge after confessing to the murder.

Published: 16 July 2013 14:01 CEST
Video game killer slays millionaire dad
Coll told a Majorcan judge he’d decided to murder his father because of constant humiliation on the victim’s part. Photo: Benjami/Flicker/screenshot of Dead Rising 2

Last Friday, Andreu Coll junior, along with his accomplice and friend Francisco Abas Rodriguez, owned up to the killing of millionaire businessman Andreu Coll senior.

The murder took place on the night of the 29th of June in the small Majorcan municipality of Alaró, Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported recently.

The pair admitted to having first drugged Andreu's father before bludgeoning him with a medieval-style spiked bat, a vase, a hammer and a music speaker.

After cleaning up the blood and fingerprints with bleach, Coll and Abbas drove in the victim's Land Rover to the nearby town of Bunyola.

Their intention was to make it look like a robbery and so removed Coll senior’s Rolex and rings before dumping the body.

Although the pair went to the victim's funeral, Spain’s Civil Guard soon arrested them after infrared tests showed them to be the real murderers.

Coll and Abbas first met online a year and a half earlier while playing the popular videogame Call of Duty.

Official trailer for the video game Dead Rising 2

According to Abas's lawyer, his client fell in love with Coll after the pair spent time together in Majorca and Zaragoza.

Both young men were obsessed with violent video games, spending up to 12 hours at a stretch in front of their screens.

Police believe the medieval-style spiked bat they manufactured was based on a similar weapon found in Dead Rising 2.

Coll told a Majorcan judge he'd decided to murder his father because of constant humiliation on the victim's part.

But he is also heir to a €50 million fortune, a fact Spanish media have taken to indicated their money may have also been a motivation for the murder.

Abas's lawyer told the court that his client "regretted taking part in the murder but had done it for love".

The Regional High Court in the Balearic Islands has dictated a nondisclosure order while the trial continues.

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CRIME

Dutch gang leader vanishes in Spain after accidental release

A top drug trafficker is on the run after accidentally being bailed from jail in Spain, officials said Tuesday, dodging a bid to extradite him to the Netherlands where his Mocro Maffia gang is based.

Published: 24 April 2024 09:23 CEST
Dutch gang leader vanishes in Spain after accidental release

Karim Bouyakhrichan was arrested in January in Marbella, an upmarket tourist resort on Spain’s southern coast, along with five other members of the Mocro Maffia gang.

They are suspected of having bought 172 properties in Spain worth over €50 million ($53.5 million) to launder their gains from drug trafficking.

But the following month a court in the southern city of Málaga decided to grant him provisional release with judicial supervision, against the wishes of public prosecutors and the Spanish government. Judicial sources said Tuesday his whereabouts are now unknown.

“It is worrying news,” Justice Félix Bolaños told a news conference following a weekly cabinet meeting when asked about the case.

“I can’t comment on any court decisions, but I do trust that the state security forces will bring this person to justice as soon as possible,” he added.

The Málaga court said in its ruling granting Bouyakhrichan provisional release that the risk that he would flee could be avoided “with other less burdensome security measures” than pre-trial detention.

It imposed bail of €50,000, took away his passport and ordered him to report to the authorities twice a month.

Dutch extradition bid

At the same time Spain’s top criminal court was processing a request for Bouyakhrichan’s extradition to the Netherlands, where he is wanted for large-scale drug trafficking.

But it postponed its extradition proceedings because the Málaga court intended to put Bouyakhrichan on trial first for money laundering, court sources told AFP.

When the Netherlands provided more information to back its extradition request, the top court summoned him to testify and when he failed to appear a fresh warrant for his arrest was issued.

Vincent Veenman, a spokesman at the Dutch public prosecutor’s office in The Hague, said it was “unknown” to them why Bouyakhrichan had not been detained for extradition.

“We are currently awaiting a decision on the extradition request,” he added.

“Our experience with the Spanish justice system is that this cooperation is generally good. Dozens of suspects are handed over every year.”

Bouyakhrichan’s brother Samir, another leading member of the Mocro Maffia, was murdered in 2014 near Marbella, sparking a reorganisation of organised crime groups in the region.

The Mocro Maffia made international headlines in 2022 after it emerged that Dutch Crown Princess Amalia had been placed under heavy protection in response to fears of an attack by the group.

Dutch media reported earlier last week that the 20-year-old heir to the Dutch throne studied in Madrid after being forced to ditch plans to live in student accommodation in Amsterdam because of the threats.

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