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Spanish woman confesses to hiding dead man in ice-cream shop freezer

A bizarre murder is making headlines in Spain after a woman confessed to hiding a man she killed in the freezer of an ice-cream parlour.

Published: 11 January 2016 11:03 CET

Spanish woman confesses to hiding dead man in ice-cream shop freezer

The ice-cream shop where the alleged murder took place. Screen grab: Joly Digital/Vimeo

The Spanish woman, who has not been named, walked into a police station in the town of Dos Hermanas, near Seville, on Saturday night and confessed to the killing.

The 44-year-old was accompanied by her siblings and seemed in an “intoxicated” state and told officers that she had killed a man and stored his body in the freezer of Heladería Otoño, a local ice-cream shop, reported Europa Press.

The man is believed to have been 62-years-old, married and the father of five children. He had been missing for around 24 hours.

Police were carrying out an post mortem on the man’s body on Sunday, and confirmed that there “had been no apparent relationship between the arrested woman and the dead man”.

Police confirmed that there was no familial link between the pair and they were not believed to have known each other.

Various media reports have named the woman as the owner of the ice-cream shop, but police have yet to confirm her identity. They searched the shop after taking the woman's statement and discovered the body of the man inside the freezer.

The woman was immediately arrested and charged with murder.

Despite confessing to the crime, the woman provided no reason for murdering the man. Police are currently trying to establish the motive for the murder.

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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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