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CRIME

Model goes on trial for murder of British expat millionaire

A Slovakian model stands trial on Monday in Málaga, accused of murdering her millionaire ex-boyfriend.

Model goes on trial for murder of British expat millionaire
Mayka Kukucova with British businessman Andrew Bush. Photo: Facebook

British millionaire jeweller Andrew Bush, 48, was found dead in April 2014 at his home in the Costa del Sol town of Estepona.

The suspect on trial for the murder is his ex-girlfriend, Slovakian model Mayka Kukucova, who is accused of shooting him dead when he returned to his home after a trip away with a new girlfriend.

When Bush, who ran several jewellery businesses in Bristol, and his new young sweetheart arrived at the house that night, they found Kukucova inside wearing pajamas. The new girlfriend, María Korotaeva, then went back outside to sit in the car, according to Diario SUR.

As Bush tried to calm his former lover, she reportedly shot him three times with a .38-calibre hand gun, twice in the head and once in the arm. She also reportedly placed the gun in Bush’s hand and then fled in one of his cars, according to newspaper La Opinión de Málaga.

Korotaeva called police after seeing Kukucova run away and finding that she had been locked out of the house.

When police arrived, they found Bush dead from the gunshot wounds to his head. Authorities said at the time that they believed Kukucova had somehow let herself into the home and then waited for several days until he returned.

Kukucova fled to her home country of Slovakia, where she turned herself in.

The now 25-year-old model faces 20 years in prison for the alleged murder and stealing the car.

But her defense team has said that it was Bush who attacked her with the gun first and that it went off while they were struggling.

Korotaeva, a university student at the time, has posted tributes on Instagram to Bush since he was killed, saying she has tried to “stop hating” Kukucova for what happened.

“It was hard time for me. I had to stand up from my knees, stop crying, stop hating Maria Kukucova of murdering you,” she wrote in a post a year and a half after Bush's death.

“[You] were in my thoughts and dreams for very long time… I guess, even now.”

 

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POLITICS

‘Pedro stay!’: Thousands of Spanish PM’s supporters take to the streets

Thousands of supporters of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez rallied at the headquarters of his Socialist party imploring him not to step down over a graft investigation against his wife.

'Pedro stay!': Thousands of Spanish PM's supporters take to the streets

The 52-year-old, who has been in office since 2018, stunned Spain on Wednesday when he put his resignation on the line after a Madrid court opened a preliminary investigation into suspected influence peddling and corruption against his spouse Begona Gomez.

Sanchez said he would suspend all public duties until he announces his decision on Monday. The normally hyperactive premier has since remained out of sight and silent.

“I need to stop and think whether I should continue to head the government or whether I should give up this honour,” he wrote in a four-page letter posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Supporters on Saturday held up placards saying “Spain needs you”, “Pedro don’t abandon us’, and shouted slogans such as “Pedro leader”.

“I hope that Sanchez will say on Monday that he will stay,” said Sara Domínguez, a consultant in her 30’s, adding that his government had “taken good steps for women, the LGBT community and minorities”.

Jose María Diez, a 44-year-old government official who came from Valladolid in northern Spain to express his support, said there was a real possibility that the far-right could take power if Sanchez quit.

“This will mean a step backwards for our rights and liberties,” he warned.

Inside the party headquarters, there were similar passionate appeals.

‘Pedro stay’

“Pedro stay. We are together and together we can … take the country forward, Spain can’t step back,” said Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero, the government number two.

“Today all democrats, all progressives, are summoned to Madrid against a pack whose only aim is to overthrow a democratic and legitimate government,” said Felix Bolanos, Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Parliamentary Relations.

At one point, Socialist leaders took to the streets to thank those gathered. “They won’t succeed,” government spokeswoman Pilar Alegria told the crowd.

The court opened the investigation into Sanchez’s wife in response to a complaint from anti-corruption pressure group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), whose leader is linked to the far right.

The group, which has presented a litany of unsuccessful lawsuits against politicians in the past, said on Wednesday its complaint was based on media reports and could not vouch for their veracity.

While the court did not give details of the case, online news site El Confidencial said it focused on links Gomez had to Spanish tourism group Globalia when carrier Air Europa was in talks with the government to secure a huge bailout.

The airline sought the bailout after it was badly hit by plunging paseenger numbers during the Covid-19 crisis.

At the time, Gomez was running IE Africa Centre, a foundation linked to Madrid’s Instituto de Empresa (IE) business school, which had signed a sponsorship agreement with Globalia in 2020.

Spain’s public prosecutors office on Thursday requested the dismissal of the investigation, which Sanchez said was part of a campaign of “harassment” against him and his wife waged by “media heavily influenced by the right and far right”.

If Sanchez decides to remain in office, he could choose to file a confidence motion in parliament to show that he and his minority government are still supported by a majority of lawmakers.

If he resigns, an early election could be called from July — a year after the last one — with or without Sanchez at the helm of the Socialist party.

The right-wing opposition has accused the prime minister of being irresponsible for putting the country on hold while he mulls his decision.

“It’s very clear to us that this is all a tactic… We know Pedro Sanchez and things with him always turn out like a soap opera,” Cuca Gamarra, the number two of the main opposition conservative Popular Party, said on Friday.

“He is making us all wait and the country is at a standstill,” she added.

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