KILLER ARSONIST MAY GET 29 YEAR SENTENCE

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The Almería Provincial Prosecutor will seek 29 years in prison for a 32-year-old defendant, charged with killing a man in February, 2011, after a drug deal led to an argument, which in turn led to the accused setting fire to a block of flats in which the victim lived, in order to destroy evidence and hide the crime.

A second person was also injured in the incident, after she hid under the bed in the apartment during the argument, and survived to act as a witness in the case.

According to reports filed by the prosecutors, the defendant, a native of Castellón, identified by the initials FMR, arrived at the property, which was allegedly known to be frequented by drug users, located on calle Miguel Hernández in Roquetas de Mar, Almería, at 04:30 in the morning.

Armed with a knife consisting of a 22cm long and 1.5cm wide blade, it is further alleged that FMR entered the property with the intention of acquiring drugs. After the victim, identified as RMVM, opened the door, the two started arguing. The defendant then uncovered the knife with the intention of killing his victim, causing knife wounds to the neck and chest.

The prosecutor states that the victim, RMVM, died almost instantly due to a massive loss of blood from two of the wounds, which affected the victim´s heart and one of his lungs.

Subsequently, with the “intention to conceal” the crime, FMR, “knowing that the apartment building was inhabited and that others may still be inside”, set fire to the house. During the fire, the woman identified as AM, who hid under the bed, suffered first and second degree burns.

The prosecution therefore request that the defendant, who is currently held on remand, serves 14 years in prison for murder, plus an additional 15 years for the arson, causing other injuries and attempts to conceal his crime. IN addition, the prosecution requests compensation to the victim’s mother with 120,000 euro and 12,000 euro to each of his five brothers. The prosecutor is also demanding 3,000 euro compensation to the victim identified as AM, whose wounds took 20 days to heal, with subsequent cosmetic damage, and the costs of repairing the property, estimated at over four thousand euro.

The provisional date for the hearing has been set as November 19th, in the Second Section of the Provincial Court.