A Benijófar vet has accepted a 10 year jail term after he killed his wife by injecting anesthetic drugs into her because “she did not want to live anymore”. 50-year-old Marcelo G (in a file picture from 2013), then chopped up the body at the Pet Care Veterinary Clinic in the town and had it burnt at a pet crematorium.
Prosecutors had called for a 15-year-jail term on a count of homicide, but agreed in a plea deal to cut the sentence, since the vet had already served four years in custody. Since the body was incinerated, prosecutors used the term that Marcelo G had killed his wife “using unknown instruments and procedures”. Marcelo G told the court if he had not taken the life of his wife through drugs, she “would have done it in a more bloody way herself”, as he claimed she had attempted suicide previously.
At the start of the trial in the Alicante Provincial Court in Elche, Marcelo G, confessed to killing his 45-year-old wife, who also worked at his clinic, after giving two previous contradictory statements. He firstly told the Guardia Civil that she had committed suicide by taking an overdose, but last year changed his statement to say that he had been performing stomach reducing surgery on her but the procedure went wrong, and she died.
Defence solicitor Javier Caballero said that he totally believed in the innocence of his client, and that he had to follow his instructions that he had taken his wife’s life. He claimed that she had morally blackmailed Marcelo G with the threat of suicide if he did not perform the stomach surgery that she wanted.
“He did not get any benefit from his wife’s death”, said Caballero in court. “If a client asks me what would happen to him if he killed his wife, I tell them not to do it and just go for a divorce which would cost around 2,300 euros”.
Caballero added that Marcelo G kept her remains in plastic bags in the back of his car, because he feared being struck off as a vet. A few days later, he took her body for incineration claiming that it was a big dog, with the ashes then scared around in various locations.
The story shocked the local community as Marcelo G, his wife, and two children were popular in the area, with the veterinary practice attracting many British customers.
