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Island tenant 'murdered couple' Island tenant 'murdered couple'
(about 1 hour later)
The trial of a Spanish tenant accused of murdering an expat Welsh couple has started in the Canary Islands. A man had admitted killing an ex-pat Welsh couple after they tried to collect overdue rent at a flat in the Canary Islands in 2006.
Brian and Tina Johnson were bludgeoned to death with a hammer and their bodies were discovered partially buried under rocks on scrubland five days later. Brian and Tina Johnson were bludgeoned to death with a hammer and their bodies were partially buried under rocks.
Juan Carmelo, a tenant of the couple, who once ran a pub in Mumbles, Swansea, is accused of their murders in 2006. Carmelo Santana is on trial for murder but claims he was under the influence of cocaine, magic mushrooms and alcohol during the attacks on Fuerteventura.
At the trial, Carmelo confessed to the killing but he claims he was under the influence of drugs at the time. He said he was "totally out of it" and did not understand why he had done it.
A week has been set aside for the trial and the prosecutor is reported to be asking for a 46-year sentence. Santana told the court in Las Palmas: "I know what I have done, I am totally guilty and I can only say sorry to the family."
The couple had moved to the Spanish island from Mumbles in Swansea, south Wales, six-and-a-half years earlier and bought a bar with friends. Even now I can't understand what drove me to do what I did - I was totally out of it Carmelo Santana
Local news site El Digital de Canarias reported that the prosecutor was seeking a 46-year prison sentence for Carmelo for allegedly killing the couple with a hammer when they went to his apartment to collect the rent. He admitted he had wrapped the couple's bodies in blankets and white plastic bags, before carrying them to the boot of his car late at night to drive them to local scrubland, where he hid them under a pile of rocks.
Argument The couple's bodies were discovered four days later by a huntsman out exercising his dogs.
Official documents on the case reportedly state that on 11 July 2006, Mr and Mrs Johnson went to the apartment in La Oliva where the suspect lived with his son. Under cross-examination Santana said he had taken a mix of cocaine, magic mushrooms and alcohol, which he blamed for triggering the unprovoked attack.
"Even now I can't understand what drove me to do what I did - I was totally out of it," he told the jury in the packed courthouse in Las Palmas.
"I was depressed around that time because someone had stolen the flowers from my wife's grave on the second anniversary of her death.
"I remember vaguely Mrs Johnson said something to me as she was walking out of the apartment and I just went berserk and punched her.
Santana added; "The next thing I knew I was on top of her hitting her with a hammer. I don't know where I got it from. When the man (Mr Johnson) came a few minutes later I hit him as well but I didn't even know who he was."
He told the jury he had "closed Tina's eyes" before wrapping the bodies in the bags and hiding them under a bed.
He then cleaned the apartment thoroughly and then "went out for a few beers with a friend" to a local bar, returning home to collect his son to go for dinner.
"I wanted to pluck up courage to tell my son what had happened but couldn't bring myself to do it," he said.
Completely sane
The drinking spree continued back in the apartment with two more friends but Santana denied they knew anything about the killings or that they had helped him carry the bodies to the car outside.
"I didn't need help because I was used to carrying heavy weights on the building site where I worked," he said.
Santana's lawyer Gonzalo Miranda said the combination of intoxicating substances was "as lethal and brutal as his client's assault on the Johnsons".
He insisted that "no-one would carry out an act like this unless they were not in control of themselves".
The state prosecution is seeking a 46-year term for Santana - 23 years for each murder - to reflect the particularly vicious nature of the hammer attacks, which it says caused "deliberate and inhumane suffering to the two victims".
The parallel criminal prosecution brought by the couple's son is demanding the maximum tariff of 25 years for each murder, along with 300,000 euros in compensation.
Prosecutor Federico Andreu, disputing a defence claim for diminished responsibility, said Santana could remember in great detail his movements immediately before and after the attacks.
Psychiatric reports had confirmed that the defendant was completely sane and was not suffering from mental illness.
It is alleged Santana parked the couple's car near a harbour to make it appear they had taken a ferry to Lanzarote.
The Johnsons had moved to the Spanish island from Mumbles in Swansea, six-and-a-half years earlier and bought a bar with friends.
Official documents on the case reportedly state that on 11 July 2006, Mr and Mrs Johnson went to the apartment in La Oliva where Santana lived with his son.
He is reported to have owed three months' rent.He is reported to have owed three months' rent.
During the ensuing argument, Carmelo is alleged to have felled Mrs Johnson with a punch and fetched a hammer.
Once on the floor, he is accused of repeatedly hitting her head with a hammer, with the intention of killing her.
The prosecutor's account of the murder reportedly adds that a minute later, Mr Johnson appeared at the door, looking for his wife.
Carmelo allegedly launched into another violent attack, striking a series of blows to Mr Johnson's head with the hammer and killing him too.
Las Palmas police said: "The police investigation finished yesterday and a detainee will now appear before a judge."
A spokesman said the suspect had been remanded in custody before his trial.
Diminished responsibility
According to freelance journalist Karl McLaughlin, it is believed Mr Carmelo's defence will seek acquittal on grounds of diminished responsibility, alleging that he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time.
The couple's son Sam Johnson, who still lives in the Canaries, is also bringing a private prosecution, said Mr McLaughlin.
He is likely to be among a number of Britons summoned as prosecution witnesses in the state prosecution in Las Palmas.
Mr and Mrs Johnson ran the Park Inn in Mumbles, Swansea, in the 1980s. They moved from Wales in 1997.Mr and Mrs Johnson ran the Park Inn in Mumbles, Swansea, in the 1980s. They moved from Wales in 1997.