This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/7978739.stm
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Tenant guilty of hammer murders | Tenant guilty of hammer murders |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A Spanish man has been found guilty of murdering a Welsh couple who had moved to the Canary Islands for a new life. | A Spanish man has been found guilty of murdering a Welsh couple who had moved to the Canary Islands for a new life. |
| Juan Carmelo Santana, 42, had admitted bludgeoning Brian and Tina Johnson when they called to collect overdue rent at his flat on Fuerteventura in July 2006. | Juan Carmelo Santana, 42, had admitted bludgeoning Brian and Tina Johnson when they called to collect overdue rent at his flat on Fuerteventura in July 2006. |
| The jury rejected his claim he was not in control of his actions because he had taken cocaine and magic mushrooms. | The jury rejected his claim he was not in control of his actions because he had taken cocaine and magic mushrooms. |
| Santana will be sentenced next week. The Johnsons had moved to the island from Swansea in 1997 and bought a bar. | Santana will be sentenced next week. The Johnsons had moved to the island from Swansea in 1997 and bought a bar. |
| Santana told the jury at Las Palmas criminal court that after killing the couple, he wrapped their bodies in blankets and white plastic bags, carried them to the boot of his car late at night and drove to scrubland where he hid them under a pile of rocks. | Santana told the jury at Las Palmas criminal court that after killing the couple, he wrapped their bodies in blankets and white plastic bags, carried them to the boot of his car late at night and drove to scrubland where he hid them under a pile of rocks. |
| "Even now I can't understand what drove me to do what I did - I was totally out of it," he told the court. | "Even now I can't understand what drove me to do what I did - I was totally out of it," he told the court. |
| Brian and Tina Johnson moved to the Canaries from Swansea | Brian and Tina Johnson moved to the Canaries from Swansea |
| The bodies of Mr Johnson, 59, and his 57-year-old wife were discovered four days later by a huntsman out exercising his dogs | |
| The trial had heard that Santana had moved the couple's car to a harbour, to give the impression they had taken a ferry to Lanzarote. | The trial had heard that Santana had moved the couple's car to a harbour, to give the impression 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. They had run the Park Inn in Mumbles, Swansea, in the 1980s. | The Johnsons had moved to the Spanish island from Mumbles in Swansea, six-and-a-half years earlier and bought a bar with friends. They had run the Park Inn in Mumbles, Swansea, in the 1980s. |
| The prosecution in the case said they expected Santana to be given a 35-year prison term. | The prosecution in the case said they expected Santana to be given a 35-year prison term. |
| State prosecutor Tomás Fernández had argued that Santana "knew perfectly what he was doing" and had killed the Johnsons because he had spent the money his son had given him to pay off the rent owed to the couple. | State prosecutor Tomás Fernández had argued that Santana "knew perfectly what he was doing" and had killed the Johnsons because he had spent the money his son had given him to pay off the rent owed to the couple. |