Guardia Civil officers in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, have detained a 77 year old man in connection with the death of his sentimental partner, a 71 year old woman.
The woman’s naked body was found in a pond near her home in Arico Viejo on Wednesday. Her partner was the one who discovered the body and alerted the authorities.
Divers recovered the body and a preliminary examination was carried out. This, however, was inconclusive as to the cause of death so the body was removed for autopsy.
Police then inspected the scene and took statements from various witnesses and, with the information obtained and the results of the autopsy, arrested the woman’s partner on suspicion of homicide.
The police theory is that the man, fearful that his partner was about to leave him, hit her on the head with a blunt instrument and then threw her into the lake.
The couple had been together for twenty years, but there had been friction in the relationship. In October 2004, the woman had made a complaint of abuse and a protection order had been issued which ran until August 2005. However, there was currently no protection order in force.