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The Guardia Civil is investigating after the body of a person was found inside a burned-out car in the Camposol residential area of Mazarrón on Tuesday October 27.

 

According to the 1-1-2 Emergency Coordination Centre of the Region of Murcia, several calls came in at 10.40am reporting a vehicle on fire at the exit of a shopping centre car park. Firefighters from the Region of Murcia Fire and Rescue Consortium (CEIS), local police patrols and Civil Protection staff from the town hall were sent to the scene, and by 11.01am the fire was out.

 

It was then that the firefighters found a person inside the charred vehicle.

 

The Guardia Civil was notified and sent a patrol to wait for the judicial authorities, and its Judicial Police have since opened an investigation. The first job is to identify the person, who hasn’t yet been named, and no other details about what happened have been released.

 

Specialist officers have inspected the car park of the well-known supermarket where the car was found, as they try to work out how the fire started and the circumstances of the death. They’ll also look for any security camera footage from the area that could help.

 

This shocking incident comes in the same week that a trial has begun in Murcia over the death of a British woman outside her home on Camposol in December 2022. Michael John C., 73, is accused of murdering his partner, Vanessa Elisabeth, 57, and prosecutors are asking for a 25-year prison sentence.

 

They allege he attacked her after the couple returned home from drinking in local pubs, and they’re seeking a conviction for murder within the context of gender-based violence.

 

He denies the charge. His defence says she died in an accident, explaining that the street was dark and he may have knocked her over while reversing, and that he can’t remember the exact sequence of events because he was intoxicated. His lawyers are seeking an acquittal or, at most, a manslaughter conviction with mitigating circumstances.

 

Vanessa had reported domestic violence five times between 2007 and 2014, and her case had been inactive in Spain’s VioGén system since 2015, with no protection order in force when she died.

 

Government Delegate against Gender Violence Victoria Rosell said: “We have to admit that on occasions the system fails.”

 

The trial is being heard over six sessions at Murcia Provincial Court and began on Friday October 23. Michael John C. is expected to give evidence on Friday October 30.

 

 

 

Image: 112 Region de Murcia