A woman who gave a neighbour a box containing her decapitated husband’s head claimed it contained sex toys.
Carmen Merino, 64, has been handed a 15-year jail sentence and was convicted of her partner’s homicide three weeks ago after a fortnight-long jury trial at a court in the northern Spanish city of Santander.
Her partner Jesus Maria Baranda was reported missing before the neighbour found his head in the box she was handed a few months earlier.
On Friday, the Regional Cantabria Court announced it was sentencing the killer to a maximum of 15 years.
A written ruling released to the press stated she had acted out of greed when she “participated in an active way" in causing his death after being named as sole heir of 67-year-old Jesus Maria’s will.
The ruling continued: “She got rid of the corpse and handed over his skull to a female friend, telling her the box contained sex toys, because she knew relatives of her partner had reported him missing and was conscious it would result in a police investigation that would probably lead to a search of their home.”
The convicted killer pointed the finger at the neighbour she gave the box to during the trial, as well as her murdered partner's brother.
She said they both had keys to the couple’s home in the town of Castro Urdiales near Santander.
She continued: “The sex toys were presents I bought for my birthday. When things became a bit complicated the truth is I got embarrassed about the idea the police could come round and find the bag.
“I asked Mari Carmen [the neighbour] if she would take it and she said: ‘Of course, no problem.’"
The neighbour was handed the box in April 2019, some two months after the man disappeared, but only opened it in September following a growing bad smell coming from it.
Reports at the time said the remains had no human tissue on them because they had been boiled and wrapped in foil. The dead man was identified only by a tooth.
Merino told police after her arrest that her partner had disappeared voluntarily and continued to protest her innocence at her trial.
Police focused their search on a rubbish tip for the rest of the Spanish OAP’s body after they found his head in the box, but have failed to discover anything else.
As well as being punished with a 15-year prison sentence, Merino has also been ordered to pay €58,000 (£50,000) to her victim’s relatives including his brother.
The maximum prison sentence for homicide in Spain is 15 years, but murder can get between 20 and 25 years.
Prosecutors had sought a 25-year prison sentence before her trial but dropped their demand to 15 years after the jury verdict.
