47-year-old man arrested in Amposta for murdering 34-year-old ex-partner

Local police in Amposta, southern Catalonia, have arrested a 47-year-old man in connection with the death of his 34-year-old former partner on Monday.  

The woman's body was dismembered, some parts were found inside of an apartment, owned by the municipality, others were in trash containers, which have been sealed off by the Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra. 

It is currently not known when the victim died. Authorities are not discounting any hypothesis and believe the woman may have died days or even a week before the body was discovered. 

The judicial identification of the victim could not be done immediately due to the state of the corpse. 

The local council of Amposta has declared three days of mourning and a minute of silence on Tuesday afternoon.  

History of violence 

The man had a history of being violent towards his previous partner, and the woman once defended herself with a knife during a fight. As a result of this incident, she obtained a restraining order against him. 

Neighbors from the same building told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that the man “made life impossible" for them during the last two years, even though the man had lived there from before the pandemic. They had filed numerous complaints to police about the constant and violent fights between the former couple. 

"He told us that if we continued to report him, he would burn the whole building down, with the kids inside," one of the residents said. They also stated that the restraining order was constantly broken and there was no electricity inside the apartment.  

Some neighbours also stated that in the previous week the alleged perpetrator was putting cardboard boxes and mattresses in front of the windows to block anyone from looking into the apartment. Someone also saw him throwing away a trash bag. 

The Mossos d'Esquadra and local police have taken statements from some of the residents. 

Minute's silence 

A minute's silence was held in Amposta on Tuesday evening, organised by the local council. 

Around 100 people attended, including Catalonia's Minister for Equality and Feminism, Tània Verge. 

"We condemn the sexist murder of a woman. We have had four so far this year, and two children, and 133 in the last decade," Verge said. "We are tired of condemning the murders of women. What we need is to eradicate this violence."