A man has reportedly admitted to killing and dismembering his friend before scattering the body parts across a Spanish town. Francisco José Agüera vanished during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the case took a dramatic turn when workers found a bag containing a human head last year.
Confession and Arrest
A suspect informed the Spanish Civil Guard that he killed the victim at his home in Coín, in the province of Málaga. He then dismembered the body and hid the remains at multiple locations across the area.
Detectives reconstructed the crime as part of Operation Capibara, and the suspect was arrested on July 28. He reportedly guided police to the exact spots where he had disposed of the body.
Discovery of the Head
Mr Agüera's family remained convinced he hadn't vanished on his own. In June last year, workers from the Alhaurín de la Torre Town Council found a bag inside a manhole while cleaning an undeveloped plot. The bag contained a human head with traces of hair and several teeth.
Forensic analysis took nine months to confirm the remains belonged to Mr Agüera. The Civil Guard kept investigating to establish the circumstances of the violent death and identify the culprit.
Investigation and Court
After identifying the suspect, he led officers to where the rest of the body was found, near the Carretera de las Canteras. Investigators also used ground-penetrating radar, drones, and sniffer dogs to locate the remains.
Civil Guard sources said criminal databases, document analysis, and court-approved tech helped identify the suspect, who was a friend of the victim. The man appeared in court last week, invoked his right to silence, and was remanded in custody without bail, facing homicide charges.
Family's Ordeal
Neighbors reported Mr Agüera missing, and authorities contacted his sisters. One sibling visited his property in April 2020 with police but found no one inside; his belongings and food were still there.
His sister told Canarias 7: "This is a pain that eats you away, that prevents you from living." She also expressed sympathy for the suspect's family, saying: "The family of the person who did this will also be suffering, and they are not to blame. We have nothing against them."
