SPANISH police have arrested a 69-year-old British man on suspicion of murdering his 52-year-old wife.
A British woman was found dead with a blow to her head outside her home as police arrested her husband in their resort residence in Murcia, Spain.
SolarpixThe British couple had a vacation home nearby Costa Calida[/caption]
Emergency services were reportedly alerted by a neighbour who discovered the woman lying on the ground outside the property.
She was already dead by the time police and paramedics arrived.
A Civil Guard spokesperson confirmed a British man had been arrested on suspicion of homicide.
He said: “We were called just after 1am on Sunday.
“A British man aged 69 was arrested on suspicion of killing his wife after she was discovered lying dead outside their property.
“He was handed over to a judge for further questioning earlier today.
A well-placed police source said: “The dead woman is also British.
“She had suffered a blow to the head and although detectives are still awaiting the results of the autopsy, everything is pointing towards her having suffered a violent death which is being treated as a homicide.”
The unnamed expat had been reported to the police for a domestic violence instance in 2007.
Local reports pointed towards protective measures having been put in place at the time.
It is understood those measures had been “inactive” since 2015.
Pepe Velez, the central government delegate for the Murcia region said in a statement: “We regret and energetically condemn this alleged gender violence killing by an English citizen of his partner yesterday in the Camposol residential estate in Mazarron.”
The suspect is expected to appear before a judge in the town of Totana later today or tomorrow and will remain in custody as officers investigate.
Last month an 80-year-old British man was arrested over the violent death of his wife at their flat in the Costa del Sol resort of Torremolinos.
A judge sent David Cadwallader, 80, to a psychiatric unit while the investigation of his wife’s death is ongoing.