Murder in Santander: man kills his 27-year-old partner and surrenders to police
Paula Solanas, 27, was found dead with stab wounds in her attic on Calle Perines. Her partner, 39 and of Moroccan origin, called 091 to confess to the crime.
Violent death on Calle Perines: the assailant called police himself to surrender
A 27-year-old woman, Paula Solanas de Miguel, of Spanish nationality, was allegedly murdered by her partner in the attic at number 12 Calle Perines, in central Santander, according to official sources from the Government Delegation confirmed. The assailant, a 39-year-old man of Moroccan origin who lived with her at that address, called the Sala Cimacc-091 of the National Police shortly after half past midday to confess to the crime and waited for officers to arrive without leaving the flat.
This is recounted by eldiariomontanes.es, which gathered testimonies from neighbours and family members in the hours following the events. The first officers arrived at the building entrance around half past twelve. Several went up to the attic while others guarded the access. When paramedics reached the victim, she presented, according to the Government Delegation, "bleeding wounds, possibly caused by a sharp weapon". Efforts to save her life proved unsuccessful, and the medical teams left the building without her. Finally, officers brought the detainee down escorted by five police officers and transferred him to La Albericia Police Station, where he will remain in a cell until brought before a judge.
The Scientific Police unit went to the building to collect evidence. One of the neighbours present claimed to have heard an officer who, upon arriving at the scene, commented that it was "harrowing" and that he did not remember seeing "anything like it in a long time".
The victim's father: "He killed her because she had ended the relationship"
Among those who accessed the building accompanied by police was Joaquín Solanas, Paula's father and former general director of Culture under the PP government of Ignacio Diego, later a member of Ciudadanos. Solanas explained to eldiariomontanes.es his interpretation of the events: "It has been a tragedy, it is a drama. The situation was very complicated. I believe he killed her because she had ended the relationship and he wanted to be with her."
According to his account, Paula and the assailant had known each other for four years. "They broke up a few months ago and he had nowhere to go," he noted. Solanas is caring for their son, a child not yet one year old. Paula was his eldest daughter and leaves two other siblings. "My daughter was a good girl, we spoke practically every day. It is a drama," he emphasised.
Neighbours: "We are not used to this sort of commotion here"
The police presence around building number 12 increased throughout the morning and drew attention to an area of intense commercial activity, at the junction of Calle Perines with Floranes. One of the neighbours who witnessed the arrest described the sequence: "The officers arrived just after half past twelve. First a few went up and others stayed around the door. Then they brought the man down, and you couldn't see his face very well because five police officers were with him, escorting him, holding him, and they put him in the car."
Another resident of the area, Juan Carlos, a neighbour from building 13 who has been "living" in the neighbourhood "all his life", admitted not knowing the couple. "That flat, the attic, is rented so we're not very clear on who lives there," he explained. He was also a witness to the arrest: "They brought him down with five of them, but I didn't see him resisting either. The officers carrying him were strong men. The man wouldn't have been able to do much even if he had struggled." According to him, the detainee remained in the police car for a long time before being taken to La Albericia. "They were doing things in the flat for quite a while before they took him away. It was as if they were waiting for something."
Several neighbours in the area, asked about the victim, said they did not know her or had seen her on very few occasions. However, a woman from the neighbourhood noted that she had sometimes "seen them arguing and even assaulting each other in the middle of the street", although she clarified that the couple "did not frequent the neighbourhood much."
Voluntary surrender, key to the investigation
The suspected assailant's decision not to flee caught the attention of those watching events from the street. "It doesn't make sense that he didn't flee, does it? The logical thing would have been for him to have left," several witnesses commented. Sources from the investigation consulted by eldiariomontanes.es offered a different interpretation: "If he stayed there it was because he was clear he was going to surrender. It's not that strange, although it may seem so. Sometimes these circumstances occur because crimes of this nature have a strong emotional component."
The fact that the accused himself made the call to 091 and waited for officers at the address is consistent with the confession that, according to what eldiariomontanes.es was able to learn, he made to police. The case has shocked the neighbourhood and Cantabrian society as a whole. The lottery business located in one of the commercial units on the ground floor of the building closed its doors after learning what had happened. In the bar La Pilaruca, next to the building, customers were talking about the event with visible impact. "We don't know what could lead someone to do this, but it was brutal," said a woman, who added that "everything is very confused."
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)