Judge quizzes two on Spanish murders

<a href=iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk>Daily PostDaily Post  Article Mar 28 2003 By Hugo Duncan Daily Post Staff, In Valencia   THE men accused of killing North Wales couple Tony and Linda O'Malley have been questioned by a Spanish judge.

The pair, known only as Jorge RS and Jose Antonio UG, were taken from Valencia Police Station to a city court late last night.

The Venezuelans, aged 53 and 38, were handcuffed and taken in separate police cars to answer questions relating to the disappearance and death of Mr O'Malley, originally from Widnes, and his Liverpool-born wife.

The couple, who lived at Llangollen, North Wales, had been house hunting on the Costa Blanca when they were kidnapped and shot last September.

The two men are alleged to have lured the couple to a home in Alcoy, in the mountains above Benidorm, where they held them in a cellar for two weeks before killing them.

The men and each of their wives, all thought to be from Venezuela, were arrested on Tuesday as Spanish police discovered the bodies of 42 year old Tony and his 55 year old wife Linda.

They were buried in a cellar at the house they had hoped to buy.

The suspects were arrested at a flat in El Suler 30 minutes from Valencia.

Documents linking them to the O'Malleys, including passports and a car registration plate, along with a gun thought to be the murder weapon were in the hands of the Valencian judge last night.

Neighbours of the suspects were coming to terms with the horrifying tale last night.

Filipe Guardiola and Ana Gomez live in number 13 on the fourth floor of the Az Bola De Puchol, three floors below number 25 where the suspects were arrested.

Filipe, 22, said he thought the wives, who were bailed by police in Valencia, had returned to the flat. Yesterday the flat was deserted.

Filipe said: "We heard the men were renting buildings and then putting them up for sale. When people came to look at the house they checked out if they had any money.

"We heard they took this couple hostage and walked them to the bank, took their money, and then killed them and buried them in the cellar.

"We were very surprised when the police turned up. I have met one of the women and she seemed very nice, very normal.

"Everyone here is talking about it." The majority of the flats are owned by Spaniards, but yesterday the 14 sto-rey block was almost deserted.

Filipe said only about 10pc of the flats were used outside the summer months.

The block, one of five in the immediate area, is a few hundred yards from the sea and has a private swimming pool.

Filipe said: "I met one of the men once. He seemed OK.

"I think he was in telecommunications - he had a lot of computers."

He said four police cars, two from Interpol and two Spanish, took one of the men away on Tuesday morning and the other that afternoon.

He said: "I didn't know what it was for, but then Ana's mum phoned and said it was about the missing British people. We couldn't believe it."