Two quizzed over Spanish horror

<a href=icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk>Liverpool Echo Mar 28 2003 by Hugo Duncan

MURDERED couple Tony and Linda O'Malley were asphyxiated, a post mortem in Spain revealed today.

It was thought the couple had been shot by gangsters who lured them to a house they were hoping to buy.

The post mortem showed that Linda had been beaten and strangled, while Tony had a plastic bag over his head and had suffocated.

Today the men accused of torturing and killing them were in a Valencia prison cell after being questioned late into the night by a judge at the Palace of Justice.

The Venezuelans, known only as Jorge RS, 53, and Jose Antonio UG, 38, now face two more sessions of questioning by investigating judges in Benidorm where the O'Malleys were based and Alcoy where the bodies were found.

It is expected that the Alcoy judge will take over the investigation.

Mr O'Malley, 42 originally from Widnes and his 55-year-old Liverpool born wife disappeared in September while house hunting on the Costa Blanca.

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 still coming to terms with the horrifying tale today.

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 storey block was almost deserted as few are 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."