Spanish Civil Guard police are investigating the deaths of an Irish couple in the Valencian town of Cullera after their bodies were found by their underage children next to their home’s jacuzzi with what appeared to be stab wounds.
The Spanish Guardia Civil Homicide Unit is investigating the death of an Irish man (aged 50) and woman (45) in Cullera, a picturesque coastal town about 40 kilometres south of Valencia.
Although the cause of death is not yet known, there are “some indications that something strange may have happened,” according to police sources.
The couple’s bodies were found by their underage children (aged 14 and 16) next to the jacuzzi of their home.
The siblings asked their landlord for help, as they lived in a rented property in Cullera’s exclusive Cap Blanc residential area.
The man immediately called the emergency number 112 to report the gruesome discovery.
According to Valencian daily Las Provincias, the husband and wife were found naked next to the property’s jacuzzi.
Their bodies showed what appeared to be stab wounds carried out with a sharp object, leading police officers to investigate whether the couple were the victims of an attack or if the deaths were somehow accidental.
Officers noted that the water in the jacuzzi was cloudy, taking a sample for laboratory analysis.
A social worker and a psychologist travelled to the residential area to care for the victims’ children, who have special needs, were traumatised by the events and do not speak Spanish.
Cullera City Council’s social services have taken charge of the children and have initiated preliminary inquiries to contact the victims’ families in Ireland, with an uncle reportedly travelling to see the boys on Wednesday.
Police are currently speaking with several residents and searching for witnesses who may have seen anything suspicious on Tuesday afternoon.
Autopsies will be performed on the couple’s bodies in Valencia on Wednesday morning.
A team from the Criminalistics Service of the Civil Guard Command in Valencia has also gone to the scene and carried out a thorough inspection of the apartment where the couple’s bodies were found.
The strange death of the Irish couple has caused a great shock among the neighbours of this high-end hillside complex with views of the Mediterranean.
