Marbella three accused of murder and attempted murder face 114 years in prison

The Marbella three accused of murdering one man and seriously injuring another are going to appear before a jury court in April. In total, they face 114 years in prison for the crime in the Playa Álvaro residential area on 15 November 2019.

The trial was initially scheduled for November 2025, but was postponed. The prosecution is accusing the three defendants of the crimes of murder, attempted murder and membership in a criminal organisation. The prosecution is asking for 38 and a half years in prison for the two defendants who carried out the crime and 37 years for the third, who served as a mediator.

The public prosecution states that the defendants had orchestrated a plan with the sole purpose of ending the lives of the two victims, who were from Morocco. According to the preliminary investigation, two of the defendants, both of Romanian origin, went to one of the victims' house at around 6.30pm. They were accompanied by the victims themselves.

Once inside the house, one of the defendants reportedly shot one of the targets in the chest with a .38 millimetre revolver. The bullet caused an entry wound below the man's collarbone and an exit wound in the back. He was dead when the police arrived.

The other defendant then reportedly pulled out a similar weapon with which he fired three shots at the second victim, who was hit in the abdomen, shoulder and leg. The man survived, although he suffered spinal injuries and other wounds that required surgery and rehabilitative treatment in specialised centres. He spent 153 days in hospital and despite the doctors' efforts, he was left paraplegic.

According to the prosecution, the defendants had held several meetings with the victims as part of their plan to kill them, in the days prior to the crime. On 12 November, the third defendant, of Spanish origin, who was not at the scene where the attack took place, met with one of the victims in the Plaza Mayor shopping centre. The following day, he also met with the other defendants and the victims at Hospital Costa del Sol.

Although this third defendant was not present at the crime scene, the prosecutor says that the perpetrators met with him at an exit from Coín immediately after carrying out the shooting.

According to the private prosecutors, who represent the survivor and the widow and children of the deceased, the three defendants were part of a criminal organisation linked to what the police call 'vuelcos': violent robberies of consignments of drugs or money from other gangs.

They identify the Spanish defendant as the ringleader and the mastermind who gave orders to the other two. The lawyers have, therefore, increased their request and are demanding life imprisonment with the possibility of parole for all three defendants for the completed murder.

The lawyer of the ringleader maintains that he did not participate in the assault, having only mediated with the other defendants to introduce them to other people involved in buying drugs. The plan was for him to receive a commission of some 4,500 euros for this. According to his defence, he had no knowledge of the crime.