National
Man kills his girlfriend when granted four day prison pass
By h.b.
Dec 1, 2008 - 7:09 AM

Yet another tragic case of domestic violence in Spain.

Questions are being asked as to how a prisoner on a weekend pass was able to approach the home of his current girlfriend and kill her and injure three more people without his GPS ankle device warning the authorities that he had broken an official distancing order. The Interior Ministry has promised a full investigation.

60 year old Maximino Couto is accused of killing his girlfriend by a blow to the head in A Lama, Pontevedra, and injured some neighbours who had declared against him in court. A policeman was also injured as he resisted arrest.

His girlfriend had pleaded to the authorities for him to be granted a more open prison regime claiming he was being treated more harshly than other offenders. He was serving a two year and six month sentence for threatening his ex wife and was due to be released on December 19.

In a separate tragedy, a woman in her 30’s has been killed in Valencia. She was stabbed several times, allegedly by her partner, who then tried to commit suicide.
It happened in the Benicalap area of the city, with emergency services only able to confirm the death of the woman on their arrival at the scene.
The alleged aggressor is in a critical condition, also suffering stab wounds, in the La Fe Hospital in Valencia. National Police say he had tried to cut his own throat.