accused denied the rape accusation in court and said he killed the victim after she threatened to denounce him

The accused at his arrest - EFE

 

The trial began at the Girona provincial court on Monday of Santiago Víctor Díaz Silva, a Uruguayan waiter who is charged with the rape and murder of the 23 year old Italian tourist, Federica Squarise, in Lloret de Mar at the end of June 2008.

He faces a possible 30 years in prison.

Federica’s body was found half buried on waste ground just a few days after she had arrived in the town on holiday.

The accused admitted to killing the victim in court on Monday, but denied the rape accusation, claiming that Federica had changed her mind and threatened to denounce him when they were on the point of having consensual sex. He said that he stopped, and then heard a voice in his head telling him to kill her. ‘I went crazy at that moment,’ he said, ‘I put one hand around her neck and at the same time stuffed clothes that were lying nearby into her mouth’.

He fled the area but was arrested ten days later, three days after her body was found.

The defence have asked that his consumption of drugs and alcohol, his fit of rage and his cooperation with the authorities all be taken into account and that he be sentenced to five years in prison.

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