THE investigation into the gruesome death of a German tourist in Andalucia has taken a dramatic turn after her Italian partner was cleared of involvement and released by a judge.
The man, 60, had been arrested after the body of his 47-year-old partner was discovered with multiple stab wounds in the coastal resort of Isla Cristina, Huelva, on Friday.
He was initially detained by the Guardia Civil on suspicion of killing the woman, but investigators have now ruled out the original theory that he was responsible.
READ MORE: Italian man stabs German partner to death during camper van holiday in western Andalucia
Pablo Fernandez, the Spanish government’s delegate to Andalucia, was quoted by Spanish outlet 101TV as saying the woman’s wounds appeared to have been ‘almost certainly’ self-inflicted.
He added that this was only a ‘preliminary’ result and that the investigation remained ongoing, according to the same news report.
Investigators said evidence gathered at the scene and forensic analysis also contradicted the initial suspicions against the Italian man.
A judge has now ordered his release after the Guardia Civil completed its examination of the scene and submitted the preliminary forensic findings to the investigation.
The woman, who was German, was found dead in the morning near Punta del Caiman beach.
Emergency services received a call at around 8.50am reporting an apparently motionless woman on Avenida del Atlantico.
Police rushed to the scene but the woman could not be saved.
Her body showed multiple knife wounds, prompting investigators to initially treat her death as a possible case of gender-based violence.
The couple were both residents of Germany and had been travelling around Spain together in a camper van when the tragedy occurred.
The man was reportedly arrested without resistance and remained in custody while investigators carried out forensic examinations and questioned the circumstances surrounding the death.
Authorities have now dropped the gender-violence hypothesis and released the suspect without precautionary measures.
The case sent shockwaves through Isla Cristina, a popular holiday resort on Spain’s Costa de la Luz.
Another gruesome killing had rocked the town just days earlier, after a pregnant woman was gunned down in broad daylight alongside her own mother and teenage son.
Investigators said they were probing the case as a potential revenge killing amid an ongoing blood feud between rival drug gangs.
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