By Tara Rippin • Published: 13 Dec 2018 • 10:45
PALMA Court heard that Ioan Ciotau allegedly killed his wife Lucia Patrascu after they ‘got their wires crossed’. He reportedly insisted, however, that he was ‘unaware of what he had done’, having suffered a temporary mental disorder. Ciotau, 60, is accused of stabbing Lucia to death in Puerto Pollensa in May 2016. The court was told he had drunk around 15 beers and taken anti-anxiety pills that had been prescribed a few days earlier. When his wife entered the apartment on the Sunday morning of the stabbing, he had asked her where she had been all night, which led to an apparent ‘misunderstanding’. The prosecution argued there was a fierce argument and that Ciotau dragged Lucia to the balcony, where he stabbed her several times with a 16 cm blade. He allegedly then went into the street and told people that he would be arrested as he had killed his wife. Prosecutor, Carmen Fernandez, is seeking a sentence of 22 years and compensation of €100,000 for their two children. But Ciotau’s lawyer called for him to be acquitted, claiming he was under the influence of alcohol and medication that had induced temporary paranoia. The case continues.
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Tara Rippin is a reporter for Spain’s largest English-speaking newspaper, Euro Weekly News, and is responsible for the Costa Blanca region. She has been in journalism for more than 20 years, having worked for local newspapers in the Midlands, UK, before relocating to Spain in 1990. Since arriving, the mother-of-one has made her home on the Costa Blanca, while spending 18 months at the EWN head office in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol. She loves being part of a community that has a wonderful expat and Spanish mix, and strives to bring the latest and most relevant news to EWN’s loyal and valued readers.
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