Father murdered 11-year-old son then killed himself

A FATHER has stabbed his 11-year-old son to death then hanged himself. 

Police made the tragic discovery when the boy’s mother, who was estranged from the man, called them to say the boy was an hour and a half overdue from a scheduled visit to his father in the village of Beniel (Murcia). 

Local police officers and Guardia Civil went to his house with a key provided by a relative, but could not open the door. They called in a locksmith who gained entry. It was then the police made their grim find – the body of the boy was lying in the hallway with stab wounds. 

The father’s corpse was hanging in the kitchen. 

Before going to the property, family members had warned law enforcement that David S.O. had engaged in suicidal behaviour in the past. 

The main hypothesis, pending the outcome of a post-mortem examination, is that the 39-year-old father murdered his son. 

Twenty-seven children have been murdered by their fathers or their mothers’ partners or ex-partners in Spain since 2013, when these murders were first included in official gender violence statistics. 

It is what is known as ‘vicarious violence’, doing as much harm as possible to the mother through the children. 

David S. O. had been separated from his wife for a couple of years, according to a Guardia Civil spokeswoman. Both lived in the same municipality, but in different houses. The bereaved mother denounced him in June for harassment, according to Francisco Jiménez, delegate of the Government in Murcia . 

“That harassment consisted of persistent phone calls,” said Jiménez upon his arrival at the Regional Assembly of Murcia in Cartagena, where he attended the investiture debate. 

A restraining order was issued, which he broke on June 18. He was arrested for skipping it and later released. 
The visiting arrangements for the father to see the child were legal and authorised by a judge, the delegate added. Investigations have been taken over by the judicial police.