Father threw two young daughters in sea to cause mother ‘inhumane pain’, judge rules – World News

Tomas Gimeno is believed to have drugged his daughters Olivia, six, and Anna, one, before stuffing their bodies into holdalls and dropping them into the ocean with weighted anchors

A father-of-two suspected of killing his daughters and throwing their bodies into the ocean wanted to cause their mum “inhumane pain”, a judge has ruled.

Tomas Gimeno’s is believed to have murdered six-year-old Olivia and one-year-old Anna, then disposed of their bodies in bags weighed down by an anchor in a “planned and premeditated fashion.”

Olivia was found lifeless in a sports bag more than 3,000 feet underwater off Tenerife on Thursday, next to a second holdall which was empty.

The 37-year-old and his youngest daughter Anna, one, are still missing but are presumed dead.

A Spanish judge investigating the disappearance of the trio outlined the night Gimeno allegedly murdered his children as she ruled that the ongoing criminal investigation should be handed to a specialist domestic violence court.

Gimeno vanished after telling his ex-partner Beatriz Zimmerman she would never see her children again, when she began a new relationship with a wealthy Belgian.

Judge Priscila Espinosa Guterriez detailed the conclusions she had reached about the case as she announced her decision in a nine-page written ruling saying: “The evidence points to Tomas Gimeno’s intention on April 27 when he took his daughters, being not to snatch them from their mum and take them to an unknown place, but to kill them in a planned and premeditated fashion to cause his ex-partner inhumane pain.

“He allegedly deliberately tried to create uncertainty regarding the fate his daughters had suffered by hiding their bodies on the ocean bed after killiing them, choosing a place deep underwater and far from the coast where he thought they would never be found,” she added.

“All this happened after he told his ex-partner and his close circle he was going to disappear with the girls and they wouldn’t be seen again.”

Outlining the hours leading up to the moment investigators believe Gimeno killed his daughters at his home between 7.50pm and 9pm on April 27 in circumstances that are still being probed, the judge revealed that he had taken the boat he allegedly used to dump their bodies at sea on a “test run” at around 6pm the same day.

Olivia, who court officials said on Friday had died of pulmonary edema – excess fluid in the lungs – was at a tennis class when Gimeno did the test run after picking his daughters up from school.

He was filmed on CCTV carrying the sports bags he allegedly stuffed his daughters’ bodies into from his Audi A3 to his boat at a marina in the Tenerife capital Santa Cruz.

The empty vessel, minus the anchor, was discovered off Puertito de Guimar on the east corner of the island just over 10 miles south of Santa Cruz hours after he and the girls vanished.

A search vessel lent to the police by the Spanish Oceanographic Institute called Angeles Alvarino, is continuing to comb the ocean bed in the area where Oliva’s body was found.

A diving bottle and duvet cover belonging to the youngsters’ father had been discovered on Monday more than 3,000 feet underwater near the same area.

Fears are growing that Anna’s body may never be found if she was left in the empty holdall police discovered.

It was reported on Friday that police investigators had reached the conclusion Olivia and Anna’s evil dad drugged and killed them at his home before putting them in separate holdalls, taking their bodies out to sea, then throwing them into the ocean with the anchor attached.

Opened medicine packets containing sedatives and muscle relaxants were discovered in his living room, Catalan newspaper El Periodico said.

It emerged that after the abduction, Gimeno had threatened his estranged wife over her new relationship with an older Belgian man named locally as Eric Domb.

He is said to have beaten up Eric, 60, before snatching his daughters in an incident Beatriz and the assault victim decided not to report to police for fear it would inflame an already-tense situation.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s partner Georgina Rodriguez was among celebs who used their social media accounts to highlight the girls’ disappearance in the days after they went missing as their mum posted pictures and videos of them online in a bid to get their photos published around the world so well-wishers would recognise them and alert the authorities.

Spanish mum-of-one Georgina, 27, said in an emotional post to her 24 million Instagram followers shortly after the mystery disappearance: “I want to use my reach on this great social network to make sure this reaches as many people as possible.

“I hope with all my heart that the girls are found safe and well and can hug their mum again soon.”

Local authorities said from the start all theories were being explored, including the possibility the girls were dead, although their loved ones had been clinging to the hope they were still alive.

A minute’s silence took place for Anna and Olivia at midday on Friday in Santa Cruz, ahead of fingerprint tests which confirmed the child’s body found on the ocean bed a mile off the Tenerife coast was that of Olivia.

Jose Manuel Bermudez, the mayor of Tenerife capital Santa Cruz, said after the gruesome discovery: “There are no words to express the terrible desolation I feel.

“From respect at the mother’s pain and with all the caution the terrible news that is reaching us deserves, I want to express to the family all the solidarity of the citizens of Santa Cruz.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted: “I cannot begin to imagine the pain of the mother of little Anna and Olivia, who disappeared in Tenerife, following the terrible news we have just heard.

“I send a hug and my love and that of my whole family, who today show solidarity with Beatriz and her loved ones.”