The afternoon of Saturday, October 9, 1999 seemed like a normal one on the Costa del Sol, in Mijas, Málaga, Spain.
In that town he lived a young woman named Rocío Wanninkhof, 19 years oldalong with his mother —Alicia Hornos— and his brothers.
She She was the youngest of the family clan. Her mother was from Andalusia, while his father was of Dutch origin.
At around 5:00 p.m., he said goodbye to his mother and She told him that she was going to meet up with her boyfriend and that she would spend the afternoon with him..
After, He would return to get ready and go with his friends to the Fuengirola fair.
However, he never returned home.
Already on Sunday morning, Alicia asked her other daughter, Rosa, 22, Rocío’s sister, to go to her partner’s house to see if she was there..
He told him that They were together until 9:30 p.m. that night and she possibly went to the fair afterwards, as planned. initially
Their houses were 500 meters away.but the road had poor lighting, according to the Diario de Sevilla.
Rocío’s whereabouts were unclear andAlicia’s concern for her daughter intensified.
In the midst of that desperation, She went out with her boyfriend at the time, Juan, to walk around the area..
During that journey, they saw traces of blood.
At first, they thought they could be from some animal, but then, when they advanced, They found some sneakers and a scarf that had red stains on it.
Besides, They saw the tracks of a vehicle’s wheels.
Given these clues, I call the police.
During the expert reports, Civil Guard agents They corroborated that the blood was Rocío’s and found a cigarette butt with DNA samples from a man, who did not appear in the database official.
The next day, Wanninkhof was declared deadbecause the traces of blood were conclusive.
In the same way, A taxi driver stated that that night, while driving through the sector, he saw a stopped SUV and heard a scream.
However, he assured that the fear of the situation led him to move away.
A few weeks passed until On November 2, the young woman’s body was found on land belonging to a restaurant.located more than 30 kilometers from where he had disappeared.
His body was in very bad condition.to the point where conditions suggested it had been there longer.
But no, the body corresponded to Rocío’s. In the vicinity of the scene of the crimeThey also found two garbage bags with their belongings.which were identified by their relatives.
According to the restaurant owner, had not noticed any irregular movements or actions in the ground.
The autopsy revealed that the victim received a total of nine stab wounds: eight on the back and one on the chest.
The search for the murderer and an accused who turned out to be innocent
The first suspects in the case were Rocío’s boyfriend, her uncle—who lived near the restaurant—and a woman named Dolores Vásquez..
The latter had been Alicia’s partner and had lived with his three children.
Data rescued by Infobae affirm that The couple had ended on bad terms..
The agents did not find traces that linked the young woman’s partner or her uncle to the murder, so the case centered on Dolores.
In fact, The victim’s mother publicly accused her of being the culpritto the point that he stated it on a television program.
Already on September 7, 2000, The police arrested Dolores for her alleged responsibility of the facts.
To support the accusation, It was confirmed that some fibers found on Rocío’s body supposedly matched those of the woman’s clothing.
In addition, It was stated that he used to carry a knife for self-defense. staff.
Dolores insisted on her innocence and argued that on the night of the crime she was taking care of her mother..
In fact, A new analysis confirmed that the fibers did not match.
Even so, the trial was held with a popular jury and both said body and the Public Prosecutor’s Office They concluded, in September 2001, that she was guilty of the crime against Rocío Wanninkhof.
She was sentenced to 15 years in prison and to pay compensation to the victim’s family.
However, he spent 17 months behind barssince after the defense filed an appeal, it was determined that the conviction would be annulled and a new trial would be held.
But before the other instance was carried out, The agents made a discovery that changed the course of the investigation and the accusations against Vásquez.
The new crime that changed the course of the investigation
It was August 2003 when another young woman disappeared in Coín, Málaga.
His name was Sonia Carabantes was 17 years old and a few days after the situation was reported, the discovery of her body was confirmed..
After that, the police discovered that The DNA they found in the expert reports coincided with that analyzed in the Rocío case.
There they could affirm that The murderer of both young women had been the same person.
Only It was necessary to discover who.
After Sonia’s disappearance, a British subject until then known as Tony Alexander King arrived home at approximately 8:30.
His clothes had blood stains and he had scratches on his face..
To avoid raising alarms, He showered and washed the clothes he brought.
He told his partner at the time that he had had an accidentaccording to the Diario de Sevilla.
Such behavior aroused suspicion in the woman., who also noticed that he had left the bathroom cleaner after using it. It was unusual. At least, on her part.
As a result of several unusual actions and multiple lies that he discovered, she wanted to separate from him that year.
Besides, He told his friends that he had suspicions about him.
One of them was a police officer.
After they notified the authorities, they realized that In fact, her ex-husband was called Tony Bromwich and he had an extensive history of crimes..
Also, Samples of their DNA were reviewed and it was confirmed that it matched the one found in the cases of Rocío and Sonia..
The evidence was overwhelming, so On September 18, 2003, he was arrested by the authorities.
Given the evidence against him, Tony Alexander Bromwich – or Tony Alexander King, as he preferred to be called – was forced to confess to the crimes.
Already on October 16, In 2005, the trial for the Sonia Carabantes case began, which ended with a sentence of 36 years in prison for the British man.in addition to compensation for the victim’s family.
In November In 2006, the case of Rocío Wanninkhof began, which meant 19 more years in prison. and new compensation for the relatives of the deceased young woman.
For its part, Dolores Vásquez—the woman who had been accused of Rocío’s murder—was exonerated in court.
A production titled The Wanninkhof case – Carabantes delves into this complex case and you can watch it on Netflix by clicking click on this link.
If you click on this other from MAX, you can watch the documentary series Dolores: the truth about the Wanninkhof casewhich addresses what happened from Vásquez’s perspectivewho was unjustly convicted.
