Former boyfriend tells court Sibora, the young woman whose body was found hidden behind a wall in Torremolinos flat, was killed by Albanian mafia

Marco R. G. is being held in prison in Huelva in connection with the deaths of two women who he allegedly murdered after they broke off their relationships with him. Yesterday (Tuesday 30 January), at the request of his lawyer, Noemí Ouviña, the Italian suspect testified by videoconference from jail before the head of the Court of Instruction number 3 in Torremolinos, which is investigating the two crimes.

The Italian suspect, who is 45 years old and has several previous convictions for gender violence, testified for more than two hours in which he gave his version of both deaths. But he only acknowledged his involvement in one of them, that of his last partner, Paula, the 28-year-old who was stabbed to death last May in La Carihuela.

Marco R. G. denied having killed Sibora Gagani, who had been missing since July 2014, when she was just 22 years old, shortly after she ended her relationship with her alleged killer. After he was arrested for killing Paula, he allegedly surprised investigating officers by confessing that Sibora’s body was behind a wall in an apartment in the Calvario neighbourhood where the two lived together.

The suspect, assisted by his lawyer and in the presence of the prosecutor and the private prosecutors in both crimes, represented by the lawyers Guillermo Jiménez (in Paula’s case) and Juan Manuel Medina (in Sibora’s case), offered for the first time his version of Sibora's death. Marco R. G., who previously confessed to having walled up the young Italian-Albanian woman, said he did it out of "fear" of the Albanian mafia who he alleges killed her.

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Marco R. G told the investigating magistrate that Sibora had borrowed 25,000 euros from compatriots to set up a business, but that the money was stolen by Colombians she met during a night out, and so she could no longer repay the debt. Marco R.G. told the magistrate that the lenders began to pressure Sibora to pay back the money to the point that the young woman planned – according to the Italian – to flee.

Sibora's phone stopped transmitting on 7 July 2014. The last person she spoke to on WhatsApp was Marco, who was always in the investigators' sights as the main suspect. However, no evidence was found against him at the time.

The suspect told the court yesterday that he helped Sibora leave her flat and took her into the Calvario apartment where they lived – despite the fact that they were no longer in a relationship – to help her, and that four Albanian men armed with a gun showed up to demand the alleged loan payment.

According to his testimony, the Albanians killed Sibora in front of him using a "knife" and that he was ordered to hide the body. He said that he only knows the name of one of the perpetrators of the crime, but refused to reveal it.

Marco R. G. insisted that he is remorseful and that he feels very sorry for what happened because they had many experiences together, so he needed to get "that weight off his shoulders".

Regarding Paula's crime, the Italian said that on 17 May 2023 they were both "very high" and argued violently. According to his version, the deceased woman threatened him with a knife, he stood up to her and the situation got out of hand. He admitted killing her, but claimed it was self-defence.

On 1 January 2024, Marco sent an 18-page handwritten letter from prison to the investigating magistrate in which he gave an extended version of what he claims happened. His letter goes into more detail about Paula's death than about Sibora's death.

In the letter, the Italian wrote that while in prison he has had a "very strong rapprochement with God" and he claims that he has embarked on a "spiritual path" in which he is learning from his mistakes.