Susqueda swamp couple's murderer arrested

Jordi Magentí Gamell, 60, from Anglès, was caught in Santa Coloma de Farners and is considered to be the material author of the killing, although possible motives have not been revealed as yet.

His son has also been arrested in the nearby town of Salt, although his connection with the murders has not been made public so far.

Magentí Gamell is known to have spent 12 years of a 15-year sentence in jail for fatally shooting his wife in 1997.

His young victims 20 years later – Marc, 23 and Paula, 21, from Arenys de Munt and Cabrils (both in Barcelona province) respectively – had been on holiday in the Girona province in August last year when they disappeared.

Their families last heard from them on August 24, just before they planned to go camping in the picturesque countryside on the banks of the Susqueda swamp.

Their bodies were found weeks later in the river, naked and with clear signs of violence.

Paula had been shot and Marc had been stabbed through the chest, and a rucksack filled with heavy stones had been placed on his back.

Neither the killer nor his son had any relationship with the victims or their families or friends, and were completely unknown to the young couple.

Magentí Gamell is said to have been planning a one-way trip to Colombia in the next few days, and his current wife had been in the South American country for several months.

Photograph by the Girona provincial fire brigade