American man jailed in Andalucía for murdering wife on Christmas Day
The couple had been touring around Europe and were spending the holiday period in Cadiz
An American citizen has been sentenced to eight years behind bars by a court in Algeciras for the murder of his wife while the pair were on holiday in Andalucía in December 2021.
Michael Martin Hoseyni, originally from Iran, strangled his Russian wife, Yana Rose, over the Christmas period in an aparthotel located in the La Alcaidesa urbanization in La Línea, Cadiz.
The court heard that the couple began an extended trip around Europe in August 2021 and found themselves in the municipality of La Línea de la Concepción during the holidays. Sometime between December 25 and 26, Mr Hoseyni, “in an aggressive and violent way, after hitting her several times and with the intention of ending her life, strangled his partner with his own hands.”
The suspect admitted to the murder and has been awaiting trial in prison since January 29, 2022. He has turned down his right to appeal the 8-year sentence.
Over the course of several months the couple visited Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia, Italy, France and Spain. In Cadiz, they booked a week's accommodation in the aparthotel, between December 21 and 27, to spend the Christmas holidays by the sea.
On that last fateful day, the mother of the murdered woman called her son-in-law from Russia and he told her that he had had a very bad argument with his wife and that she had left in anger.
When he said he didn’t know where his wife was, the victim’s mother became suspicious. She started to panic about her daughter’s wellbeing when Mr Hoseyni said he was planning to fly back home to Colorado alone.
On January 9, Yana was reported missing and police began scouring CCTV footage. A surveillance camera near the apartments captured Mr Hoseyni, on the night of December 26, dragging his wife's body by the ankles and putting it in the boot of the car.
According to the investigation, Mr Hoseyn left Yana's naked body in a corner of a plot of land in the Torretxó area and covered it with branches. He then bought shovels, an axe and gloves and buried his wife in a shallow grave before fleeing to the US via London and Milan.
Strangely, the suspect then purchased a return ticket to Spain. He was arrested as soon as he landed in Madrid on January 28.
Image: Jose Luis Filpo Cabana via Wikimedia Commons
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