Romanian couple sentenced for death of retired Murcia priest

The victim was found beaten to death in his home in April 2007

A Romanian couple accused of the death of a retired Murcia priest have been sentenced to 28 years in prison.

75 year old Salvador Fernández Ciller, who had been a missionary in South America for many years before returning home to Murcia, was found beaten to death in his home in Murcia City on April 11 2007. He had acted as parish priest for two churches before his retirement.

The two suspects convicted for his death are Marius Neacsu, sentenced to 20 years for murder and robbery with violence, and his partner of the time, Ramona Mona Strecke, who will spend 8 years behind bars. EFE reports that the court ruled, in the latter’s case, that she was forced to help in the killing and acted out of fear of her partner.

The sentence describes the actions of the main accused in the case as ‘brutal’, when he attacked the victim with a mallet, beating him about the head repeatedly when he opened his door to receive his visitors.

It’s understood from the text of the sentence that Marius Neacsu had been friendly with the priest for the previous two years and had been receiving money from the victim in exchange for sexual favours. The sentence indicates that he then decided he wanted more money and thought up the plan for the robbery.

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