# "British" woman decapatated in Tenerife shopping centre by madman



## jollyjacktar (13 May 2011)

Shared with the usual caveat.  Full story and photos at link below.  

Crazed knifeman decapitates 'British' woman in busy Tenerife shopping centre and runs through the streets with her head
By Tom Worden

Tourists watched in horror today as a crazed knifeman hacked off a woman's head and ran with it through a popular Spanish resort.  The killer attacked the woman, in her 30s or 60s, with a machete without uttering a word in a busy shopping centre in Los Cristianos, in Tenerife, at around 10.25 am.

Witnesses said he then fled the store with the severed head in his hands and his victim's blood dripping to the ground.   Security guards chased him down the street and rugby tackled him to the floor, holding him until police arrived.  The attacker had reportedly been following the woman, who may have either worked in the shop or been visiting, in the days before the horrific murder.  He is understood to have been discharged from the Hospital de La Candelaria in February this year following treatment for violent episodes.

An eye-witness told local radio: 'I was parking my car outside the supermarket and I saw this man running out with something bloody in his hands.  'It was a head. He had it in his hands. The security guards chased him and threw him to the floor and overpowered him.'  The witness said the head rolled along the ground as the suspect was apprehended.  Another witness said: 'I saw him running down the street. We thought at first he was carrying a prosthetic head.'  Police said a homeless Bulgarian man, with a criminal record, had been arrested on suspicion of murder.

There were conflicting reports that the weapon may have been a machete, a sword or even a spade.  It is not yet known if the man had a connection to the victim. It is not known if her family have been informed.  His victim, who has not yet been identified, was working at a mini-market in the Valdes shopping centre in the heart of Los Cristianos.  According to one source, the woman was British, but others said that it could have been a Chinese immigrant.  Dominica Fernandez, Madrid's representative in the Canary Islands, said the killer had 'chosen his victim by chance'.

The horrific murder took place at around 10.25am in the popular shopping centre in the small district of Avenida Juan Carlos I.  A source at the National Police said: 'At the moment we are investigating whether he was carrying the knife when he entered the store, or whether he picked it up inside.'   The source said the suspect was 'very well known' to officers in the area.

Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the coast of north west Africa.
It is one of the UK's most popular holiday destinations with around 1.5 million of us visiting every year.
Brits mostly visit the resorts on the south of the island, like Los Cristianos, where the attack happened, and neighbouring Playa de las Americas.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1386762/British-shop-assistant-head-cut-holidaymakers-packed-Spanish-resort.html#ixzz1MFCYGRHv


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## OldSolduer (13 May 2011)

Is this serious? Wow.....like the Portage La Prairie murder in 2008.....

I just found the reports a bit bewildering, could be 30 or 60, British or Chinese....eyewitness accounts are not always accurate.


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## Sigger (13 May 2011)

in her 30s or 60s
who may have either worked in the shop or been visiting
the weapon may have been a machete, a sword or even a spade
According to one source, the woman was British, but others said that it could have been a Chinese immigrant

I wonder how much of this is accurate.. Nonetheless crazy..


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## jollyjacktar (13 May 2011)

Updated.  More information, photos and video at link.  Appears to be genuine.  
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1386762/British-woman-beheaded-Tenerife-machete.html


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