Pakistani arrested for killing 3 Spanish sisters with hammer in romance scam

The circumstances surrounding the deaths of three elderly siblings and their possible relation to an online romance scam in which two of them fell prey are being looked into by Spanish authorities.

Dilawar Hussain FC, a 42-year-old man of Pakistani descent, has been taken into custody by the civil guard, according to BBC.

They reported that he turned himself in and admitted to the killings.

Last Monday, their home revealed the bodies of their siblings, José Gutiérrez Ayuso, 77, Ángeles, 74, and Amelia, 67.

They had been partially burned.

The trio resided in Morata de Tajuña, a village southeast of Madrid with 8,000 residents.

According to the civil guard, the sisters' suspected involvement in an online fraud and a debt they owed the suspect seemed to be the driving force for the crime.

The siblings' friends and neighbours have revealed to the local media that Ángeles and Amelia had been involved in online romances for a number of years with individuals posing as US guys.

The two women reportedly wired up to €400,000 (£340,000) to a man they knew as "Edward" who was a friend of his and allegedly served in the US military. They communicated with these individuals, at least in part, over Facebook.

The mentally disabled José Gutiérrez Ayuso was not involved in the money transfer.

The sisters' cash had been depleted by these relationships, so they turned to informal lenders and the people in their community for financial assistance. They even demanded money from Morata de Tajuña's priest and mayor, according to Spain's ABC media.

During his months-long stay as a lodger in their home, Hussain got to know the siblings. He claimed to the police that the sisters owed him a substantial amount of money because they had taken out a high-interest loan from him and had not repaid it.

While Amelia was still residing in her home, Hussain attacked her twice; the second attack happened in February 2023 and used a hammer, necessitating medical treatment. In September of last year, he was freed from prison after serving seven months out of a two-year term, along with a restraining order.

On Thursday, police were called to the three siblings' home after neighbours reported not seeing or hearing from them in a few weeks.

The sisters' acquaintance Enrique Velilla, a local, claimed that the women's fixation on paying money to their imaginary partners had forced them to sell a Madrid property.