Prosecution in Spain Seeks 22 Years in Prison for Italian Killer of Sibora Gagani

The Spanish prosecution in Malaga formally requested on March 5, 2026, a 22-year prison sentence for an Italian citizen accused of the gruesome murder of his partner Sibora Gagani and walling up her body in the wall of an apartment in Torremolinos. The indictment, presented by Ministerio Fiscal, includes charges of murder with cruelty, desecration of a corpse, and document forgery. The victim, 29-year-old Sibora Gagani, also from Italy, disappeared in 2021. Her body was discovered only years later, walled up in a room of the apartment the couple rented on the tourist-popular Costa del Sol coast. The case came to light in a broader context when Italian authorities launched an investigation into the death of another woman – Paula – in Verona. The Italian man, then a suspect in this second murder, was arrested. During the investigation, links to Gagani's earlier disappearance in Spain were established, leading Spanish police and prosecutors to re-examine the case and discover the walled-up body. The prosecution accuses the man not only of the murder itself but also of particular cruelty and profanation of the corpse by hiding it within the building's structure. An additional charge is forgery, as the perpetrator allegedly used the murdered woman's personal documents after her death to maintain the appearance of her existence. Spanish criminal law, governed by the Penal Code of 1995, prescribes a prison sentence of 10 to 15 years for homicide (homicidio). However, in the case of so-called aggravated murder (asesinato), which includes acts committed with cruelty, treachery, or for gain, the upper limit of the penalty increases. The court can then impose a sentence of up to 25 years in prison, and in exceptionally drastic cases even life imprisonment, which in Spain means a maximum of 40 years in prison. The trial in this case is to be held before a court in Malaga. The prosecution's request for 22 years in prison constitutes a severe demand, reflecting the assessment of the particular gravity and brutality of the alleged acts. The case has caused a major stir in Spanish and Italian media due to the macabre method of hiding the body and the fact that the perpetrator allegedly continued his criminal path by committing another fatal attack on a different partner in Italy. The final verdict remains at the discretion of the court, which will consider the evidence presented, including witness testimonies, expert opinions, and evidence gathered by the Spanish Guardia Civil and Italian police.