Police investigate as homicide death of 83-year-old woman found in her Burgos flat
Police in Burgos are treating the death of an 83-year-old woman found in her Gamonal flat as a homicide, though the front door was not forced and several rooms were in disarray.
Discovery in Gamonal
The woman was found dead in a room of her flat on calle Vitoria in the Gamonal district of Burgos on the afternoon of Tuesday, 13 October. Europa Press reports she had been alone from 16:00, when a relative left the home, until 18:30, when her afternoon carer, a woman, arrived and found her unconscious. LaSexta and EL MUNDO, citing the Government Subdelegation in Burgos, put the discovery after 18:00 and say a person close to the woman made it. La Razón reports that the alert went through the 112 emergency service of Castilla y León, which passed it on to the regional health service Sacyl and to the local and national police. Health staff could only confirm that she had died. The body stayed in the flat until a judge authorised its removal, which took place after 20:30.
- A relative leaves the flat, leaving the woman alone
- Afternoon carer arrives and finds the woman
- A judge authorises removal of the body, which leaves the flat after 20:30
Homicide investigation
The Policía Nacional is investigating the death as a homicide, according to LaSexta and EL MUNDO, and the case stays open until the preliminary result of the autopsy is known. Earlier reports said the woman had been found tied up, but EL MUNDO said the Subdelegation had not confirmed this. A later LaSexta report says Subdelegate Pedro de la Fuente confirmed she was bound. The front door was not forced, which leaves investigators weighing whether an intruder forced entry or whether the woman let someone in after being deceived. Scientific police searched the home and gathered evidence, while judicial police took statements from the carer and from people close to the woman. LaSexta reports that early hypotheses link the case to a robbery, given the state of the house, but investigators have not ruled out an intentional act or an accident.
Health and care arrangements
De la Fuente told the media that the woman had respiratory failure and mobility problems, circumstances that could on their own have caused her death had an intruder entered the flat, according to LaSexta. EL MUNDO reports that she had been widowed and lived alone. Her son, as LaSexta describes him, visited the home daily, while Europa Press refers to the relative who left at 16:00 as a nephew. Two carers looked after her, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The preliminary autopsy result is still pending, and the Subdelegation has said the case is under investigation to establish exactly what happened.