Man with active restraining order arrested after stabbing ex-partner to death in Murcia shopping center

The killing

A 44-year-old woman was stabbed to death on the afternoon of August 5, 2026, in a shoe repair and key duplication shop called Súper Rápido, located inside the Carrefour Infante shopping center in Murcia. The attack occurred around 17:00 hours. The suspect, identified as 38-year-old Juan Bautista, was the victim's ex-partner and an employee of the shop. According to reports in La Verdad, he hid the body on the premises and closed the establishment to delay discovery. A co-worker from a neighbouring shop found the body and alerted authorities. The 112 emergency centre received the call at 17:25. A medical team could only certify the woman's death at the scene.

The manhunt and arrest

The suspect fled the shopping center on foot. The Policía Nacional deployed its Homicide Group and the Family and Women's Care Unit (UFAM), with support from the Scientific Police Brigade. After several hours, the Guardia Civil arrested Juan Bautista shortly after midnight in Puerto Lumbreras, about 90 kilometres southwest of Murcia, on the road toward Almería. He was attempting to escape by bus to Andalusia, according to 20minutos. The investigating magistrate of Murcia had issued a search and arrest warrant charging him with homicide and breach of sentence.

A restraining order already in force

Juan Bautista had been sentenced on April 15, 2026, by a judge in the Court for Violence Against Women in Murcia for a domestic violence offence against the same victim. The sentence, agreed by both parties, imposed a prohibition on approaching within 500 metres of the victim, her home, workplace, or any place she frequented, along with a 16-month communication ban. He was also sentenced to 40 days of community service, 16 months of weapons prohibition, and a 310 euro compensation payment. The couple shared a daughter under five years of age. The magistrate provisionally placed the girl under the custody of the public child protection authority of the Region of Murcia.

Second gender violence killing that day

The Murcia killing occurred hours after a Civil Guard agent was killed in Llanes, Asturias, by her ex-partner, also a former member of the Civil Guard. Both cases are being investigated as gender violence crimes. Sources differ on the national toll: 20minutos and LaVanguardia report 35 women killed in 2026 (1,376 since 2003), RTVE reports 35 (1,375 since 2003), and El País reports that if a July case in Benahavís is also confirmed, the figure rises to 36 (1,377 since 2003). El País also reports 23 orphaned minors this year, 533 since counting began in 2013. The Government delegate in Murcia, Francisco Lucas, publicly condemned the killing and expressed condolences to the victim's family.