The picturesque Spanish island of Tenerife is a popular holiday destination for tourists from all over the world, offering not only beautiful beaches but also numerous towns with their own distinctive charm. One of these towns is Ten Bel in the south of the island, which is particularly popular with sun worshippers as it enjoys around 3,200 hours of sunshine a year, twice as much as the north of the island. Fabiola Fernanda, 15, lived in this town until her disappearance on July 26, 2007. On that day, Fabiola had met up with her friends and set off for home at around 9:30 p.m. As it was already late, she took a shortcut via the Pista Virgilio, a lonely sandy path. Fabiola had no idea that she would meet her killer there. When Fabiola did not come home, her parents informed the Guardia Civil. After a week of anxious waiting, her body was found on August 2, 2007, buried under stones in a ditch not far from Palm Mar. The decisive location was revealed to the Guardia Civil by Fabiola’s murderer himself. He was 28-year-old Colombian Héctor Fabio Franco Giraldo, whose conspicuous blue Jeep proved to be his undoing, as it had been seen on the sandy road that evening. During a search of the Jeep, the Guardia Civil found an earring and a piercing that clearly belonged to Fabiola. Héctor was confronted with this during questioning. At first, he directed suspicion toward a 28-year-old Romanian, but after 12 hours he broke down and confessed in tears to the murder of Fabiola Fernanda. He had seen Fabiola on the sandy road and offered her a ride in his car. Once she had got in, Héctor became aggressive towards the pretty Fabiola. She fought back violently and started screaming, whereupon Héctor held her mouth and nose shut until she lost consciousness. He then threw her into the 7-meter-deep ditch and covered her body with stones. According to the autopsy report, Fabiola had suffered a skull fracture from the stones. The forensic scientists were unable to determine whether Héctor had sexually abused Fabiola before her death, as her body had been completely demolished by the stones. Héctor, who had been living in El Fraile on Tenerife for six years with his 20-year-old girlfriend from Madrid, was considered a quiet person until the murder, who had a regular job and regularly communicated with his family and friends in Colombia via the internet café. He himself could not explain why he had suddenly turned into a beast. Héctor was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of Fabiola Fernanda.
Murder on the vacation island
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