A magistrate in Torrox has ordered that a man suspected of being behind a murder in Maro should be kept in preventative custody.

The 40-year-old German man with the initials K.D., is also accused of causing grievous bodily harm to another person, but who managed to escape.

The incidents took place in the Barranco de Maro (Nerja) where there are numerous small caves, which are being occupied by both Spanish and foreign people living an alternative life style.

The body of the 49-year-old victim, with the initials W.H. and of the same nationality as the suspect, was found last Friday morning with traumatic head injuries. It appears both men had had several heated disputes over the past few months.

Alerted by people who had come across the body, the Guardia Civil were sent to the scene where they took statements from people living in the caves, they then proceded to the arrest of the suspect.

This is the second crime to have taken place in that area this year. In March a man from the Czech Republic  was beaten to death by another man of the same nationality. This incident occurred along the road that links Maro to the beach area, a mere kilometre from where this latest murder took place.

(News/Noticias: Maro, Nerja, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia – Photo: E.C.)