‘Murderer’ caught on Google Street View! Spanish cops ‘remedy love triangle killing’ after recognizing on-line picture of ‘physique being loaded into automobile’
A love triangle murder mystery has been solved by macabre Google Street View pictures allegedly showing a body bag being loaded into a car.
The extraordinary image, which is still available on Google Maps, shows someone leaning over a white sack in the boot of a red Rover car in the village of Calle del Norte in Tajueco, Spain.
Police say the pictures, unwittingly captured by a passing Google camera car, has been crucial in cracking the murder of a missing man, named only by his initials JLPO, whose body has since been found dismembered.
The Cuban national, aged 33, was reported missing by a relative in November 2023 and police had been trying to locate the man for months.
Some of his chopped up remains, including his torso, were found in the cemetery in the town of Andaluz last week, which is about six miles from Tajueco. Some of his limbs are reportedly still missing.
The man had reportedly travelled to the Soria province to search for his wife, who was already living in the area.
When he arrived, he allegedly discovered that his Cuban wife was having an affair with her 48-year-old neighbour, named by El Pais as Manuel Isla Gallardo, who is locally known as Wolf of Tajueco. He is understood to be running a bar in nearby Bayubas de Arriba.
Investigators said that the crime originated from the love triangle, with the woman and her affair partner planning the murder, according to Cibercuba.
The photo shows a man loading what appears to be a body bag into the boot of a red car, local media reports
The Google Street View pictures show the red Rover car parked on the side of the road, with the boot standing open
Another angle shows the man, who was wearing jeans and a blue jacket, leaning further into the boot as he secures the big white bag he added
Another frame captured by the Google camera car shows a person dressed in dark clothing pushing a wheelbarrow carrying a large white package
The victim’s cousin, who lives in Zaragoza, said the last messages he received from him mentioned the man meeting a woman and a plan to get rid of his phone.
He thought the messages were suspicious and didn’t sound like his cousin, so the man called the police.
Police investigated the disappearance and searched various properties in Soria, including excavations near the home of one of the suspects.
But the crucial lead in the case was provided by the Google Street View pictures showing a man loading a big bag appearing to be a body into the boot, which led investigators to focus on the wife’s new partner Gallardo.
The pictures, which appear to have been taken in October 2024, show a man wearing a jacket embroidered with the name of local football club CD Numancia. He was also wearing jeans and light brown boots.
It is unclear who the individual loading the boot in the pictures is.
Another frame captured by the Google camera car shows a person dressed in dark clothing pushing a wheelbarrow carrying a large white package.
The person, which can only be seen from a distance and is not visible in closer shots of the road, is located just around the corner from where the red car was parked.
The person, which can only be seen from a distance and is not visible in closer shots of the road, is located just around the corner from where the red car was parked
The pictures show the man wearing a jacket embroidered with the name of local football club CD Numancia
Another picture shows the car with the boot closed and seemingly no one else nearby
After the discovery of the men’s dismembered body, forensic experts investigated the burial site on the cemetery (pictured) before transferring his remains to the Soria Institute of Legal Medicine for analysis
The identification of the body found in the cemetery was complicated by the advanced decomposition of the remains, but police still assume they belong to the missing Cuban man
Wiretaps revealed that both the wife and Gallardo were involved in disappearance of the man, but it has not been reported how this led investigators to the cemetery where the Cuban man’s remains were found.
They were arrested on November 12 and have remained in provisional custody since.
After the discovery of the men’s dismembered body, forensic experts investigated the burial site on the cemetery before transferring his remains to the Soria Institute of Legal Medicine for analysis.
The identification of the body was complicated by the advanced decomposition of the remains, but police still assume they belong to the missing Cuban man.
The cemetery in Andaluz has been sealed for days following the gruesome discovery.
Residents in Tajueco, Andaluz and other nearby towns expressed shock over the discovery of the body, with one person telling local media: ‘Nobody thought something like this could happen here. It’s such a quiet town.’
Other locals said Gallardo, the ‘Wolf of Trajueco’, was living a solitary life troubled by personal issues.
When shown the picture of the person pushing the wheelbarrow, residents told local media there weren’t sure whether the person looked like Gallardo.
‘It could be someone carrying firewood… but we didn’t think there could be corpse in the boot photo either,’ they said.
A local judge had initially ordered the details of the case to remain secret as the investigation is ongoing, but authorities revealed information on the alleged killing on Wednesday.
