In an already dry septic tank, several meters underground, the Mossos d’Esquadra ship found on Thursday the body of Oscar, a man missing for almost a year and a half in Cunit (Tarragona). The warehouse belonged to a house in San Jaume dels Domenes, where Pep lived, and he and his partner at the time, Sylvia, were arrested for the crime. The Mossos family accuse them of murdering Oscar, 50, with whom they formed a tortuous love triangle, and whom they accuse of abuse. The Plaza 5 Court of Vendrell Magistrate Court ordered Pep, 69, to be sent to prison, and avoidable imprisonment on bail of €10,000 for Sylvia, 48.
Oscar stopped showing signs of life on July 14, 2024. He had children, was preparing for future exams and employment and there were no reasons to explain his “lack of vital activity,” according to investigators from the Central Unit for Missing Persons, who dealt with the case. With the causes of accidental death or suicide ruled out, the Catalan police began delving into the victim’s life to discover who and why killed him.
Police sources explained: “It turned out that he had a secret relationship with a woman with whom he was already in a relationship and had mistreated her.” However, when questioned as a witness, she confirmed that they only saw each other occasionally and sporadically. In addition, the Mossos discovered that the woman was in a romantic relationship with Pep, with whom she also worked at a restaurant in San Jaume dels Domenes. He is a man, the latter, with a criminal history in the 1980s for violent robberies.
The police then focused the investigation on the love triangle, suspecting that it could explain Oscar’s involuntary disappearance, which they were already treating as a murder with the body hidden. From there, they obtained key information through phone positioning: “the proximity in space and time between the three people” on the last day of Oscar’s life. The three met at the restaurant Pip ran, where Sylvia worked, and where they believed the crime had been committed.
The police said that the meeting between Oscar, Pip and Sylvia in the restaurant was not impromptu, but was planned. “Whether the murder was also planned or not, we don’t know. But we believe there was a killing spirit,” explain those same sources, who have been behind the case for more than a year.
Police believe that the detainees killed Oscar on July 14, 2024 at Pep’s restaurant, then took the body to the house where he was living at the time, and dumped it with the aim of hiding it in the property’s septic tank. Police sources summarize, “They wanted to get rid of him,” about the motives for the crime, which mixes bad personal relationships, sexual violence, and economic problems as well.
Finally, on December 2, the Mossos d’Esquadra arrested Sylvia and Pip as suspects in the murder. After his statement, the agents were able to determine the location of the body. Police sources confirmed that the woman denied being the perpetrator of the crime. The court ordered prison for both of them, but in Sylvia’s case it finally decided to pay bail of 10,000 euros that would allow her to avoid prison.