Zoom
Gender-based violence Torremolinos woman in the wall killing: man faces 22 years for murderThe trial of Marco Romeo begins as prosecutors detail how the defendant allegedly killed Sibora Gagani and hid her remains behind a wall for nine years
Friday, 6 March 2026, 11:02
Italian national Marco Romeo, who allegedly walled up the body of his ex-partner Sibora in 2014 and killed partner and mother of his child Paula in 2023, both in Torremolinos, is facing 22 years in prison for the former murder.
The trial for the murder of Paula is taking place on Monday, 9 March.
Sibora disappeared in 2014, but the police didn't find her body until 2023, when Marco told them he wanted to take them to the location after his arrest for the murder of Paula. Although he then denied having said that, he had told them the area and a police search discovered Sibora, nine years after her death.
Timeline to a grim discovery in Torremolinos
2014: Sibora Gagani disappeared shortly after ending her relationship with Romeo. To divert suspicion, Romeo reported her missing and claimed she had moved abroad.
May 2023: Romeo was arrested for the murder of his then-partner, Paula, in the La Carihuela neighbourhood.
The confession: While in custody, Romeo reportedly told police that Sibora was "buried in a wall" in his former home. Although he later retracted the statement, it led investigators to the body.
June 2023: Police discovered Sibora's remains inside a wooden crate hidden behind a false wall. Forensic evidence confirmed she had been stabbed while lying on her back, with no signs of a struggle.
Chronology of events
Sibora Gagani met Marco in Nettuno, Italy when she was barely 19 years old. A year later, they moved to Torremolinos, where they lived in several houses. On 1 June 2013, he rented a penthouse in the area of El Calvario, near the town hall. Sibora lived with him until the end of the year when they broke up.
According to the prosecution's account, sometime during the week of 7 to 14 July 2014, Marco allegedly stabbed 22-year-old Sibora at least four times and killed her.
"For an unspecified period of time", the defendant stayed with the corpse, "wondering how to dispose of it until he decided to hide it in his own home".
Marco hired a well-known bricklayer to build a small room on the first floor. The court is not prosecuting the worker due to lack of evidence to claim that he knew what Marco was hiding.
Marco convinced Sibora's family that he didn't know where she was, that they had had a fight and then she had left. He would call the young woman's mother every day, "crying and saying that he wanted Sibora back, that he was in love with her, that they wanted to get married".
The defendant even reported her disappearance at the National Police station in Torremolinos. The last time he testified was on 24 September 2014. At that time, he said that third parties had seen Sibora in Italy or Tenerife. He also handed over some of her personal belongings, including a toothbrush and clothes.
According to the indictment, over the following years, Marco would spread false rumour. On 15 May 2023, a relative of Marco's approached Sibora's brother and told him that they had heard from her, that she had changed her hair colour to blonde and that she was prostituting herself in Portugal.
Two days later, the police arrested Marco for allegedly killing his partner Paula, with whom he had a child, in the home they shared in the La Carihuela neighbourhood. After giving his statement at the police station and after his lawyer had already left, Marco reportedly saw a missing person poster with Sibora's photo.
Marco said to the police: "I want to collaborate because this is going to haunt me forever (...) Sibora is nearby, in El Calvario, in a house, buried in a wall. I'll take you there."
The police called the lawyer again, although the accused then declined to testify, and reopened the investigation into Sibora's disappearance. Later, the judicial authority took a statement from him and he denied responsibility. He said that he had not told the police that; that he did not know where she was; that the last time he had been with her they had had dinner but after that she had left.
Parallel to the judicial investigation, the police started looking for Sibora's body. After three searches in the attic of El Calvario, they located the body on 6 June 2023. She was inside a large wooden crate full of layers of sand, inside a sack and wrapped in plastic, in the saponification phase (a chemical process that converts fat into a waxy substance due to the humidity of the soil).
The police also found two bags: one with a knife and the other with a stack of printed photographs, a plastic case with make-up and glasses, a hoop earring, a pencil sharpener, a hair tie and a bunch of flowers.
Forensic examiners concluded that the girl had been on her back when her attacker had stabbed her four time. There were no signs of struggle or defence and the death was not immediate but rapid.
For Sibora's murder and body concealment, the prosecution is asking for 22 years in prison. Marco will also have to compensate Sibora's mother 197,588 euros.
In 2025, the court convicted Marco of threatening a third ex-partner with a knife.
The Local Police remind the population that anybody, whether a victim or someone who knows that a person is at risk, can contact 061. The call is anonymous and confidential, so it does not appear in the phone bill.
In addition, the city council has the SUAM service that provides legal advice to women in the event of gender-based violence. The service is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The phone numbers are 010 and 679 661 800.