Málaga court sentences Marco Romeo to 24 years in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend Paula in Torremolinos in 2023 and habitual abuse. The ruling cites the brutality of the attack with 16 stab wounds and total domination over the victim. He faces another trial for killing a previous partner.
Málaga Provincial Court sentenced 48-year-old Marco Romeo on March 20, 2026, to 24 years in prison for murdering his 28-year-old ex-girlfriend Paula on May 17, 2023, in a Torremolinos apartment. The sentence comprises 23 years for murder with gender and kinship aggravating factors, plus one year for habitual abuse. He must compensate Paula's family with over 918,000 euros and loses custody of their shared child, facing 15-year no-contact orders and ten years of supervised release, plus accessory measures like a four-year weapons ban, per eldiario.es. El País specifies indemnities exceeding 215,000 euros per some relatives and 270,000 euros to others, plus ten-year no-contact with Paula's prior two children, with minor total figure discrepancies but confirming substantial amounts overall. The ruling follows a unanimous jury verdict on March 13 deeming premeditated murder and total control over Paula during their three-year relationship from 2020, sharing a child. The judge noted “the brutality of the assault”, inflicting 16 wounds with a 19.5 cm professional kitchen knife stolen days earlier, preventing defense due to surprise and physical disparity. Romeo set a trap: on May 16, he claimed to have left the apartment after dismissal, but tracked her; she returned trustingly and was attacked while fleeing with a backpack, stabbed fatally in the back. Witnesses heard cries for help, but he claimed it was an argument and fled after changing clothes, arrested shortly after. In the relationship, he imposed economic and social domination: barring work, personal phone use or outings, threatening “I’ll do to you what I did to Sibora”, his prior partner Sibora Gagani, 22, killed in 2014 with her lime-sealed walled-up body found in 2023 after his police confession. Family lawyer Guillermo Smerdou said the sentence is “adequate” and the family “satisfied”. Romeo denies abuse: “My intention was not to harm her”. A trial for Sibora awaits, with prosecutors seeking 20 years plus charges for concealing the body.