Murder most foul

A German court yesterday sentenced a former diving instructor to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of a Majorcan woman. A Hamburg court sentenced Maria del Carmen del Salto's killer yesterday following his arrest earlier this year. The horrific crime occurred in Cala Bona in May 1999. Carmen was last seen alive leaving a discotheque with the 34-year-old German who worked as a diving instructor on the island. Her parents contacted police after she failed to return home. An island-wide hunt was launched. Six months later her body was discovered on some waste land. Okulus was arrested in Germany. The trial has lasted for more than four months and it is unusual that he has been tried by a German court rather than the Spanish authorities seeking extradition. He will serve out the prison sentence in a German jail. The crime deeply shocked Majorca. An autopsy revealed that the Majorcan woman had been savagely assaulted and raped. The trial has taken this length of time because witnesses and even police officers have had to travel to Germany for the hearing.