Police step up murder inquiry

Police yesterday continued with their investigation in to the brutal murder of an 82-year-old Majorcan businessman at his Palma home, just 50 metres from the National Police heaquarters, on Thursday night. Within hours of the body being removed from the scene of the tragic crime on Friday morning, police brought in teams of investigators and police chiefs stressed the urgency of solving the case. It appears that detectives have already managed to gather “important” information and the motive appears to have been robbery and not premeditated murder. Police are also sticking with their theory that Pedro Estarellas died of asphyxiation, but the results of the autopsy have not been received yet. Police are also convinced that at least two people were involved in the crime and that the victim knew one or all of his attackers. Police suspect that the victim kept a significant amount of money in his flat above his car rental garage and that one or all of the attackers had had a previous relationship, probably professional, with Estarellas. However, the robbers did not know where the money was exactly kept, hence why the elderly man's bleeding body was dragged round the apartment. Forensics have returned to the scene to comb the flat for fingerprints in a bid to catch the killers who also tortured the 82-year-old, police say because he would not tell them where the money was.