MARTA del Castillo Casanueva’s murder and rape will be tried by jury, the court in Sevilla handling the case has announced.

This decision is not open to appeal.

Miguel Carcaño, 20, confessed to killing his ex-girlfriend, 17, who disappeared on January 24 this year.

He initially claimed he threw an ashtray at her and, believing her dead, panicked and dumped her body in the river Guadalquivir.

But it later transpired that Marta was probably gang-raped and strangled.

Carcaño then claimed her body was on a rubbish dump just outside the city.

A witness and former girlfriend of the accused then suggested Marta may be in a ditch alongside Carcaño’s home in Camas (Sevilla), where the crime reportedly took place.

But stringent searches have failed to recover her body.

Carcaño and his older stepbrother, Javier, and friend Samuel B.P., both accused of having helped to dump the body, will be tried by a jury made up of members of the public.

Also facing trial is Javier’s girlfriend María, who was said to have been studying in the house at the time and is accused of having helped to remove the evidence of the killing.

However, 15-year-old Javier G.M., thought to have raped Marta and held her down whilst Carcaño did so, will be tried by a youth court.