A MAN from Cuenca who murdered his girlfriend and her best friend in summer of 2015 has been jailed for 48 years, of which he has already served two through being in custody in Madrid.
Sergio Morate Garcés went on the run to Romania after killing ex-girlfriend Marina Okarynska, 24, originally from Ukraine, and her Spanish friend Laura del Hoyo, 26, when they went to his house in the city of Cuenca (Castilla-La Mancha) at his request to collect some of Marina's belongings.
He is said to have strangled his former partner and then murdered Laura so he would have no witnesses, then buried them in a shallow grave in the countryside near the village of Palomera before fleeing in a car across Europe.
Morate, now 31, and the two young women were reported missing on August 6, 2015, the day of the crime, and Morate was arrested in Timisoara, Romania a week later.
He reportedly confessed the murders to his Romanian friend – a former prison mate living in Lugoj in the region of Timis - according to this man's wife, saying he had 'really messed up'.
Istvan Horvath is accused of aiding and abetting for 'helping Morate hide out in Romania', although he insists that although his friend told him about the crime, he 'did not believe him'.
During the hearing, a jury heard how Morate sat down to eat a takeaway meal in his car whilst the bodies of the two young women were in the boot on his way to Palomera to dispose of their remains.
Marina and Laura were found by a cyclist near the river Huécar, buried in limestone and showing signs of burns.
Morate, who had been jailed in the past for the attempted kidnap of a former girlfriend, is said to have been 'obsessed' with Marina, who had married after they split up.
The killer's family sent him an open letter via the media on the day of his arrest, saying they 'trusted' he could be 'found and locked up' so that his 'disturbed mind' would 'recover'.
“We hope this means you will become conscious that you have not only murdered these little girls, but also their families – and what used to be your own family,” the letter read.
“There are no excuses for such an atrocity, and you can never be forgiven.”
Morate's family publicly disowned him upon his arrest, and have not had any contact with him since.
As well as 25 years in jail for the death of Marina and 23 years for murdering Laura, Morate has been ordered to pay €120,000 in compensation to each of the girls' parents, plus €40,000 to their sisters and €50,000 to Marina's husband.
He has been banned from living in the province of Cuenca ever again and is not permitted to go within half a kilometre of the families of either of his victims for 10 years after leaving prison, during which he will be electronically tagged and be required to report to the court.
Although his sentence is 48 years – based upon the maximum for murder of 25 per victim – the actual custodial term which can be served in Spain is limited to 30 years.
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