Model who murdered British jewel boss in rage faces 22 years
A FORMER swimwear model who shot dead her British millionaire exlover at his Costa del Sol villa was yesterday found guilty of murder.
Mayka Kukucova snapped and killed jeweller Andrew Bush after discovering his relationship with 23-year-old Russian Maria Korotaeva.
A jury of nine took less than a day to convict Kukucova, 26, who was also found guilty of breaking into his beachside villa near Marbella. Mr Bush’s daughter Ellie, 21, and his sister Rachel, 44, embraced on hearing the verdict. Outside court Ellie said: ‘She’s finally got a little bit of what she deserves after what she’s put this family through.
‘It’s been a tremendous ordeal to go through. We are just glad this chapter is finally done and we can move forward with our lives knowing that we got the justice we came here to get.
‘We’re really happy with the verdict here today. We came a long way to get where we are.’ Kukucova, who is Slovakian, sobbed and slumped on a table after the verdict. She could face 22 years in jail, but is expected to be sentenced to between 15 and 20 years.
As the jury did not support prosecutors’ claims Kukucova tried to increase Mr Bush’s suffering, she will not serve the maximum sentence for murder of 25 years.
Kukucova had been in her ex’s house for two days before the murder after flying to Spain from Slovakia on a one-way ticket.
She claimed in court she let herself in with a spare key and was picking up belongings she had left in the house during the time she and Mr Bush dated. Jurors rejected her claim ‘insurmountable fear’ led her to act in selfdefence after Mr Bush, 48, who lived in Chepstow in Wales, turned a gun on her.
Instead, all nine agreed it had been proven she was waiting for Mr Bush with the gun in her hand and shot him three times ‘with the intention of ending his life’ in an attack which left him unable to defend himself.
Ellie had told the court the Kukucova assaulted her father during a family holiday to Dubai. The jury foreman said ‘obsessed’ Kukucova was ‘affected by the break-up from an emotional point of view as well as the loss of social status it implied’.