Campervan driver ‘ killed wife then crashed into lorry to commit suicide’
A BRITISH campervan driver may have deliberately crashed into a lorry to kill himself, after murdering his wife several days earlier, Spanish police believe.
Detectives are said to have reached the conclusion the 38year-old man ended his life with the horrific collision while he was still carrying his alleged victim’s body in their mobile home.
The unnamed Briton died instantly in the crash last week on a motorway close to the town of Los Barrios, near Gibraltar. Police and firefighters also discovered the body of his 41-year-old French wife in what was left of the campervan.
Reports at the time said it was being driven on the wrong side of the motorway when it happened.
And yesterday Civil Guard investigators said evidence was pointing to the collision being a ‘murder-suicide’ after an autopsy revealed the woman had died days earlier. A police source said: ‘It does appear at this stage that the driver deliberately crashed his vehicle when his wife was already dead inside.’
Spanish press reported the incident as a murder-suicide and said the police probe was being conducted as a domestic violence investigation. It happened on the A-381 motorway around 2.15pm on Friday, September 25. The 43-yearold lorry driver, believed to be a Spaniard from Dos Hermanas near Seville, was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
The post-mortem examination on the woman’s body reportedly showed she did not die as a result of the crash, but from head injuries sustained beforehand.
A police report pointed to the campervan travelling the wrong way along the motorway at speed for at least a mile and a half before hitting the lorry.
Despite the local civil guard not yet making any official comment, a source said: ‘Our understanding is the campervan driver has a history of mental health problems and was supposed to be on medication.’
Police investigators are also reported to have spoken with witnesses who saw the couple arguing several days before the crash, and around the time detectives suspect the French woman could have been murdered.
‘Domestic violence investigation’