Confessed killer
Five days after the crime against Maria Dolores Illán, the woman dismembered by her husband in Playa del Inglés in 2020, neighbors still struggle to understand how Miguel Gallego could cut the body into pieces. At the Tropical shopping center, nearby business owners are also stunned by the discovery of bones in the vicinity. (Source: Canarias News)
The retired Civil Guard Miguel Gallego and his partner Maria Dolores Illán, whom he admitted last week to having dismembered five years earlier, lived in a flat at Helsinki Street number 1 in Playa del Inglés, a quiet area with significant foot traffic. The complex consisted of 40 apartments that were later residentialized; yesterday, five days after the crime news broke, neighbors remained in shock. “Residents are astonished”, said a worker at the complex. (Source: Canarias News)
The National Police investigation continues, awaiting DNA analysis to determine if the bones found the previous week around Parque Tropical are human and belong to the deceased. Meanwhile, in Helsinki, residents cannot fathom how Miguel could dismember his wife into very small pieces, boil them, freeze them, and scatter the remains across the southern part of Gran Canaria. (Source: Canarias News)
In this owners association, most residents are German, Italian, and French citizens who split their time between their home country and the island. For many, Miguel and Maria Dolores were strangers whose only connection was the friendly greetings they exchanged since moving there six years ago, from Vilassar de Mar. (Source: Canarias News)
No one expected to wake up last Thursday to the sight of police at the building as officers carried out searches. “People who knew him were stunned because Miguel appears not to be the type to break a plate”, said a worker, who revealed that current tenants of the flat where Miguel lived until moving to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria “are deeply shocked.” “No one wants to know anything; it has been a hard blow for the community”, another neighbor added. Others describe Miguel as a man with a quiet life. (Source: Canarias News)
Miguel was arrested and jailed last Tuesday after confessing to the crime following an interrogation where he was summoned as a witness to discuss possible updates in the supposed disappearance of his wife. Up to that point, he had claimed his partner disappeared voluntarily after an argument, but this week admitted killing her and dismembering her. (Source: Canarias News)
The crime occurred on March 18, 2020, during lockdown; after an argument, he says she slapped him, he pushed, and she struck her head and died. Within two days he dismembered her and distributed the remains across different points in the south. The police searched his former address on Helsinki Street and found blood traces behind tiles after renovations. They also searched his current residence on Juan Rejón Street in the capital. Yesterday the Government Delegation observed a moment of silence in memory of the victim. There were no prior complaints recorded. (Source: Canarias News)