The National Police arrested, in a municipality in Girona province, one of Europe’s most wanted fugitives, sought for a murder committed in 1991 in the Hungarian town of Paloznak.
According to this investigative channel, the suspect is Viorel Nae, a 55-year-old Romanian man who held two European Arrest Warrants issued by Hungary and Romania for murder, facing life imprisonment.
A fingerprint
The crimes for which the fugitive was sought occurred in August 1991 in Paloznak, Hungary. The suspect and accomplices burst into a parish to steal valuables.
During the raid, the parish priest, an elderly man, was bound and beaten; he died. A nun living there was bound and assaulted, sustaining injuries but surviving.
A fingerprint recovered at the scene was compared and matched to the suspect, enabling investigators to identify him and focus the case on his movements across Europe.
He passed through Huelva
In May, given the gravity of the case, Hungary issued the European Arrest Warrant through Europol, and Spanish authorities began the investigation.
In initial steps, it was found he had been living temporarily in the province of Huelva, had no fixed residence, and used several false identities to avoid detection.
He also took precautions when contacting others by phone, using encrypted apps that avoided connections to cell towers.
Secret gardeners
Finally, the investigators located him in the province of Girona, in the town of Santa Coloma de Farners, in a remote area with little foot traffic and vehicle movement. The fugitive’s careful security measures, both before leaving his residence and when preparing to take his vehicle, complicated surveillance.
To move the search forward, officers staged as park and garden maintenance workers around the probable residence and identified the suspect. The National Police report indicates that on November 18, when the fugitive went out onto the street to reach his car, officers recognized him and proceeded to arrest him.