{column1}Santiago del Valle Garcia, the man suspected of killing Mari Luz Cortes, has been ordered to prison without possibility of bail after his appearance in court yesterday afternoon. His sister, Rosa del Valle, was also remanded in custody without bail. His wife, Isabel Garcia, was released after making her declaration to the court.
Angry scenes greeted the arrival of Santiago del Valle at the courthouse in Huelva yesterday afternoon, a crowd of around 600 people venting their feelings against the accused. At one stage, stones were thrown and several people, including two journalists, were injured{/column1}{column2}
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During the proceedings, it came to light that the accused, despite two previous convictions for sexual abuse, had not served a single day in prison. In 2002 he was convicted of abusing a five year old girl, his own daughter, and sentenced to two years and nine months in jail. This sentence was confirmed in 2006. In 2004 he was convicted of abusing a nine year old girl and was also given a custodial sentence. He is also the subject of a distancing order in relation to making sexual propositions to a minor via the internet.
The judge in Huelva yesterday ordered Santiago del Valle to immediately begin serving the two years and nine month jail sentence handed down by the courts in Sevilla in 2002. An investigation has begun to establish why he has never served time behind bars.
In 2006, a judge issued an order to investigate his whereabouts (search and detain order) but it would appear that it was not followed through. With regard to his second conviction, which also carried a prison sentence, an appeal had been lodged which meant he was able to evade spending time in prison until the appeal had been heard.
During yesterday’s proceedings, which lasted from around 17:00 to just after 01:00 this morning, it emerged that Santiago del Valle was indeed visited by the police immediately after the disappearance of Mari Luz Cortes but when they returned two days later to question him further he had ‘gone’.