An international arrest warrant has today been issued by Spanish authorities for the man suspected of murdering Belfast resident John George.
Police have so far held only one man — a 32-year-old from the Czech Republic who was bailed by a judge on January 10 and told he was being investigated as an alleged accomplice over the grisly Costa Blanca homicide.
Today, Spanish authorities confirmed three separate arrest warrants were now out for the individual suspected of carrying out the killing.
The warrants were issued by a judge at the court probing the crime — Torrevieja’s Court of Instruction Number Two — on the request of prosecutors.
An official at the Valencian Community’s High Court said this afternoon: “The magistrate heading up Court of Instruction Number Two in Torrevieja, following receipt of a report from the public prosecution service, has today issued three orders against the alleged material author of the death of the British citizen whose body was discovered in Rojales near Torrevieja earlier this month.
“That suspect’s whereabouts is currently unknown.
“The three court orders are an international search and arrest warrant, a European arrest warrant and a national search and arrest warrant.”
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Court officials said they could not offer any details about the wanted man’s age or nationality at this stage.
John vanished on December 14 and relatives reported him missing when he failed to catch a scheduled flight home four days later after what was meant to be a short holiday.
By December 23 his family had launched a GoFundMe campaign to aid a search, voicing concerns he had been the victim of a crime.
John’s brother Darren travelled to Alicante to help in the search with their parents, Billy and Sharon, and sister Courtney and Caitlin, along with up to 50 friends and wider family from Northern Ireland.
Members of K9 Search And Rescue NI, a volunteer canine search team, also spent several days assisting with the wide-scale operation to find the missing man.
His decomposing body was discovered on January 7, hidden under overgrown lemon trees around five miles from the town of Rojales near Torrevieja.
A man arrested later the same day on suspicion of homicide was hauled to court on January 10 after nearly 72 hours in police custody.
He told the judge he was being scapegoated because John’s family had named him on social media as one of the suspects.
His Costa Blanca-based defence lawyer Manuel Ramon Rives also attributed the decision to detain him to his “recent friendship” with a man he said police were hunting as the alleged perpetrator.
The lawyer told local media after his release on bail there wasn’t a single incriminating piece of evidence against his client and insisted: “He isn’t involved in this.”
Torrevieja’s Court of Instruction Number Two confirmed afterwards: “The judge is currently attributing to him a crime of homicide as an accomplice or by aiding and abetting the crime.
Allison Morris: John George’s return flight from Alicante was “booked after he was dead”
“His bail conditions include the obligations to sign on at court every fortnight and hand in his passport and he is also banned from leaving Spain.
“The court will continue with investigations with the intention of fully solving this case.”
At the weekend John’s family said they believed he had been “assassinated” in a premeditated killing.
His brother Darren told Sunday Life his sibling was shot dead after refusing to work for a crime gang after being effectively trafficked from Northern Ireland and having his passport taken off him on arrival.
Hundreds of John’s family and friends attended a vigil in his memory at St Luke’s Church in Twinbrook on the outskirts of west Belfast on Sunday where lanterns were released into the sky in his memory.
A day earlier Mr George’s family announced his funeral, which had been due to take place last Friday, had been delayed.
His sister Courtney posed on social media: “All funeral arrangements cancelled until further notice due to circumstances beyond our control.
“Updated arrangements will follow in due course.”
News Catch Up – Tuesday 21 January