Two arrests over mystery murder at Hotel Palace in Madrid

French fugitive arrested in Alicante was on wanted list since 2009

French fugitive arrested in Alicante was on wanted list since 2009. Credit: Policia Nacional

Two arrests over mystery murder at Hotel Palace in Madrid

National Police officers in Madrid have arrested two men for the alleged murder of an American citizen in the city last October, during the Puente de Todos los Santos.  The man’s lifeless body was discovered in a room at the Hotel Palace in Madrid, with an autopsy concluding that he died as the result of an overdose. due to the mixture of psychotropics and alcohol.

According to a statement shared with the media, the deceased was Jose Rosado, a 42-year-old male of Puerto Rican origin. He was the former CEO of Hijos de J. Barreras, Spain’s largest private Spanish shipyard, located in Vigo. His body was subsequently flown back to Miami by his family.

Sources close to the investigation report that the two detainees are a 29-year-old Moroccan man, with 17 previous arrests for similar events, and a Romanian man, aged 39, who has nine previous arrests. Both were detained in Madrid and have already been sent to prison.

They have reportedly been charged with crimes of homicide, robbery with violence, and fraud. In addition, one of those arrested is attributed with two other robberies committed through a similar procedure in the central area of ​​Madrid.

Hotel workers found the victim’s body on Saturday, October 30, when they entered the room at the request of his family, who had booked a room at the same hotel that weekend. They explained that they were unable to contact him, and had noticed strange charges recently made to his credit card in the Madrid district of Mostoles.

When the body was discovered, it showed no signs of external violence, but the autopsy at the Institute of Legal Medicine confirmed it had been murder. Toxicological analysis showed large amounts of psychotropic substances in the victim’s body that, combined with alcohol, caused a depressant effect until his death.

Forensic police collected evidence at the scene and verified that the room had been ‘cleaned’, while some belongings of the deceased were also missing. According to investigations by Group V of Homicides of the Madrid Police Headquarters, the two arrested had met their victim at a party during the night of October 29-30.

When they got to the hotel room, in order to have sex, they added a bottle of GHB – also known as liquid ecstasy – to his drink, which, when mixed with alcohol, made him lose consciousness. This was clearly done with the aim of stealing his valuables, but the high drug load they gave him caused the man’s death.

After months of investigation, last Thursday 23, officers searched the homes of the detainees, where they found the clothes they were wearing at dawn on October 30. More than €2,500 in cash was also discovered, along with mobile phones, tablets, jewellery, third-party documentation, and other objects of value that are being analyzed in case they could be related to this or other events, as reported by 20minutos.es.

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Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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