British expat, 57, faces up to 25 years in jail for drugging, strangling and stabbing his wife to death after sex after Spanish jury rules he was making up or exaggerating he was suffering a mental disorder when he murdered her
- Geoffrey Elton, 57, convicted of murdering his wife Gloria Tornay by Spanish jury
- Elton had claimed he suffered a mental disorder when he fatally stabbed Gloria 17 times after a failed attempt to suffocate and strangle her
- But a jury ruled he was sane when he killed Gloria at their Costa del Sol home
A British expat faces up to 25 years in jail after being convicted of drugging, strangling and stabbing his wife to death after they had sex at a murder trial in Spain.
Wealthy father-of-two Geoffrey Elton, 57, had claimed he suffered a mental disorder when he fatally stabbed his wife of 33 years Gloria Tornay 17 times after a failed attempt to suffocate and strangle her.
But a Spanish jury today ruled Elton was sane when he killed the headteacher at their £560,000 Costa del Sol home on March 9 2019 and convicted him of murder.
The jury also said Elton was conscious when he locked the couple’s teenage son Alonso Tornay, who was 15 at the time, out of their home after attacking Gloria as part of a deliberate attempt to impede Alonso’s efforts to call emergency services.
Wealthy father-of-two Geoffrey Elton, 57, was convicted of murdering his wife of 33 years Gloria Tornay (pictured together)
The jury foreman, reading out the unanimous murder verdict as Elton looked on impassively a few feet from his two sons and Gloria’s emotional five siblings, added: ‘Geoffrey Elton surprised his victim in their home which was a place where she felt comfortable and deliberately increased her suffering by stabbing her 17 times in a slow attack over the period of an hour.
‘This jury has decided unanimously that he was totally conscious of what he was doing and hindered the arrival of the emergency services by throwing the three phones out of the family home, bolting the locks on the front door after closing it on his son when he went to get help, and shutting down the power so the house was in complete darkness.’
The nine jurors also ruled computer programmer Elton, who confessed to killing his wife at the start of his trial at a court in Malaga on Monday, had drugged her with morphine and methadone before his surprise attack.
They concluded his alleged mental disorder was ‘made up or exaggerated’ and decided it had been proven his victim had demanded a divorce before the March 9 2019 murder and the motive for the murder could have been money-orientated.
But a Spanish jury today ruled Elton was sane when he killed the headteacher at their £560,000 Costa del Sol home on March 9 2019 and convicted him of murder. Pictured: Elton in court on Monday in Malaga
State prosecutor Julio Angel Martinez Carazo, who said before Elton’s trial began that he was seeking a 14-year prison sentence for the expat if convicted of murder, increased his jail demand to 20 years after the damning jury verdict.
He also indicated he wanted the dad-of-two to compensate Alonso, 15 at the time of the crime, and his elder brother Marcos with 100,000 euros (£84,000) each for the loss of their mother.
A private prosecutor acting for Gloria’s siblings said he was seeking a 25-year prison sentence and a total 450,000 euros (£378,000) compensation payment for them and the two sons.
Elton’s defence lawyer asked the judge, who reserved his judgement to an unspecified date, to let him do his 20 years in a secure psychiatric centre rather than prison and ban him from entering Spain after sending him back to the UK.
The killer Brit confessed to ending the life of his Spanish wife of 33 years at their home in Estepona near Marbella on Monday moments after taking the witness stand.
But he insisted he was mad not bad when he killed her and told the court they had sex shortly before his brutal attack despite the prospect of a divorce he claimed was a joint decision.
Elton, 57, is facing 25 years in jail after being convicted of murdering his wife in a surprise attack he is ruled criminally responsible for. Pictured: Elton being arrested in 2019
On Tuesday his youngest son Alonso, now 18, relived the horror moment he woke up to find blood on the floor of his family home and his mum agonising on his parents’ bed after suffering the first of her knife wounds.
He told jurors his dad appeared with a bloodied knife in his hand and claimed Gloria had suffered an accident before throwing the phones into the garden and locking him out when he told him to call an ambulance.
‘I heard my mum yell ‘Don’t hurt the boy’ from the bedroom,’ brave Alonso recalled as he tried desperately to force his way back inside with a drill and hammer he found in a tool shed.
‘I heard mum shout like she’d never shouted before. I was yelling for help over and over and a neighbour heard me and called the police.
‘They gave me a thermal blanket when they arrived because I was in a state of shock and they kept me outside.
‘It must have taken them a good 30 minutes to force open the front door because it was a reinforced door.
‘I saw my dad come out in handcuffs. I was still under the blanket when the police told me my mum had died.’
Elton, who apologised for his actions in a short court address yesterday/on Thursday, said nothing as he was led away by police in handcuffs after the verdict.
Speaking outside court on behalf of the family, Gloria’s brother Nicolas Tornay said: ‘Nothing will bring my sister back but we feel some satisfaction in knowing justice has been done.’
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