Majorca rape, murder verdict on Friday 13

The prosecution in the case against the German fireman, Andreas Ingo Okulus, accused of having raped and then murdered the young Majorcan woman María del Carmen del Salto yesterday recommended that the suspect be sentenced to life in jail if found guilty as charged in the Hamburg court where the case is being heard. According to the lawyer representing the Majorcan family, the defence is asking for its client, who maintains his innocence, to be freed without charge because of a lack of evidence. The jury, made up of three judges and two members of the public, will deliver its verdict on Friday October 13 and yesterday the parents of the murdered woman brought the hearing to a close when they appeared before the court. The trial started four months ago and since then 26 witnesses have been called to give evidence. Hardtmann said yesterday that he believes the jury will either decide that the suspect be sentenced to life, or be released without charge. He said that the jury has to decide whether he committed the crime or not and the suspect cannot be found guilty of sexual aggression or rape. On May 25, 1999 María del Carmen del Salto was last seen in a Cala Bona bar and, according to many of the witnesses, she had been clearly drinking and met the suspected killer Okulus in a bar before she left with Okulus in his car along with two other Germans. The victim's family reported her missing the following day, but despite a large search being mounted, her body was not found until six months later by a farmer's dog on a stretch of waste ground in the Cala Bona area. The 34-year-old German was working on the island as a diving instructor and was arrested for a second time after the body was found.