| Kidnapping of Anabel Segura | |
|---|---|
 Publicity photo of Anabel Segura | |
| Location | Kidnapping: La Moraleja, Madrid, Spain Murder: Numancia de la Sagra, Toledo, Spain |
| Coordinates | 40°31′06″N 3°36′35″W / 40.5184°N 3.6097°W / 40.5184; -3.6097 |
| Date | 12 April 1993; 31 years ago (1993-04-12) |
| Attack type | Murder by strangulation, kidnapping |
| Victim | Anabel Segura |
| Perpetrators | Emilio Muñoz Guadix Candido Ortiz Aon |
| No. of participants | 2 |
| Motive | Money |
| Verdict | Guilty |
| Convictions | |
| Sentence | 43 years in prison |
On 12 April 1993, Anabel Segura, a 22-year-old university student, was kidnapped by Emilio Muñoz Guadix with the help of his friend, Candido "Candi" Ortiz Aon. After being taken while jogging in La Moraleja, Madrid, Spain, Segura was held captive in an abandoned factory in Numancia de la Sagra, Toledo. She tried to escape but was instead strangled to death and buried on the grounds of the factory.
On many occasions, Ortiz and Muñoz falsely promised to release Segura in exchange for money, but the kidnappers never went to the meeting points for the ransom money. Three months later, in July 1993, Muñoz and Ortiz sent the family a tape recording of Felisa Garcia, Muñoz's wife, pretending to be Segura. She said she was fine while crying out to be taken out of there.
On 28 September 1995, Muñoz and Ortiz were captured and confessed to the kidnapping and murder of Segura, as well as the location of her body. Muñoz' wife, García, was also arrested for pretending to be Segura in the tape. In 1999, Muñoz and Ortiz were sentenced to 43 years in prison.
Segura's kidnapping received extensive media coverage and made headline news; it was a case that "shocked Spanish society". The media monitored the case for two years after the kidnapping.
Background
Victim
Anabel Segura Foles was a 22-year-old woman from La Moraleja, an affluent residential district of Alcobendas municipality in northern Community of Madrid, Spain. She was the eldest daughter of José Segura Nájera, a businessman in the petrochemical sector, and his German wife Sigrid Foles. Her father had started his business in Germany where he met and married Sigrid. They returned to Spain to raise Anabel and younger daughter Sandra in a wealthy golf community. Segura was a four-year business student at the private ICADE university.
Kidnappers
Emilio Muñoz Guadix and his wife Felisa, had moved from Vallecas, Madrid with their children to the Toledo municipality of Pantoja, to have a better future for their family. Emilio worked as a delivery driver in Madrid for a parcel company.
Cándido Ortiz, Muñoz's childhood friend, had moved to Escalona, Toledo. He was dedicated to plumbing and used to travel to the capital to do work.
Crime
Kidnapping
On the morning of 12 April 1993, Muñoz and Ortiz went to the area around the La Moraleja urbanization with the intention of kidnapping someone. According to investigation sources, they were convinced that the area was “safe bingo”. Segura, as she did every morning, went out in a tracksuit with a walkman to go jogging in the Intergolf neighborhood of La Moraleja, where she lived. Segura's family was out of town.
Ortiz and Muñoz got out of a white van and held Segura at knifepoint. They put her in the van and drove off. Segura put up resistance, losing her tracksuit and walkman in the struggle.
Antonio, a janitor at the nearby Scandinavian School, witnessed the ordeal. As the van was moving when Antonio noticed what was happening, he was unable to make out the license plate number because he was without his glasses. He called the police right after.
Murder
Segura was held captive in an abandoned factory in Numancia de la Sagra, Toledo. She unsuccessfully attempted to escape from her captors. She was strangled to death and buried nearby.
Investigation
Rescue calls
Ortiz and Muñoz decided to continue with their plan and ask money for Segura's false ransom.
On 14 April, two days after the kidnapping, the kidnappers asked for the sum of 150 million Spanish pesetas for the "liberation" of Segura. This was the first of the 15 calls that were made to the family, who named the attorney Rafael Escuredo as their mediator. José Segura mortgaged his home, even offered 15 million pesetas, to whoever provided a valid clue to find Segura. Companies specialized in solving kidnappings were also hired. On two occasions, the family representatives went to the point agreed upon with the kidnappers to pay the ransom, but neither of the two kidnappers came to the point.
Fake tape
Three months after the kidnapping, Muñoz and Ortiz sent the family a tape recording in which the supposed voice of Segura could be heard, who said she was fine while crying out to be taken out of there. But in reality, it was the voice of Felisa Garcia, Muñoz's wife, who was pretending to be Segura at her husband's request.
A resident of Escalona, Toledo, called the police after hearing the tapes with the voice of the kidnappers on television. The man said: "That is Candi's voice, the plumber of my town". On 28 September 1995, that call led the police to arrest Ortiz and later Muñoz and his wife.
Imprisonment
Muñoz and Ortiz confessed to locating Segura's body and said they had only done it to receive a reward and that they had not wanted to kill her. In 1999, Muñoz and Ortiz were sentenced to 39 years in prison, but the Supreme Court raised the sentences to 43 years in prison. While Felisa had six months in prison, for covering up the kidnapping and impersonating Segura in the tape.
In 2013, Emilio Muñoz was released when he had already spent 18 years in prison. Cándido Ortiz died in prison in 2009.
Media coverage
Her kidnapping and murder case received a lot of media coverage, it was described as "the case that shocked Spain". Her case was compared to the murder of Diana Quer, another young woman from Madrid who was kidnapped and murdered in A Pobra do Caramiña, Galicia.
Memorial
On 10 May 2021, a Memorial for Anabel Segura was held next to the Civic Center that bears her name in Alcobendas, Madrid.
See also
- Crime in Spain
- List of incidents of violence against women in Spain
- List of solved missing person cases
Notes
References
- ^ "Secuestro de Anabel Segura: Cabinas de teléfono, hipnosis y la voz del criminal sobre un disco de Mecano" [Kidnapping of Anabel Segura: Telephone booths, hypnosis and the criminal's voice on a Mecano record]. El Periodico de España (in Spanish). April 10, 2023.
- ^ "30 años del secuestro de Anabel Segura que conmocionó España: así cayeron sus torpes asesinos" [30 years since the kidnapping of Anabel Segura that shocked Spain: This is how her clumsy murderers fell]. Heraldo (in Spanish). April 11, 2023.
- ^ "Treinta años del secuestro de Anabel Segura: Todos los detalles sobre su asesino confeso y su detención" [Thirty years since the kidnapping of Anabel Segura: All the details about her confessed murderer and arrest]. El Cierre (in Spanish). April 12, 2023.
- ^ "Anabel Segura, un secuestro que mantuvo en vilo España dos años y medio" [Anabel Segura, a kidnapping who remained in suspense in Spain for two and a half years]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). April 23, 2018.
- ^ "El padre de Ia secuestrada en La Moraleja dirige una empresa de ingeniería" [The father of the girl kidnapped in La Moraleja runs an engineering company]. El Pais (in Spanish). April 15, 1993.
- Hernández, José Antonio (January 20, 1998). "Volver a vivir la pesadilla" [Relive the nightmare]. El Pais (in Spanish).
- ^ "Qué fue del asesino de Anabel Segura: Emilio Muñoz anda suelto por Vallecas" [What happened to Anabel Segura's murderer: Emilio Muñoz is on the loose in Vallecas]. El Español (in Spanish). November 11, 2018.
- ^ ""Esta voz es la de mi fontanero", fue el testimonio clave sobre Anabel Segura" ["That voice is of my plumber," was the key testimony about Anabel Segura]. El Pais (in Spanish). October 4, 1995.
- "El crimen de Anabel Segura: la secuestraron cuando salió a correr y hasta su familia dudó de las pruebas" [Anabel Segura's crime: she was kidnapped when she went for a jog and even her family doubted the evidence]. TN (in Spanish). September 24, 2023.
- "El trágico caso Diana Quer recuerda en Toledo al de Anabel Segura" [The tragic case of Diana Quer reminds Toledo of Anabel Segura]. ABC (in Spanish). January 2, 2018.
- "Alcobendas homenajea con un busto a Anabel Segura, asesinada hace 28 años" [Alcobendas honors Anabel Segura, murdered 28 years ago, with a bust]. TeleMadrid (in Spanish). May 10, 2021.