A court in Spain has handed a 36-year prison sentence to a Pakistani national convicted of killing three elderly siblings in a case linked to unpaid debts arising from an alleged online romance scam.

In October, a jury found Dilawar Hussain guilty of murdering two sisters and their disabled brother at their home in Morata de Tajuña, near Madrid, in December 2023.

According to a copy of the verdict reviewed by AFP on Friday, a Madrid court in November sentenced Hussain to 12 years in prison for each count of murder. The court cited a “psychological alteration” as a mitigating factor in determining the sentence. Hussain has since filed an appeal against the ruling.

The 44-year-old surrendered to police and confessed to the killings after the victims’ partially charred bodies were discovered inside their residence. The siblings, all in their seventies, were beaten to death, with investigators suggesting an iron bar may have been used in the attack.

During his testimony, Hussain sought forgiveness from the court, claiming he was hearing voices at the time and was not mentally stable.

Neighbours told Spanish media that the case was connected to a fake online affair. The two sisters reportedly believed they were involved in long-distance relationships with two US servicemen. 

They were allegedly informed that one of the men had died, while the other required money to cover expenses in order to transfer a share of a multi-million-euro inheritance.

As a result, the sisters accumulated substantial debts. Court documents state that Hussain, who had been renting a room in their home, loaned them around 60,000 euros (approximately $70,000), which was never repaid.

The ruling further revealed that months before the killings, Hussain assaulted one of the sisters with a hammer in February 2023. He was sentenced to two years in prison for the earlier attack, though the sentence was suspended as it was his first conviction, in line with Spanish law.

 

Separately, Hussain is set to face trial over the alleged killing of his 39-year-old Bulgarian cellmate in February 2024, while he was being held in a Madrid prison pending trial for the siblings’ murders.