Two Romanian hitmen arrested in Spain over torture and murder of Dutch couple

Two Romanians have been arrested in Spain on suspicion of the murder of a Dutch couple, according to the Spanish media. The two Romanians Constantin Stan and Valentin Ion, aged 47 and 60, appear to have been hitmen hired to kill the Dutch couple Ingrid Visser and Lodewijk Severin over the payment of debts, according to Spanish news organization ABC. A Spanish national has also been arrested. There is evidence that the couple were tortured before being killed, for as long as two days, according to ABC. Visser, an ex-volleyball player on the Dutch national team, and Severin had been missing for more than two weeks, when police investigations led to the discovery of their dismembered bodies at a remote farm near the city of Murcia in South Eastern Spain. Police had earlier arrested a 36-year old Spanish man in Valencia, who owns the farm where the bodies were later found buried deep underground. Great pains had been taken to hide the bodies, according to ABC, access to the farm “is very complicated” and the couple's bodies had been cut to pieces with a circular saw. Evidence of torture was also found, according to the Spanish media. Government delegate for Murcia Joaquín Bascuñana and police chief Cirilo Durán gave “business disputes” as the most likely motive for the horrifying crime, but refused to speculate further on the nature of the business at a press conference yesterday (May 27). There is no overt evidence that drug trafficking was involved. The couple had arrived in Murcia on May 13, ostensibly for fertility treatments at a local clinic, however, shorty after they went missing. editor@romania-insider.com