Spain reels as seek out baby's body continues
A deep-water search for the body of a one-year-old girl, believed murdered by her father, is continuing off Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
An investigating judge alleges Anna Gimeno Zimmermann and her six-year-old sister Olivia were killed by their father Tomás to "cause the best pain imaginable" with their mother.
Olivia's body was within the ocean on Thursday, in a bag tied to an anchor.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the complete country was in shock.
There were nationwide protests against domestic violence, with hundreds of individuals - especially women and children - holding dolls and soft toys in memory of the young girls.
Anna and Olivia were reported missing on 27 April, after Mr Gimeno arranged to invest the afternoon with them. He's also missing, presumed dead by the Spanish Civil Guard.
A nine-page report by an investigating magistrate premiered on Saturday and details have already been reported in the Spanish press. Predicated on the police investigation, it outlines what Mr Gimeno, 37, is purported to have done leading up to his daughters' deaths, and afterwards.
Tomás Gimeno and the girls' mother, Beatriz Zimmermann, had dated since they were teenagers but broke up last year during the pandemic. While both had formed new relationships, Mr Gimeno would send Ms Zimmermann "offensive and insulting" messages, the magistrate's report says.
It concludes that Mr Gimeno "probably" murdered his daughters in a "planned and premeditated fashion", including leaving his pet dog, charge cards with the pin numbers, and car keys at his parents' house. He also gave his new girlfriend €6,200 ($7,500; £5,400) in cash and a goodbye letter.
The court document alleges Mr Gimeno killed his daughters in his house on the day these were reported missing. It says he then drove their bodies to the port, sailed his boat out to deep water off the coast of Tenerife and, at about 22:30, threw bags containing the bodies overboard, having weighed them down with heavy objects.
He "sought to create uncertainty regarding the destination of his daughters by hiding their bodies in places... where he thought that they might never be found", the report alleges.
"All of this after announcing to his ex-wife, in addition to his relatives, that he was leaving with Olivia and Anna and they would never be observed again."
The next afternoon, his boat was found drifting at sea. Anna's carseat was also learned floating in the water.
Olivia's body was within the bag 44 days later, at a depth of 1 1,000m (3,280ft). Another bag next to it had been empty.
Mother's open letter
On Sunday, the children's mother published an open letter to the public.
Beatriz Zimmermann wrote that it had been "the most monstrous act an individual can commit: killing their own innocent children".
"When they told me the news, the world came crashing down on me, and as hard since it is, at least now I can mourn their loss," she said.
"It hurts my soul that I can't have saved their lives. I wish I had been there at that time holding their hands so we're able to die together... But that couldn't be, because Tomás wanted me to suffer searching endlessly for all of them my life."
The sisters' case has shaken Spain, and there have been several protests against gender-based violence.
On Friday, about 1,000 persons - mainly women and children - arrived to protest in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. One young girl was holding an indicator that read "Stop killing us," reports Spanish daily El País.
Since 2013, 39 minors have been killed in Spain either by their father or somebody or former partner of their mother, the government says.
This season alone, 19 women have already been killed as a result of gender-based violence in Spain, according to statistics from the Spanish government.
