A Spanish dentist accused of murdering two of his children in 2017 has committed suicide while in prison. Mario-César Deus Yela was in South Africa in 2017 to visit his three young children: his three-year-old twins, Maximo and Octavia, and his seven-year-old son.
Yela and Julia Engelhorn, the children’s mother, were officially divorced in 2015 and had previously lived together in Spain. She relocated to South Africa in 2012 amid the divorce proceedings.
Authorities have yet to reveal how the twins were murdered, but many have reported that they were fatally stabbed by their father.
Engelhorn found the twins’ bodies in a bedroom after Yela had asked her to join him for lunch. When she arrived, he allegedly told her he had murdered them.
Their seven-year-old was at school at the time of the murders.
It is alleged that Yela fled the scene of the crime in Engelhorn’s Toyota Prado but was later apprehended in Wynberg. He was jailed for the crime.
Speaking to News24, Correctional Services department spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo revealed the suspected cause of Yela’s suicide. “Preliminary reports (although not conclusive), indicate that the deceased may have overdosed on medication,” Nxumalo said.
An investigation is currently underway.
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