Miguel Carcaño

Miguel Carcaño Delgado is a Spanish murderer convicted of killing 17-year-old Marta del Castillo in Seville in 2009. The case became one of Spain’s most notorious crimes due to the victim’s age, the lack of a body despite extensive searches, and Carcaño’s multiple, contradictory testimonies. Born in 1989, Carcaño’s life before the murder was relatively unremarkable. He worked as a construction worker and had a history of petty theft. He had a relationship with Marta del Castillo, which was described as turbulent. On January 24, 2009, Marta del Castillo disappeared. Initially, Carcaño claimed she left his apartment after an argument. However, as police pressure mounted, he confessed to accidentally killing her during a fight. He provided various locations for the body, including the Guadalquivir River, a landfill, and a farm, but none of these leads proved fruitful despite massive search efforts involving police, divers, and volunteers. Throughout the investigation and trial, Carcaño’s story changed multiple times. He implicated others, including his half-brother Francisco Javier Delgado and a friend, Samuel Benítez, claiming they helped him dispose of the body. These individuals were also arrested and tried, but were ultimately acquitted due to lack of evidence linking them directly to the murder or disposal of the body. Only Carcaño was convicted of murder. The lack of a body became a defining characteristic of the case. The prosecution struggled to build a complete picture of what happened in Carcaño’s apartment, relying heavily on circumstantial evidence and Carcaño’s ever-changing testimonies. Despite the inconsistencies and the absence of forensic evidence directly linking others to the murder, the court found Carcaño guilty based on his initial confessions and other incriminating evidence. In 2011, Miguel Carcaño was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of Marta del Castillo. The court acknowledged the lack of a body but found sufficient evidence to convict him. The families of the acquitted individuals filed lawsuits against Carcaño for defamation. Even after his conviction, the search for Marta del Castillo’s body continued sporadically based on further claims from Carcaño. In 2013, he claimed that his brother, Francisco Javier Delgado, was actually responsible for the murder and that they buried Marta’s body at a specific location. This information led to another search, which again proved unsuccessful. The case remains a source of anguish and frustration for Marta del Castillo’s family, who have tirelessly campaigned for further investigation and renewed searches for her body. The unsolved mystery of her whereabouts continues to fuel speculation and debate in Spain. Carcaño’s lies and the lack of closure have made the case a symbol of the devastating impact of unsolved crime and the pain inflicted on victims’ families. He remains in prison, serving his sentence, and the location of Marta del Castillo’s body remains unknown.