A Spanish handyman confessed to killing a British pensioner he worked for, then buried her body in a shallow grave in a row over money, police said.
Lesley Anne Pearson, 74, was reported missing from her home in Algar, in Cadiz province, on Wednesday before her body was discovered by police on Sunday.
Francisco Javier Becerra, 45, was arrested and has been remanded in prison after appearing in court.
Court officials confirmed his remand said Becerra confessed to the killing at her home.
The expat masseuse and pilates teacher was reportedly beaten to death following a row over money.
A friend of the self-confessed killer told a local paper he had been telling other locals widow Lesley had sold her home and had given him permission to sell her belongings, despite a close friend of the Brit saying his claims were false.
Lesley, whose electrical engineer husband Frank died in a car accident three years ago, was discovered dead near her home on Sunday, nearly a fortnight after she was last seen and several days after she failed to return a hire car.
Lesley Anne Pearson, 74 (left) was found dead in a shallow grave in Spain on Sunday. Brother Stephen Ramsbottom (right) has paid tribute, describing her as ‘tremendous’
Civil Guard officers arrested Becerra, believed to have worked as a maintenance man for Mrs Pearson, the same day her body was found and held him in police custody for two nights ahead of his court appearance today in the town of Arcos de la Frontera.
A spokesman for the investigating judge who remanded him in custody confirmed: ‘Court of Investigation Number Three in Arcos de la Frontera has today, at the request of state prosecutors, ordered the remand in prison of the man arrested over the death of the woman whose body was found on Sunday in Algar.
‘The court is investigating the man on suspicion of a crime of homicide and he has acknowledged the facts.’
Becerra, who has been named in local press, took part in a crime scene reconstruction which investigators carried out yesterday.
He was taken from his cell at the Civil Guard HQ in Arcos de la Frontera to Mrs Pearson’s home and the spot in woodland behind the house where her body was found.
She was reported missing last Wednesday, sparking a police search, although she is thought to have been last seen on July 11.
Overnight her brother Stephen, 72, said: ‘This is such a shock. I spoke to her last on my birthday in June and all was well.
‘She lived in Spain for many years. Her house in Algar was tremendous.’
A local named only as Antonio told local newspaper La Voz de Cadiz the detainee had been telling villagers Lesley had sold her home to a Romanian family and had started selling her belongings including valuables from the house with the claim she had given him permission to do so.
A friend told the same paper the house had not been sold, fuelling speculation the British expat had discovered what her employee was doing and had confronted him.
The Civil Guard has not made any official comment about a possible motive for her death.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard said on Monday after news emerged of the discovery of Mrs Pearson’s body and her maintenance man’s arrest: ‘I can confirm a body has been discovered in the immediate vicinity of a property in Algar.
‘As a result of the discovery officers from an investigations unit in Cadiz have arrested a local man who will appear in court shortly.’
Although the detainee is said to have confessed to his crime, he has not yet been charged as is normal in Spain where formal charges are only laid shortly before trial.
Ms Pearson’s friends and family paid tribute to the woman who was ‘loved by everyone’.
Friend Enrique Clavijo, 57, described her death as ‘a tragedy’.
He told The Mirror: ‘Lesley’s body was found in a shallow grave in the trees 30 metres behind her house.
A 45-year-old man, believed to be Ms Pearson’s handyman, has been arrested. Locals in Algar, where she lived (pictured), have said she may have been killed in a row over money
‘It was a horrible way for her to die. Locals have been told it could have been a row about money.
‘Lesley was loved by everybody. This is so awful. She lost [husband[ Frank in a car accident three years ago and now this – it’s a tragedy.’
Her brother, Stephen Ramsbottom, added: ‘This is such a shock. I spoke to her last on my birthday in June and all was well.
‘She lived in Spain for many years. Her house in Algar was tremendous.
‘But after Frank died, it was too big for her so she got a flat in Gibraltar. She was trying to sell it.
‘Les would go up to the [farm] house about once a week to check on things.’
It emerged last night that Lesley, a pilates instructor, said to have been from the north of England, could have been killed in a row over money.
Local reports said she had moved to the home near where her body was found with her husband Frank who died in a car accident three years ago.
A local named only as Antonio told local La Voz de Cadiz the detainee had been telling people Lesley had sold her home to a Romanian family and had started selling her belongings including valuables from the house with the claim she had given him permission to do so.
A friend told the same paper the house had not been sold, fuelling speculation the British expat had discovered what her employee was doing and had confronted him.
A police spokesman said investigations were continuing however they did not make comment on a potential motive for her death.
Algar mayor Juan Manuel Guerra said a search for Lesley began Wednesday after a car rental firm raised the alarm because she failed to return a vehicle.
The town hall has declared three days of mourning.
Well-placed sources said Lesley’s body had ‘signs of violence’.
A secrecy order preventing officials from making any detailed comment about the case – and designed to protect the ongoing criminal investigation in its early stages – has been placed over the case.
Algar is one of the many white villages in the province of Cadiz.
It is flanked by two of the most important natural parks in the province, Alcornocales and Grazalema.
The village lives mainly from agriculture and cattle, leather and wood products and rural tourism.
It has around 1,500 inhabitants.
The nearest town is Arcos de la Frontera. The city of Cadiz, which is the provincial capital, is around an hour’s drive away.