Deyan Deyanov

Case record: Deyan Deyanov

Background

Jennifer Joan Mills-Westley was murdered on 13 May 2011 in Tenerife. Her death in a supermarket in the resort of Los Cristianos gained widespread publicity in the United Kingdom, where she was from, and around the world. She was a 60-year-old grandmother of five from Norwich, England, who had retired to the Spanish island of Tenerife in 2006. She owned two apartments, each with two bedrooms, on the Port Royale complex in Los Cristianos, one of which she rented to tourists. In later statements, her family described her as “the lady who was beheaded in Tenerife” and said the truth was that she was “our mum, mentor and best friend, a highly gifted and selfless person.”

Deyan Deyanov was identified as a Bulgarian man. He was reported as a homeless drug addict, described as a homeless Bulgarian and a crack cocaine and LSD user. He had a police record for violence towards strangers in the street. He had lived rough in a semi-derelict beach house. He had relatives in Flint in north Wales, and he had not returned to his family in Ruse, Bulgaria, since stealing family money and possessions to pay for addictions to heroin and gambling. In the summer of 2010, he spent some time in a psychiatric unit at Glan Clwyd hospital in Bodelwyddan, northeast Wales.

The offence

Jennifer Mills-Westley was stabbed and beheaded in a busy shop in the town centre of Los Cristianos. Officials said the man appeared to choose his victim at random. The attack began at around 10:20 am when the man suddenly started stabbing Mills-Westley without warning and with a large knife. Officials said the stabbing occurred in the neck, and he then cut off her head and carried it out into the street while shouting:

• “This is my treasure,”
• “God is on earth.”

A security guard tackled the attacker before police arrived.

Witnesses described the suspect as having run into the supermarket, pulled a big knife and started stabbing Mills-Westley without saying a word. A pathologist said he removed her head after she died within seconds. Prosecutor and defence accounts included references to psychiatric issues and criminal responsibility, with the trial proceeding on a murder charge.

Multiple accounts described the knife as a kitchen knife or carving knife, with reports that knives allegedly used in the attack were 22cm long. One description said the throat was slashed from behind with a knife meant for cutting Spanish ham. Another description said she was stabbed 14 times in the neck.

One report described the attacker as having asked a shopkeeper for a “big” knife as he was planning to kill someone. Another described him walking into the Mas Articulos Mejor Precios shop on Avenida Juan Carlos I and picking up a 22cm-long knife, then plunging it repeatedly into Mills-Westley’s neck and walking out carrying her head.

In a statement attributed to the attacker during the hearing, he carried out the attack in the popular resort of Los Cristianos while wearing an olive green hoodie, black tracksuit trousers and running shoes.

Investigation

CCTV footage of the attack was shown during trial proceedings. The jury was shown CCTV footage when the trial began. Police were reported as investigating whether the victim and killer knew one another. CCTV footage and witnesses were used to describe how the suspect entered the shop, stabbed the victim, and fled with her head.

Officials and media descriptions also stated that the suspect was well-known to the police on the island and had been arrested several times for outbursts of violence in the months leading up to the murder. A warrant for his arrest had been issued three days before the killing, but police failed to locate him.

A road safety officer and family of the victim described the circumstances including that the victim asked for help in a social security office minutes before she was murdered. Staff in that office reportedly told her “to go away” by security guards checking the street.

A police source said the victim had waited in the office until he disappeared and then walked into a Chinese-owned shop nearby, where she was followed.

Arrest

After killing Mills-Westley, the attacker was captured by security guards as he ran out of the store holding her head. A security guard tackled him before police arrived. Police later named the suspect as 28-year-old unemployed Bulgarian Deyan Valentinov Deyanov.

The attacker was detained in a police station in the nearby resort of Playa de las Americas in reporting immediately after the murder. He was also described as being held in the psychiatric unit of Tenerife II prison undergoing psychiatric evaluation after appearing before an investigating magistrate.

Trial

Deyan Deyanov was detained at a psychiatric unit and charged with murder.

His trial at the provincial court in Santa Cruz began on 18 February 2013 when a court was shown CCTV footage of the attack. Deyanov denied murder, claiming insanity. The trial lasted one week and on 22 February 2013 he was found guilty.

At a moment when Deyanov was asked if he had anything he wanted to say, he answered through his interpreter:

• “I am the second reincarnation of Jesus Christ and I will bring the fire of the Holy Spirit to bear against this court.”

Another statement attributed to him in court also included that he declared he was:

• “an angel of Jesus Christ”

The defence argued that Deyanov was not criminally responsible for his actions due to paranoid schizophrenia. The prosecution asked for the maximum sentence of 20 years in a secure psychiatric ward. The defence lawyer Francisco Beltran argued for a minimum sentence of 15 years and described Deyanov as “a sick man who requires help.” Beltran also said:

• “He might as well have been carrying a sign saying ‘I'm a bomb and I could explode at any moment,” and added:
• “Responsibility must fall to some extent with the health authorities in the Canary Islands,” and:
• “My client is a sick man, not a criminal, and he should have been diagnosed and treated. ” and:
• “Why was he not diagnosed and treated properly? He was suffering from acute paranoid schizophrenia. Why was he released?”

Sentencing

Deyan Deyanov was subsequently sentenced to detention in a psychiatric unit for 20 years, described as the maximum applicable term.

Appeals

No appeal information was included.

Outcome

Deyan Deyanov was convicted of the murder of Jennifer Joan Mills-Westley and sentenced to detention in a psychiatric unit for 20 years on February 22, 2013.

Aftermath

After the conviction, Mills-Westley’s daughters issued a joint statement. They said:

• “become known as the lady who was beheaded in Tenerife, but the truth is she was our mum, mentor and best friend, a highly gifted and selfless person.” They described her murder as “preventable and needless” and said there had been a “catalogue of failings” in relation to the handling of Deyanov as a mentally unstable man.

During sentencing-related reporting, family members also gave statements in which Sarah, 43, read a statement on behalf of herself and sister Samantha, 39. The statement said:

• “It’s hard to put into words the devastating impact that this preventable and needless act has had on us as a family, sadly Mum was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” and:
• “Lessons must be learnt from this tragic event to ensure justice is done for our mum and to ensure that no other family has to be subjected to this ordeal.” and:
• “It is clear to us that there has been a catalogue of failings.” They said:
• “We will be asking the Welsh health authority to carry out a full inquiry.”

Another family statement after the conviction said:

• “Since May 13, 2011, Jennifer Mills-Westley has become known as the lady who was beheaded in Tenerife. ”
• “The truth is she was our mum, our mentor and our best friend. ”
• “She was a highly gifted, selfless person with so much love in her heart and who has been taken away from us in her prime.” The statement continued:
• “It’s hard to put into words the devastating impact that this preventable and needless act has had on us as a family - sadly mum was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” and:
• “But while today sees the conclusion of the legal process, lessons must be learnt from this tragic event to ensure justice is done for our mum and to ensure that no other family has to be subjected to this ordeal.” and:
• “It is clear to us that there has been a catalogue of failings - unfortunately it is now left to us to piece these together as we still have so many unanswered questions.” and:
• “We would like to make a plea that the care of people like Deyan Valentinov Deyanov is taken more seriously.” and:
• “He is a young man who has clearly been failed by a number of authorities, in the UK, Spain and most likely others.”

Deyanov denied that the CCTV footage showed him committing the murder and claimed that it was:

• “a montage” and also:
• “a film” and he claimed he did not recognise himself in the images.

Timeline

• 13 May 2011 — Jennifer Joan Mills-Westley was stabbed and beheaded in a supermarket in Los Cristianos, Tenerife; the attacker fled carrying her severed head.
• 18 February 2013 — The provincial court in Santa Cruz began Deyan Deyanov’s trial with CCTV footage shown.
• 22 February 2013 — Deyan Deyanov was found guilty of the murder and was sentenced to detention in a psychiatric unit for 20 years.

Other details

• Jennifer Mills-Westley was attacked in a Chinese-owned general store near the beach, described in one report as the Mas Articulos Mejor Precios shop on Avenida Juan Carlos I in Los Cristianos.
• Reports described the suspect as allegedly heard saying “God is on earth” before capture.
• Reports described the suspect as having tattoos of characters from the sci-fi film Predator on his right arm and being obsessed with Predator and its decapitations.
• Reports described an earlier unprovoked attack on a security guard on the seafront at Los Cristianos, and Deyanov’s release from a psychiatric unit at the Hospital de la Candelaria after a short stay following that earlier attack.
• A report stated that on January 18 (in 2011) Deyanov was admitted to a psychiatric unit at Candalaria hospital after an arrest, and that he was released on February 4 (in 2011) despite serious mental health problems.
• A prosecutor’s request and defence arguments were reported as centring on acute paranoid schizophrenia and criminal responsibility.
• Judge Maria Jesus Garcia Sanchez was mentioned as the judge who would sentence Deyanov at a later date; sentencing was later imposed on 22 February 2013.