A US businessman has been jailed for strangling his wife to death during their trip of a lifetime.
Michael Martin Hoseyni and Yana Rose embarked on an epic journey through Europe in August 2021.
The couple – who became wealthy from their successful car business in Denver, Colorado – wed two years earlier.
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It’s believed Hoseyni, then 55, killed his wife on Christmas Day that year during the last leg of their trip in La Alcaidesa, Spain, north of Gibraltar.
When her mother called her phone that day, Hoseyni answered and said Rose, 40, had run out of their aparthotel after a row.
Judges say he “strangled her with his own hands with the intent to take her life” after hitting her “several times”.
After killing Rose, he loaded her body into their hire car boot and drove about 700 km (435 mi) across Spain.
He dug a grave for her over several days while her body lay under branches in an isolated spot near Alzira, south of Valencia.
After burying her, he flew back to America alone, but it wasn’t long before his wife’s body was found.
Hoseyni decided to surrender after being identified by the Spanish police, who had caught him on CCTV buying a shovel, trowel, axe, and gloves.
He was arrested after landing at Madrid Airport on 29 January 2022 and was remanded into custody.
Prosecutors originally called for him to be jailed for 22 years, but his trial was called off after an agreement between all parties.
He has now been jailed for eight years and will remain under supervision for a decade after his release.
One factor taken into account was a compensation payment of €150,000 (£125,000) he had made to his former in-laws.
The court in Cádiz has ordered him to pay them an additional €75,000 (£62,500).
Hoseyni, who is Iranian-American, married Rose, who is originally from Russia, in April 2019.
But Hoseyni had a history of beating and mistreating his wife, as reported by Need To Know.
The judgement is final.
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