Yahoo News Jailed: International jewel thief who stabbed two men to death in row over £35k stolen watches
An international jewel thief has been jailed for at least 33 years for stabbing two men to death over £35,000 worth of stolen watches and a set of Napoleonic coins.
Gonzalo Andreas Gomez-Remolina, 40, killed Carlos Ayala and witness Ruben Fuente after a row over the spoils from an earlier burglary.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Edis said the killing of Mr Ayala had been premeditated while Mr Fuente was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He said: ‘This was a brutal, savage execution. Ruben Fuente was an entirely innocent bystander. His murder was not planned or premeditated.
‘He had done you no harm whatever but you cut him down for the killing.
‘You are a career criminal. You have never done an honest day’s work in your life. You spend the times you have been at liberty preying on other people who have done you no harm.’
On the evening of June 5, 2007, Mr Ayala, 28, was ambushed by the defendant and his brother Christian in the entrance to his flat in Clapham, south London.
Colombian Mr Ayala was stabbed 30 times in the brutal revenge attack by the Bogota-born siblings, known as Los Rolos.
Spaniard Mr Fuente, 30, was stabbed eight times as he attempted to escape.
With his dying breath Mr Ayala – nicknamed El Frances – identified his killers, telling his mother it was ‘Los Rolos,’ jurors at the Old Bailey were told.
Afterwards, the brothers fled with their girlfriends on a Eurostar service to Paris, the court heard.
Christian Gomez-Remolina was tracked down with his pregnant partner and a large amount of stolen jewellery in Spain.
He killed himself at Highdown prison in July 2008 while awaiting trial in Britain.
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His brother was extradited from Mexico in January and stood trial alone.
Prosecutor Brian O’Neill QC had told the jury: ‘The defendant and his brother were involved in committing high-end burglaries and Ayala had participated in at least one of them.
‘Ayala, however, appears to have fallen out with the defendant and his brother over dividing the spoils. And there had been an escalating dispute between them.’
The row escalated when Mr Ayala got some friends to break into the brothers’ flat.
The Colombians were beaten up, their girlfriends were tied up and watches and cash was stolen.
Giving evidence, the defendant said he had gone to meet Mr Ayala to exchange eight Napoleonic gold coins for the stolen watches.
He denied being involved in the killings, saying he had fled the scene after Mr Ayala produced a knife.
Gomez-Remolina said his brother had confessed to the killings the next day as boarded the Eurostar.
Mr Fuente’s sister Emelia Rodriguez Fuente wept as the jury returned guilty verdicts after 17 hours of deliberations.
In a victim impact statement she told of the devastating effect on her elderly parents over that past 11 years and said her family had ‘been robbed of a happy life’.
