The Wanninkhof–Carabantes Murders

DNA evidence linked the murders of Rocío Wanninkhof and Sonia Carabantes to Tony Alexander King and exposed the wrongful conviction of Dolores Vázquez.

Rocío Wanninkhof

Seventeen-year-old Rocío Wanninkhof disappeared in Málaga province in 1999 and was later found dead. The investigation focused on Dolores Vázquez, a former partner of Rocío’s mother, despite the absence of forensic evidence directly tying Vázquez to the crime.

A wrongful conviction

Vázquez was convicted in 2001, but the verdict was later annulled. Her prosecution became a major Spanish example of how media narratives, prejudice and circumstantial interpretation can influence a criminal case.

A second murder changes everything

In 2003, teenager Sonia Carabantes was murdered in the same region. DNA recovered in that investigation matched evidence from the Wanninkhof case. The genetic profile was linked to British offender Tony Alexander King.

The forensic correction

King was convicted of both murders. The DNA connection established that Vázquez had been wrongly accused and imprisoned. The case is now frequently discussed in Spain as a warning about confirmation bias and as an example of how forensic databases can connect crimes that investigators initially treated separately.