Detectives in Tenerife are facing questions today amid reports that a British woman had begged for help just minutes before she was beheaded on the holiday island.
Grandmother-of-five Jennifer Mills-Westley sought refuge at an employment centre in Los Cristianos on Thursday morning where she told social services officials she was being trailed.
A man was reportedly sent away from the area by a security guard before the 60-year-old left the building. She was later decapitated in a nearby supermarket.
A police source working on the murder inquiry told The Sunday Times Ms Mills-Westley had waited in the office until the man following her had disappeared.
She then she walked into the Chinese-owned shop nearby and he went after her.
"He grabbed a large kitchen knife from the shelf and stabbed her at least 14 times in the neck without saying a word," the source said.
"Eventually he managed to sever her head. He picked it up and ran out of the shop."
A 28-year-old homeless Bulgarian man with a police record was arrested after he
allegedly fled the Valdes shopping centre.
The suspect, named in reports as Deyan Valentinov D allegedly made off along Avenida
Juan Carlos saying: "God is on earth."
It is thought he had previously received psychiatric treatment. Regional newspaper La Opinion reported he had been released from a local hospital in February after being involved in violent incidents.
Ms Mills-Westley's family were struggling today to come to terms with her brutal murder.
"Mum retired a number of years ago and was fully enjoying her retirement travelling between Tenerife and France where she spent time visiting her daughter and grandchildren, and her other daughter in Norfolk," her daughter Sarah said.
Relatives are being helped by consular staff who have been liaising with the Tenerife authorities.
Police are now probing her killer's movements leading up to the attack and studying CCTV and witness statements to establish precisely what happened.
Jose Alberto Gonzalez Reveron, mayor of the island's southern municipality of Arona within the urban sprawl of Los Cristianos, said the supermarket's security cameras had filmed the incident.
Detectives are also investigating their suspect's background to find out if he had been treated on a psychiatric ward and the terms of his release.
Initial reports suggested the murder was random with no relationship between victim and killer.
PA