Palma.62-year-old Axel Herbert H. was arrested yesterday morning after being spotted by a Guardia Civil helicopter hiding on a beach near Capdepera.
On hearing the helicopter, the suspect is reported to have got very nervous and tried to make a run for it but could not escape the fleet of police cars which had swamped the area over night.
He is currently facing charges of having illegally buried his partner pending the results of the autopsy which will be carried out today.
That will reveal if Gisele von Stein was murdered or not and, if so, how.
In the meantime, however, the suspect denies any involvement in the death of his wife and that he returned home from a business trip to find his wife dead and decided to bury her in the garden to avoid being accused of her death because he claimed that no one would believe his story.
But, there appear to be a series of contradictions in the suspect's statements hence why the Guardia Civil have mounted a major investigation in order to establish exactly what happened.
It appears that Gisele von Stein was last seen on August 14 but she was not reported missing to the authorities by her daughter who is in Canada via a lawyer until September 28.
The Guardia Civil immediately tried to contact her partner but he was on a business trip to Singapore.
However, on his return on Monday, the Guardia Civil did manage to finally question Axel Herbert H. but he denied knowing anything about his wife's whereabouts.
He apparently told the police that, while he had been away, his wife had also gone on holiday and had yet to come back.
But on Tuesday, a friend of the suspect contacted the police and told them that Axel Herbert H. had apparently told her that he had buried his partner in the garden after having found her dead.
The Guardia Civil immediately returned to the property to question the suspect again, but he had gone missing after apparently withdrawing money and jewelry from his bank.
But, he was spotted, arrested and driven back to his home yesterday morning and this time he told the police there was no need to continue searching the grounds because he knew exactly where his missing partner was buried.
Body in a blanket
On Tuesday night, the search for the body was postponed until first light yesterday morning and within hours of locating Axel Herbert, the body was found wrapped in a blanket but police and forensics took their time in removing the corpse in order not to destroy any evidence.
And, while the body was exhumed, police combed the chalet the couple shared looking for clues behind her death which police sources revealed last night they suspect could have been economically motivated.
But, for the moment, until the autopsy results are known today, Axel Herbert may only be charged with illegal burial.