Family fights for justice after daughter is murdered in Spain

VERO BEACH, Fla. - Sandra Cerna sometimes sounds as if she's fighting to breathe.

The thought of what happened to her daughter sits like a crushing weight on her chest.

Laura Cerna lived in Spain, teaching English in Seville.

The former Floridian and mother of a 26-year old disappeared August 30.

Sandra tried calling her for days, finally emailing her grandson.  Michael replied, "I didn't want to tell you, but she's been missing since Sunday."

Police found Laura Cerna's body six days later.  She was naked, her legs bound.  Her throat had been slit, she'd been stabbed several times.  She'd been decapitated, dismembered, her body shoved into two suitcases and dumped in a river.

Antonio Gordillo led police to the body.  He told police Laura had killed herself and he had only disposed of her.

Sandra says he bragged to friends that he'd murdered "some foreigner." 

Gordillo didn't know her name.

"She weighed 110 pounds," says Sandra Cerna.  "According to this monster, she not only slit her own throat after attacking him, of course there was no marks on him, and then proceeded to stab herself through the heart and three and four more times.  That's his story."

Sandra is a retired defense attorney who also taught forensic science in New York.  She believes her daughter was raped because she had defensive wounds on her arm.

The Cernas flew to Spain to bury their daughter, getting little help from the U.S. Embassy there.  They had to pay for airfare, hotels, even all of Laura's funeral expenses.

Those expenses are only the beginning.

Spanish laws work much differently than laws in the United States.  Gordillo is charged with Simple Homicide, a charge that carries a sentence of only ten to 15 years in prison.

He could be sentenced to more time if prosecutors prove certain factors, like premeditation or unusual cruelty.

Under the laws of Spain, the Cerna's have to hire their own criminal attorney to help the prosecutor.

"We have to hire the attorney," says Sandra.  "We have to pay for the detectives.  We have to get expert witnesses such as medical, forensic, psychiatric."

Even if the prosecution can prove all of those factors, Laura's accused killer would face a maximum of just 25 years behind bars.

But 25 is better than ten.

"It's my daughter who received the death penalty," says Tom Cerna.  "It's the killer who's going to walk free in his 40s still.  Free to either live a full life or kill again."

The Cernas set up a website where you can donate to their legal fund.

www.lauracernamemorialfund.com