Murder, revenge porn and a fiery love triangle: true story behind Netflix hit Burning Body makes Line of Duty look tame
IT was a love triangle so fiery that one of its members was left charred to a crisp inside a burnt-out car.
Now the chilling murder of Spanish police officer Pedro Rodríguez has been turned into a hit Netflix drama.
Burning Body retells the sinister plot cooked up by ex Rosa Peral and Albert Lopez, who conspired to brutally kill his love rival.
The poisonous three-way was no ordinary affair, beginning life on the office floors of the revered Catalan police department – the Guardia Urbana.
But it would come crashing down when the remnants of Rodríguez’s body were discovered near the swampy Foix reservoir in Barcelona in 2017.
It sparked a nation-wide probe that lasted more than three years and amounted to Peral and Lopez being put behind bars for a combined total of 45 years.
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Along the way, investigators uncovered a story of toxic relationships, deception, violence and revenge porn that could make even Line of Duty look tame.
Across the front pages of Spain, it came to be known as “el Crimen de la Guardia Urbana” - or the crime of the Urban Guard.
Cop burned to ash
In 2017, when the charred vehicle was found, it was in such a bad way that almost nothing could be retrieved from the crime scene.
The only thing tying Rodriguez’s name to the “ashes” was the motor’s chassis number and a prosthetic device that failed to be singed.
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Regional police swiftly set their sights on Peral and her boyfriend Lopez, who were arrested in connection to the murder.
Unusually, each member of the love triangle, who had all worked at the Guardia Urbana, had previously been involved in controversial cases involving allegations of police abuse.
A year earlier, victim Rodriguez had been suspended by Barcelona City Hall after he reportedly beat up a motorist who ran through a road check.
Meanwhile, Peral had been subjected to a “revenge porn” attack at another police department when an ex-lover sent out a sexually explicit photograph of her.
Lopez had more than one complaint filed against him – the most notable of which was a conviction for assaulting a street vendor.
Following Rodriguez's death, the judge investigating the case ordered both suspects to be remanded without bail and charged them with either homicide or murder.
In a statement, she said: “Which one will be determined as the investigation progresses.”
Lovers at war
It was only when the case went to trial that the love triangle was revealed.
The court heard how Peral and Lopez had been on-and-off lovers since 2012, when she was married to another man.
Four years later, she started another relationship with Rodriguez and subsequently moved in with him.
Jealous of the situation, Lopez told Rodriguez that he was Peral’s lover, which led to a rift in the couple's fledging romance.
The following year, Lopez and Peral rekindled their affair and hatched a twisted plan to kill Rodriguez, who was getting in their way.
But back in the courtroom, as tensions rose, both of the cops blamed each other for the murder.
According to local press, Peral told the court that Lopez came to her house, killed her boyfriend and asked her to cover it up.
She accused Lopez of saying: “If you don’t help me, I will make your daughters choke on their own vomit.”
On the contrary, Lopez reportedly claimed he found Rodriguez’s body inside the trunk of the car and decided to help set it alight after reigniting his love affair with Peral.
The truth of the matter has never been established as Rodriguez was burnt to a crisp inside his car 24 hours later.
However, the verdict found: “At least one blow to his skull when he was either asleep, dozing or drugged.”
Shameless killers
The day after Rodriguez went missing, Peral and Lopez showed up together at a lunch with co-workers.
The duo also spent that day driving Rodriguez’s car and mobile phone to various places the victim would normally frequent to throw off investigators.
They also made one final stop at the home of Peral’s ex-husband before allegedly torching the vehicle.
The killers reportedly told pals that Rodriguez had been quarrelling with Peral’s former husband in a devious plot to pin the blame on him.
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However, after deliberating the jury found both parties guilty of murder with malice aforethought.
Peral and Lopez were sentenced to prison for 25 and 20 years respectively.