In June 1987, Joaquin Mari Recio was convicted of the Murder of Manuel Nelson in the Supreme Court of Gibraltar following a trial by jury. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but escaped from prison in June 1988 and was a fugitive until he was sentenced to another stint in prison for a separate matter.

Following the release of a European Arrest Warrant by the Gibraltar Magistrates Court, a Spanish court has converted the extradition request to a fifteen-year sentence of imprisonment. Sr. Recio chose to serve a sentence in relation to the Gibraltar matter in Spain, as allowed by Spanish law. He will be released in 2016.