THE CASE of swimsuit model Mária Kukučová, who is being charged with murdering her British former boyfriend and millionaire Andrew Bush, aged 48, in Spain, will go to the Supreme Court.
“Mária Kukučová has been taken into custody by the ruling of the Trenčín Regional Court,” the Supreme Court chairman’s office informed the TASR newswire. “She filed a complaint against this decision.” A date for the hearing has not been set.
Kukučová fled Spain after Bush's death, claiming that she feared for her life due to her former boyfriend’s background and contacts in Spain and Great Britain. “I surrendered myself to Slovak police in the belief that my country will provide me with protection and won’t extradite me to Spain without sufficient evidence, as this whole thing transpired differently from what was reported in the media," said the suspect. Her lawyer, Matúš Gémeš, also alleges that events happened differently from what the Slovak and UK media reported.
Kukučová claimed that she killed Bush in self-defence when the two were in a heated argument, during which Bush allegedly assaulted her before she fatally shot him. She allegedly travelled to his villa in Spain to discuss alimony, as she is pregnant with his child.
Kukučová voluntarily surrendered herself to Slovak police on April 8. After an interrogation, she was escorted to the Faculty Hospital in Trenčín for a medical examination of bruises which she said would corroborate her version of being assaulted by Bush. The young model is being accused of fatally shooting Bush with two shots from a pistol. If found guilty, Kukučová, 24, could face up to 25 years in jail in Slovakia. However, she would face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of murder in Spain, which is currently trying to extradite her.
On April 16, the Supreme Court rejected her request to be released from pre-trial custody, TASR wrote.
