THE ICE-CREAM KILLER

A popular ice-cream parlour hid a horrifying secret

- STACEY HICKS

SHE KEPT HER EXES IN THE FREEZER

When plumbers were called to the Schleckeria ice-creamery, they knew what to expect. 

The popular shop, painted yellow and decorated with images of colourful cones, was in a building with leaky pipes. So tradies had been called in to do repairs.

Not even costly maintenance could wipe the smile off the face of shop owner Estibaliz Carranza, then 32, though. She'd just found out she was pregnant.

After a string of failed relationships, Estibaliz thought she was about to get her happy ending.

But as the men got to work in the basement, in June 2011, they made a gruesome discovery.

In a deep freezer - where they expected to see tubs of ice-cream - they found body parts set in concrete.

And with that, Estibaliz Carranza's shocking crimes were uncovered.

As the workmen called police, the mum-to-be went on the run.

But when authorities caught up to her days later, Carranza admitted to crimes so heinous they made headlines around the world, earning her the nickname, "The Ice Cream Killer'.

The charismatic shop owner had murdered not one, but two, of her exes who'd failed to give her children.

Born in Mexico before her family moved to Spain, Carranza was intelligent and beautiful.

Earning top honours at school, she had her pick of career paths.

But she wanted nothing more than to be a mum.

At 22, she met and quickly married Holger Holz who, at 36, was 14 years her senior.

The pair moved to Austria and opened the ice-cream shop. But as time went on, Carranza said her husband became 'violent and lazy'.