Bodybuilder ‘She Hulk' beaten to death with hammer, husband found dead: ‘She was being abused and wanted a divorce'
A Colombian bodybuilder known as 'She Hulk' was beaten to death with a hammer while vacationing in Spain — and her husband was found dead with 'self-inflicted stab wounds,' according to police and local reports.
Zunilda Hoyos Mendez, 43, and her beefy husband of four years Jarrod Gelling, 46, were found dead in their rental home in Malaga, where they had been staying for about a month following Gelling's knee surgery.
Mendez, who went by Amy, had told relatives that Gelling was being aggressive toward her over the past year and the two intended on divorcing following their trip, which would have ended with a bodybuilding competition in Portugal in a couple of weeks, family members said.
'She was being abused and wanted a divorce,' the victim's family told Spanish newspaper Sur.
Mendez died as a result of repeated blows with a hammer while Gelling's body was found in the bathroom with what police have described as 'apparent self-inflicted stab wounds,' according to The Sun, citing local Spanish outlets.
Zunilda Hoyos Mendez was found dead on Thursday in Malaga, Spain.
Zunilda Hoyos Mendez/Instagram
Their bloodied bodies were found in the residence around 2 p.m. Thursday.
'Her body showed obvious signs of violence and that of the man's signs indicating a suicide-type death which is something an autopsy will have to confirm,' Spanish National Police said.
Mendez's family hadn't heard from her since Saturday, after she and Gelling — who is reportedly Colombian and American — had traveled to southern Spain from Dubai, where they had spent most of the past year.
Mendez's niece Yuleydis told Sur her aunt was going to help Gelling following a knee operation before traveling to Portugal to compete and then going back to Colombia to finalize their divorce.
Mendez dubbed herself the 'She Hulk.'
Zunilda Hoyos Mendez/Instagram
'For my aunt, it was her last trip with him — a farewell. She had taken the decision to divorce him, because of his aggressive behavior,' said Yuleydis.
'They had broken up already once and were apart for quite a while but then got back together again to try to resolve things, although the mistreatment continued,' she added.
In addition to bodybuilding, Mendez boasted more than 100,000 followers on OnlyFans, according to local reports.
Her coach, Brandon Rey, said in a heartbreaking Instagram post that in just 17 days, they 'were going to hit the stage and shock the world.'
'I told you that you could possibly be in the top 10 in the world by the end of this year and I meant it,' Rey wrote. 'Rest in paradise Amy.'
'We were so close to the end, but the closest person to you ended it too soon,' Rey said in another post. 'Domestic violence should never be taken lightly because it can leave many with a heavy heart.'
Police are still investigating the killing.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
24 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Judge orders Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil freed from detention
NEW YORK — A federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. government to free former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from the immigration detention center where he has been held since early March while the Trump administration sought to deport him over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. Ruling from the bench in New Jersey, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be 'highly, highly unusual' for the government to continue to detain a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn't been accused of any violence. In reaching his decision, he said Khalil is likely not a flight risk and 'is not a danger to the community. Period, full stop.' He ordered Khalil released from a detention center in rural Louisiana later Friday. The government had 'clearly not met' the standards for detention, he said later in the hourlong hearing, which took place by phone. Khalil was the first arrest under President Donald Trump 's crackdown on students who joined campus protests against Israel's devastating war in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Khalil must be expelled from the country because his continued presence could harm American foreign policy. Farbiarz had ruled earlier that the government couldn't deport Khalil on those grounds, but gave it leeway to continue pursuing a potential deportation based on allegations that he lied on his green card application. Khalil disputes the accusations that he wasn't forthcoming on the application. Khalil's lawyers had asked that he either be freed on bail or, at the very least, moved from a Louisiana jail to New Jersey so he can be closer to his wife and newborn son, who are both U.S. citizens. The judge noted Khalil is now clearly a public figure given his prominence during the campus protests and since his detainment. He was detained on March 8 at his apartment building in Manhattan over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. His lawyers say the Trump administration is simply trying to crack down on free speech. Khalil isn't accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. The international affairs graduate student served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student activists. He wasn't among the demonstrators arrested, but his prominence in news coverage and willingness to speak publicly made him a target of critics. The Trump administration has argued that noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be expelled from the country as it considers their views antisemitic. The judge noted Khalil has no criminal record and the government has put forward no evidence to suggest he's been involved in violence or property destruction. Marcelo writes for the Associated Press.
Chicago Tribune
35 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Judge orders Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil freed from detention
NEW YORK — A federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. government to free former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from the immigration detention center where he has been held since early March while the Trump administration sought to deport him over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. Ruling from the bench in New Jersey, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be 'highly, highly unusual' for the government to continue to detain a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn't been accused of any violence. In reaching his decision, he said Khalil is likely not a flight risk and 'is not a danger to the community. Period, full stop.' He ordered Khalil released from a detention center in rural Louisiana later Friday. The government had 'clearly not met' the standards for detention, he said later in the hourlong hearing, which took place by phone. Khalil was the first arrest under President Donald Trump 's crackdown on students who joined campus protests against Israel's devastating war in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Khalil must be expelled from the country because his continued presence could harm American foreign policy. Farbiarz had ruled earlier that the government couldn't deport Khalil on those grounds, but gave it leeway to continue pursuing a potential deportation based on allegations that he lied on his green card application. Khalil disputes the accusations that he wasn't forthcoming on the application. Khalil's lawyers had asked that he either be freed on bail or, at the very least, moved from a Louisiana jail to New Jersey so he can be closer to his wife and newborn son, who are both U.S. citizens. The judge noted Khalil is now clearly a public figure given his prominence during the campus protests and since his detainment. He was detained on March 8 at his apartment building in Manhattan over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. His lawyers say the Trump administration is simply trying to crack down on free speech. Khalil isn't accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. The international affairs graduate student served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student activists. He wasn't among the demonstrators arrested, but his prominence in news coverage and willingness to speak publicly made him a target of critics. The Trump administration has argued that noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be expelled from the country as it considers their views antisemitic. The judge noted Khalil has no criminal record and the government has put forward no evidence to suggest he's been involved in violence or property destruction.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Fraudulent City boss ordered to pay back £64 million
A City boss compared to the The Wolf Of Wall Street has been ordered to pay back £64 million over his role in a multi-million pound Ponzi-style investment scam, prosecutors said. Anthony Constantinou remains on the run after he fled the UK during his fraud trial at London's Southwark Crown Court in June 2023. Hundreds of investors were duped out of a total of £70 million between 2013 and 2015 while he ran Capital World Markets (CWM). A spokesman for City of London Police said a confiscation order was made against him on Thursday for the sum of £64 million, which is payable within three months. The default period of imprisonment was set at 14 years. Police released photographs of some of the luxury vehicles Constantinou spent his fraudulent money on, including a Porsche, Range Rover and luxury motorbike. They previously said he was thought to be in Turkey or Dubai after being stopped in Bulgaria with a fake Spanish passport. CWM had high-profile sponsorship deals with the Honda Moto GP, Chelsea Football Club, Wigan Warriors rugby league club, Cyclone Boxing Promotions and the London Boat Show. The seven-week trial heard how Constantinou spent £2.5 million of investors' money on his 'no expense spared' wedding on the Greek island of Santorini in September 2014, while his son's first birthday party a few days earlier cost more than £70,000. More than £470,000 was paid for private jet hire to fly him and his associates to Moto GP races across Europe as well as a return flight to Nice for a 150,000-euro five-day yacht cruise around the Mediterranean to Monaco. The firm paid £200,000 a quarter to rent 'plush' offices in the City's Heron Tower, while nearly £600,000 was spent on just six months' rent of his large home in Hampstead, north-west London, where his luxury cars were parked in the drive. Promised returns of 60% per year on risk-free foreign exchange (FX) markets, a total of 312 investors trusted their money to CWM. Some were professionals but most were individuals who handed over their life savings or pension pots, with a large number of Gurkhas paying into the scheme, said prosecutor David Durose KC. Constantinou denied wrongdoing but was found guilty of one count of fraud, two counts of fraudulent trading and four counts of money laundering and sentenced to 14 years in prison in his absence. Adrian Foster, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: 'This was a callous scam targeting members of the public. Many people lost their hard-earned money because of Constantinou's greed and false promises in this fake investment scheme. 'We continue to pursue the proceeds of crime robustly with the City of London Police, where we identify available assets to disrupt and deter large-scale frauds like this case. 'In the last five years, over £478 million has been recovered from CPS obtained confiscation orders, ensuring that thousands of convicted criminals cannot profit from their offending. £95 million of that amount has been returned to victims of crime, by way of compensation.' Constantinou was previously jailed for a year at the Old Bailey in 2016 after being found guilty of sexually assaulting two women during after-work drinks. One of the victims described how the parties were just like the raucous scenes depicted in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf Of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as rogue New York trader Jordan Belfort.
