A 28-year-old Spanish man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing his mother and eating parts of her body.

The man, Alberto Sanchez Gomez was found guilty of strangling his 68-year-old mother, cutting up her body in almost 1000 pieces and storing them in plastic containers inside his fridge and in drawers around the family’s home. He told police during his arrest in February 2019 that he ate some of the pieces raw, some cooked, and fed bits to his dog.

According to the prosecution indictment submitted to the court ahead of the trial, Gomez used a carpenter’s saw and two kitchen knives to cut up his mother’s body.

He was convicted of homicide and desecration of a human corpse following a two-week trial at Madrid’s Audiencia Provincial court.

It was also revealed during the trial that Gomez was arrested 12 times for mistreating his mother. He had also breached restraining orders several times, and regularly consumed drugs and alcohol.

In his defense, Gomez claimed he had heard “hidden messages” when he watched TV and voices telling him: “Kill your mum.”

He also insisted that he doesn’t remember cutting up his mother or eating her remains.

In his last address to the court, Gomez relayed how heartbroken he was. “I’m very repentant. I suffer anxiety from the moment I wake up,” he said. “I think of my mum and I’m absolutely heartbroken.”