GUILTY Spain - Denise Thiem, 40, U.S. traveler, Astorga, 4 April 2015

[ZaZara]

"THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO IS DE LEAST IMPORTANT"

As a child, Miguel Barrero read a book about the Camino Primitivo, that runs from Oviedo to Santago de Compostela. Last year, he finally walked that Camino and wrote his own book about it: The lands at the end of the world.

A few Q&A from an interview with Miguel Barrero:

La Voz de Asturias
http://www.lavozdeasturias.es/notic...ntiago-importante/00031465758947286854627.htm


- Pilgrims often talk about how friendships that you make on the Camino quickly become intense; how sometimes you meet up with someone a couple of days after you have known each other and you feel the same joy as if they were bosom friends.

Yes, that happens. It is also because they are people who somehow, although this may sound very hyperbolic, guarantee your survival. You know that if something happens, if you have a problem, people you've met, will knows where you'll be and worry if they can not find you. Another girl I met, Tara, told us that when she came from Washington to Oviedo to start the Camino, her family told him to be careful, because the murder of an American pilgrim, Denise Pikka Thiem in Astorga was recent and they had not yet found the body nor the culprit. And she said that when she spoke on the phone every night with her relatives, she told them about us and how we all took care of each other. Sure, that's fine until you realize that there is also a point of uncertainty that makes the adventure both dangerous and very stimulating. You do not know the people that you walk with anymore than what they want you to know.

- One may befriend an American pilgrim, but also a murderer, and not know it. You, in fact, have a fantasy in a part of the book about the possibility of making the Camino with an invented life.

Sure, you can go on the Camino saying that you are who you are not and no one can refute it. For fifteen days, you can be whoever you want to be, anyone, because no one will be able to confirm the opposite. You can jump-start completely ignoring your previous life, free from guilt and sin. The case of Denise is very relevant in this respect, and it was what made me truly realize this ephemeral and evanescent nature of identity along the Camino. Suddenly, a guy who was as normal as the next one and who was sitting next to me in a bar Berducedo turns out to be the alleged murderer.

-In General, the Camino is a bubble of time, "a space outside of all spaces and all times" as you put it in your own words.

Yes. For two weeks, you get into a bubble where nothing matters of what you've done outside. I write somewhere in the book that the Camino is like a life within life: you start from point zero where it does not matter what you were before and what does matter is what you accumulate along the duration of the Camino until you get to the end, and what may happen next does not matter either.

- "It does not matter what we were before because we simply did not exist; it does not matter what happens after Compostela because we simply will not exist," you write.

Yes. The last day is the most exciting, but also the most disturbing, because suddenly you think, "Now, what do I do next?" Suddenly, people who during that time formed a constant part of your day are no longer there and you will not see them back in your life ever. In that sense, reaching Compostela is like a small death.


BBM

The etapa 5 / 6 from Berducedo to Grandas de Salime where MAMB was arrested at the end of the day is 20,43 kms through a mountainous area.
Now we wonder: was Tara in that same bar in Berducedo too? and what did she tell her family?

:thinking:

 

[ZaZara]

THE MURDER OF DENISE THIEM CONFESSES TO THE JUDGE HOW HE HIT HER, DRAGGED HER OFF THE ROAD AND SLIT HER THROAT

iLEON.com
http://www.ileon.com/actualidad/063...llo?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

WITH VIDEO OF THE CONFESSION. He hit her with a stick and then cut her throat after making sure she was still alive, in what in his words was an act of compassion. 'The program of Ana Rosa' has had exclusive access to images of the appearance of Muñoz before the judge, who after hours of questioning and having denied involvement, finally confesses authorship and details of his crime.

The confessed murderer of Denise Thiem, the American peregrina missing since last April 5, 2015 who was found dead, has described in detail to the judge how he hit her, he dragged her away from the road and cut her throat. According to his explanations, the pilgrim asked Miguel Angel Muñoz if she was on the Camino - on the route of the Camino de Santiago. The confessed murderer said no. "I saw that she did not trust this but she asked me to accompany her. She began to talk [ in English ] somewhat aggressively and with the alcohol [ that I had been drinking ] ... My head turned around and my mood changed abruptly. She was walking to my left and then I hit her with a stick," says Muñoz, who also explained that he had drunk alcohol, more than he would usually drink when Denise walked past his house.

"I hit her on the head and she fell instantly to her death. She plummeted and fell hard on some rocks. I had a sensatiion that is difficult to explain," Muñoz continues in his confession in the videos published by 'The programme of Ana Rosa', that has had exclusive access to the appearance of the murderer before the judge.

"I was shocked, I threw the stick away as far as possible, I could not look at her. I vomited. I was throwing up for three days because I felt like a monster. I dragged her out of the way," Muñoz continues. Initially he denied involvement in the crime. He now adds that when he realized thet she was not dead, he slit her throat: "She was suffering and I made a cut in the neck. I did not want her to suffer more.." After that, he got rid of her belongings. "I took off the backpack and took everything, I burned her backpack with everything. I took off her clothes because, seeing what I had done I wanted to make her decompose as soon as possible. I saw a groove that a boar had made. I dug that out to make it bigger and I put her there. "

After a harrowing statement, with details, the murderer of Denis has said that: "I regret what I have done and I will not do it again".


BBM


Follow the link for the videos if you want to see a man confess a murder and its details in front of a judge.
I am not saying that you should.
But the fact is that these videos are out on the internet, they were shown on Spanish TV. Why that is so, is totally beyond me.

The contents of the confession have been known for months. It has also become clear that part of this confession agrees with the (later) findings of the autopsy report. However, the autopsy describes a crime that is much more violent. He hit her various times and he hit her so hard he broke her skull.

In his story, Denise is the one who intiates contact (speaking a little Spanish), who asks him to accompany her, who becomes angry for no apparent reason.
In fact, she behaves quite unlike the deliberate, careful and friendly person that her family and friends used to know.

The Public Prosecutor has incorporated this statement of MAMB in the indictment. For legal purposes, it is obvious why this was done, because even though it is his own, self-incriminating story, part of it is supported by the findings of the autopsy. Also it is clear that he was under no obvious pressure to confess. (At a certain moment, the Judge even asks the police to leave, so that speaking becomes easier for him.)

There is the other story, of the locals and the Guardia Civíl, how at the end of April, Benny the SAR-dog followed the trace of Denise along the main Camino, to the spot where Benny started to sniff around. Then they were stopped by the Police and had to abandon the search. The remains of Denise were later found south of that area.
Denise had not shown any interest in taking the detour via Castrillo de los Polvazares. Her feet were hurting, she was walking slowly. I still think it very probable that she was ambushed on the main Camino, and she did not get lost or ask a drunkard to accompany her.
But I understand too that from the legal point, it is probably easier to go with the story of a murderer. :gaah:
I'll change my mind when it becomes clear that the first location where she was burie, was indeed found.

 

[ZaZara]

THE MURDERER OF DENISE THIEM RECONSTRUCTS HIS CRIME THROUGH TEARS AND SMILES


El Progreso de Galicia
http://elprogreso.galiciae.com/noti...-reconstruye-el-crimen-entre-lagrimas-y-risas

Miguel Angel Muñoz returns to the crime scene and tells, with disturbing ease, how he hit the pilgrim and cut her throat. The program of Ana Rosa broadcasts the video, which leaves open the question: Does he doe this to help or because he feels proud?

Miguel Angel Munoz, the confessed murderer of the pilgrim Denise Thiem, is walking calmly escorted by an entourage of police and investigators as he recounts, with astonishing naturalness, how he crossed paths with the young American who came to him after she lost her way while doing the Camino Santiago and unleashed in him an inexplicable "madness" that led him to hit her with a stick on the head and first cut her throat, and later her hands in order to cover his tracks.

Images of the reconstruction of the crime, broadcast by the program Ana Rosa, show a fickle man. And, although he collapses recalling certain details of the murder, most of the time he seems comfortable with his starring role and is smiling in too many instances. So many as to sow doubt about his motives: Does he collaborate to help or because he feesl proud of his deed?

"I was crazy, I can not explain. I took a stick and hit her on the head. I saw how she fell and hit against some rocks. I was paralyzed. I started to vomit. I I'm imagining it now." So, without skimping on details, Muñoz confesses to the investigators how then, when Denise began to convulse, he decided to cut her throat.

"I felt she was suffering and made her a cut in the throat." Then it seems that his nerves are overwhelming him. He rubs his eyes and ask that they [ the onlookers ] let him "breathe", but after a few seconds he continues his story. "I picked her up and took her away so as little as possible would be seen. I walked more than two hours to move her because a dead body weighs three times more," he confesses, without giving too much indication of repentance. In fact, he even jokes sometime before taking a turn and burst into tears while recalling how he cut the hands of Denise with an ax from the kitchen.

BBM


http://www.telecinco.es/msplayer/po...VID20160623_0034&boardId=4000001&start=23.149

The voice-over in the video notes that MAMB smiles when he tells how he hid the knife and the ax, and the Police have not managed to find it. He also smiles when he tells that the Police came with dogs but failed to find the first location where he buried Denise.

The reason he cut Denise's hands, he says, is that he carried her AND he dragged her by the arms (hands?), and he was worried that traces of him were left on the hands.
IMHO this is odd. A dead person cannot hold on to your hand if you drag them.

From what is shown of the reconstruction in the video, it remains unclear where the stick came from, what it looked like, and when he picked it up. MAMB is vague about this, both in words and gestures. I even get the impression that according to him, he left his house to accompany Denise, picked up a stick in the fields at a certain moment on the way (why) before he got mad, and then moments (?) minutes (?) later used it to hit Denise. Does that add up? It does not IMHO.

 

[ZaZara]

PSYCHIATRISTS SAY THAT THE ASSASSIN OF THE PEREGRINA 'BEHAVES LIKE A PREDATOR'

Diario de León.es
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...regrina-comporta-como-depredador_1078715.html

The psychiatric report that analyzes the personality of Blas Muñoz emphasizes that he moves "like a predator" in such a way that "with the behaviors that characterize these predators, he will try to seize the resources he demands with typical strategies."

The Section of Behavior Analysis of the Analysis Service of the Central Criminal Intelligence Unit of the National Police has drafted an extensive study about the motivation of the offender, as part of the Operation Peregrina. The study stresses that this is a case of an "introverted and lonely person, who does not assume the house rules and abides by his own rules only". Miguel Angel is "autonomous, organizing all his way of living in the margins of society within his technical possibilities, based on complacency, satisfaction of his own desires, selfishness and lack of socialization, with all that this entails."

"It is not ruled out that he will try to satisfy his sexual impulses with professionals in the field or by force against the will of women if and when the exact circumstances occur to evade justice. His way of life is quite austere, despite the economic resources that were found in his house (he had saved 38,000 euros in a box) and according to his family, he might keep the money from his victim as an added benefit, not as his main objective."

The analyst who signed the report had the opportunity to be present during the reconstruction of the events: "The story that he tells about the attack and timing of aggression and the cause of it, is not credible. From a more logical and coherent view it is based on his behavior in previous cases and held together by the verbal and non-verbal way of telling the facts as a surprise attack, followed by wrangling with the victim to end her life. All this [is done] with intentions that he does not confess, unlike the other circumstances of the facts, because he is aware in some way that the motivation for his attacks will worsen his legal status. Besides he does not explicitly manifest these because of the negative moral appreciation that he believe he would receive involving assaults with a sexual content."

Throughout his cooperative attitude with the judicial commission, Miguel Angel "has tried to show a good image despite the facts against him, which is why eluding the possible sexual motivation of his alleged attacks would be consistent with that image."

However, the report considers it particularly difficult "to establish a single motivation for facts of this nature."


BBM


Psychiatry and psychology are not exactly rocket science and reasonings like 'the fact that he does not disclose a sexual motive is consistent with having a sexual motive' do not inspire too much confidence.
But still. I tend to agree with most of what is written.
My earlier impression was that his description of the attack on Denise sounded more like his previous attack on the Chinese pilgrim and the way she reacted ~ by throwing stones at him.

There are no mentions that he attacked men. If his goal was money, he could have operated in a very different way.

It did not happen they way he says it happened.

 

[ZaZara]

A GERMAN PILGRIM POINTS TO MIGUEL ANGEL MUÑOZ AS HER ATTACKER

Josefine E. F., 26, said in her statement that she was attacked with a stun gun, but managed to escape. She reports that she deviated from the Camino because of the direction of some arrows and that a man with a ski mask jumped out of some bushes.


Diario de León.es
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...onoce-miguel-angel-munoz-agresor_1078966.html


The German pilgrim who reported having been attacked by Miguel Angel Muñoz, accused of the murder of Denise Pikka Thiem, and whose glasses were found at the door of the house of the suspect, said that in the course of the attack the man now investigated had used a stun gun. Despite that, she managed to escape from her pursuer and fled without serious consequences. This is reflected in the summary of the case, which includes the statement of the woman concerned.

Josefine E.F., a German woman of 26 years, denounced on September 20, 2014 (one year before the murder of Denise) that she had lost her way on the original Camino de Santiago and had taken a path by mistake that had led her to the vicinity of the house of the accused. The pilgrim said to the police that there were arrows that had diverted her from the original tracks and suddenly, from behind the bushes, a man had appeared, who told her that that was not the right path and summoned her to continue to where he was. The complexion [of the man] coincided with that of the accused, but she could not identify him because he was wearing a balaclava.

The plaintiff did not understand what he said and continued walking, when all of a sudden she felt a shock caused by a stun gun. It did not have much effect on her because the neck area where she was attacked, was covered with clothing and the electric shock did not go far. Therefore, the attacker struck her a second time, this time in the leg and the girl fell to the ground.

At that moment, the attacker tried to stand above her, but she defended herself and kicked him in the genitals. Because she thought the aim of the attack was a robbery, she took 50 euros from her backpack and handed these to him. This stopped the aggressive attitude of the man, who simply said, "No police, no police!"

She reported that at the scene and as a victim of an aggression, she had lost glasses. The police found them at the door of the house of Muñoz Blas. That is why they arrested him and questioned him, but he refused to be subjected to DNA testing for identification. In view of the contradictions in his account, it was decided to arrest him. Because, spontaneously and without anyone asking, he told police: "I do not think anyone of the village will put a sign to come here", as is recorded in the files of the case. He also denied having heard screams of the German pilgrim at the door of his house even if the appearance of the glasses suggests that the attack must have occurred nearby.


BBM

The detail about the glasses is new and for crying out loud, why wasn't he forced to give DNA?? and why did they let him go??

:gaah::gaah:

 

[ZaZara]

THE LAWYER OF MIGUEL ANGEL MUÑOZ DENIES THAT THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT HE KILLED DENISE

He will request a complete acquittal because he is convinced that [his client] did not do it.

Diario de León.es
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...niega-haya-pruebas-matara-denise_1079220.html

Vicente Prieto, defense attorney for Miguel Angel Muñoz Blas, accused of ending the life of the pilgrim Denisse Pikka Thiem in April last year, holds the opinion that no proof exists against his client and although he does not want to provide more details so as not to interfere with his line of argument, he contends that he will request the acquittal of his client for lack of evidence and because he is convinced that he really did not do it

"There is not a single national police agent who can ensure that he heard Miguel Angel say he did it. All he told them as he landed in that helicopter is that he was going to take them to where the body was, but not because he had buried it but because he knew where it was. He had gone through that area when he was doing sport (even though the place is extremely steep and inaccessible) And you cannot say that the fact that it the area was a bit inhospitable discredits it as a place for sports. There are also people who practice canyoning and absolutely nothing happens."

Prieto regrets that more credibility is given to his client's confession than to his other two appearances before the judge, in which he denied having taken part in the events. "I do not know why you have to give more validity to a confession than to the part in which he emphatically says that has nothing to do with the facts and that he made it all up. It is clear that there is a confession on his part, but in the trial I will explain why confessed and under what conditions he did that, and likely enough that changes the point of view a lot".

The lawyer calls attention to the importance of the information that has been published these days, "the trial will be held by the system of a court by jury, and jurors are receiving a series of information that will influence their point of view at the time of issuing the verdict, and I think that's not fair'.


BBM

"And you cannot say that the fact that it the area was a bit inhospitable discredits it as a place for sports..." :dunno:

 

[ZaZara]

MUÑOZ STOPPED USING A MOIBILE PHONE ONCE THE POLICE PRESSURE WAS INTENSIFIED

Diario de León.es
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...s-cuando-crecio-presion-policial_1078965.html

The suspect stopped using his mobile on July 15, 2015, coinciding with the times when the police pressure on him became more intense, but offered arguments that do not convince the investigators as an expalanation for his actions.

"There was a time I began to hear bleeps and weird things and I concluded that my mobile was being tapped. I think I have the right to keep my privacy for my personal stuff and did not have any reason to allow them to know what I was talking about, though these were not illegal things. I only talked about my business, my daughter and my things."

However, analysis of the call traffic of the man under investigation sheds a disturbing fact. Usually his steady conversations with the mother of his daughter would last no more than ten minutes on average, but on the night of April 5, the very day that according to his confession the crime occurred, he spoke for 47 minutes with the woman who was his partner at that time. The technical report about the calls mixes with another report of a psychological background in which investigators conclude that he could have been sorry indeed for what he had done hours earlier and needed to unwind with someone he trusted. Hence the conversation that night, always according to police, takes longer than usual and that the person chosen for that act of emotional discharge may have been the mother of his daughter.

Muñoz Blas refers to be his partner in terms of a certain neutrality and is not critical about her: "It just came to a point when we both needed space in the relationship and we decided that each of us would go their own way."

At another point the interrogation, Muñoz denied before the judge that he had told police during the transfer he knew that the victim was dead, "I remembered that I had passed through an area that smelled bad, but I never said I knew that there was a corpse. It took over half an hour to find it." Muñoz refused to look at the corpse once it was found, he acknowledged. "I figured it was not necessary." He insisted that the police lied: "I did not tell them when I got off the helicopter that was going to tell them where the girl was. It's true that they pushed me and threatened me, I really freaked out a bit."

The investigating prosecutor, Emilio Fernandez, insisted during the first interrogation about the existence of arrows that diverted to pilgrims from the authentic Camino. He did so supported by the testimony of several pilgrims who claimed that in this area of the Camino there were erroneous indications: "I have never seen any that send people to my home. The people of Castrillo de los Polvazares paint those to lure tourists to the village for drinks. I do not dedicate myself to that," he said smilingly. "I have no reason to do so."

In the home of Blas Muñoz a hat was found. The police say is the same as worn by the victim: "That hat is mine, it is the one that I use when I paint. I know what I have in my house and there is nothing like that. If this was inside my house, someone must have put it there because I did not take it."
Regarding the origin of the $ 1,300 that the suspect changed and that Denise was presumably carrying at the time when she was attacked, he claimed to have found them "lying on the steps of the church in Valdeviejas. I found a fanny pack and inside was the money. There was no documentation, so I did not take it to the police." He waited five days after the discovery, which happened "in mid-April," according to his version.

The judge pressed on asking why, if he suspected his phone was being tapped and had noticed the smell, instead of reporting to the police what had happened, he decided instead to leave his home: "I can go whenever I want, but did not think they would pursue me. I took down the solar panels so they would not be stolen. I had 38,000 euros hidden in the toolshed and kept it there because it had no obligation to declare them."


BBM


The ex-partner of MAMB has been subpoenaed as a witness for the trial.

Would this hat be the one that was found at his home?

 

[ZaZara]

DECLARATIONS OF A LOCAL WOMAN COMPLICATED THE START OF THE INVESTIGATION

Diario de León.es
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...a-complico-inicios-investigacion_1078964.html

A witness account considered "dishonest" of a local woman who claimed to have been the victim of a similar attack in the area that the pilgrim suffered, tremendously complicated the initial work of the police investigation. The police had not yet achieved a firm determination on the principal line of action (which ultimately led to the arrest), and the work of tracking by the agents was hindered by the complaint.

The complainant claimed to have been attacked on May 16 between the towns of Santa Catalina de Somoza and El Ganso, around 17.15. The peculiarity of the matter is that the victim claimed she had been chased by two men using a vehicle and she did not know if the aim of the alleged assault was intended to grasp her for prostitution, try to get her organs for trafficking, or rape her.

In view of the irregularity of the declarations of the woman and the number of contradictions that appeared in her statements ( "the aggressor looked strong, good ... but not too strong") and the attitude shown during the statement ( "I knew nothing about the disappearance of the pilgrim, just that my former partner had said he would go out in the open with the Civil Guard to see if they found her in one well or another") it was decided that a psychiatric report was necessary to endorse her reasoning: "that day I dropped my glasses becauseI was wearing a very thin bra and had pinned them on to it" she said initially, after which she returned to the opposite view. The female police inspector confirmed in her written declaration that the complainant was not wearing a bra that day.


BBM


I had my doubts and changed my mind about her from yes to no. The local rumours did not mention a psychiatric report, but claimed that the woman had a personal reason for hiding the truth about her presence in the area. Whatever be the case it seems to have been solved now and her testimony is excluded from the files.

 

[ZaZara]

"I DUG HER UP SO YOU MIGHT FIND HER"

ABC.es
http://www.abc.es/espana/castilla-leon/abci-saque-denise-para-encontraseis-201606232055_noticia.html


(...)

Once he had hidden the body, he was waiting for a while if agents of the investigation would come to the area. After more than twenty days the police came to his home but "there was nothing to be found. I'm not that stupid" he says. Months passed and he never returned [ to the spot where he buried the body ] . He says it turned out to be impossible for him. Until one day "I went to the spot and dug her up." "It did cost me a lot" because of the smell of the decomposing body of Denise, he explains. He actually manages to comment that "never would recommend it to anyone" that they expose themselves to this smell. Then he put her "in a bag" and "walked two kilometers with her on my back."

The reason that led him to this turning point in his story, from hiding the body to exposure was that "I did not feel good about myself." He knew that the area was searched for clues because the Guardia Civíl arrived as "an invasion" in the area with helicopters and dogs. "They could have found her perfectly" he says. He was "surprised" that was not the case and says that " I dug her up so that you would find her" but also maintains that he could have spent all night digging a pit and no one would have found her, but "I did not want that."

This explanation does not match with what he told to the investigating judge in the case at the time, before whom he stated that "I dug her up and took her away. I chose this place because the further away I took her, the less suspicion would fall on me and the more they would think it was someone else."

The strange behavior in the reconstruction of the facts is no exception. His changing mood and coldness also were obvious in his statement to the judge. A testimony in which he said he felt "like a monster" after seeing what he had done and assuming that "I will pay dearly."

Also in court he acknowledged the facts that he denied both earlier and later, given that he has changed his version once again. Then before the judge, he told the same as what is seen in the video, that he killed her. "I did not do anything else to her, I did not abuse her or anything else. I felt very sorry ".


BBM


In April, after he had murdered her, he took off her clothes because a body decomposes quicker without clothes, everybody knows that, he says.
When he dug up the body and hid it under branches, he probably also knew that this would speed up decomposition even more.

I still wonder if there is solid proof, other than his own statement, that Denise was buried at the first location at all.

 

[dotr]

Imagine murdering a complete stranger, then having the audacity to complain about the smell of the corpse!
The suspect, imo. has not a single shred of decency, modesty or humanity in his soulless body!
I have the most awful suspicion that he made several nocturnal "visits" to his victim. Sick and nasty man.

speculation, imo.

 

[ZaZara]

ANTENA 3 TV : NEW FOOTAGE OF THE RECONSTRUCTION

http://www.antena3.com/programas/es...regrina_201607225791eaa36584a8b7b42bb30a.html

Transcript of the video:

Voice-over: MAM recalls that he allowed the police access to his home. Continues his story.

MAMB: And of course, the months passed. And here I have not been again.
It was impossible. Impossible.
And on top of this ... they came with dogs. I knew they passed through here, you know?
I knew it and they did not look anywhere more than here.

Voice-over: He is overcome by the tension and nerves and becomes emotional, precisely at that moment and when they talk about his daughter, look ..

MAMB: I went to Madrid, [ to stay with ] with my daughter, went shopping.
I had no choice but to remove her.

Judge: Why, why did you dig her up?

MAMB: Months had passed ... I did not feel good about myself.

Voice-over: He is contiuously directing his gaze towards the judge, and the moment comes when he collapses...

MAMB: I dug her up so you could find her, honestly.

Judge: And then you came here, no?

MAMB: Yes, I came here.

Judge: And dug her up?

MAMB: I dug her up. I put on a balaclava, gloves .... everything, everything, everything.

Voice-over: Contradictory to when he facilitates all kinds of details, but when he remembers Denise, it is the medical examiner who has to help him answer.

Forensic: Were you affected?

MAMB: Yes.

Judge: And then you lifted her on your back and you walked to where you left her?

MAMB: I put her down there.

Judge: And nobody saw you?

MAMB: I did it at two o'clock in the morning. I did not want to not see any light reflected, as little as possible, okay?
I wanted you to find her, okay? And that's what I did, if I had not wanted you to find her, you would not have found her. I can assure you that.

Voice-over: Completes the reconstruction, he is pointing to the place where he buried the hands of the pilgrim. Dogs mark the exact spot.

[ Next, a guest in the studio comments on the video with lots of words and gestures. If I understand her correctly, MAMB may well be telling the truth, like a boy who confesses, but she doubts that this is all of the truth, plus one cannot know which part of what he tells is true.]


BBM


Next time, let them invite me. I live in a rural area, and I love the night. It is sooo quiet. At two o'clock in the morning, I can hear the cows breathe on the next farm. Last night, I went out to throw something into the trash bin and I feared that the sound would wake my faraway neighbours. Well, I exaggerate. But I have difficulty believing that he went out to dig her up from a grave in a terrain full of pebbles and rocks at two o'clock in the morning.
It is not called the still of the night for nothing.

Next, at that time of the night, IF there is moon, that moon will be high in the sky.
So let's assume there was little or no moon at all. He would have had to find the exact spot in the pitch dark. And do his digging in the dark.
The nearest new moon (before the body was found) was August 14, 2015.

In the indicment, prosecutor Maria Tornadijo writes:

In late August 2015, without knowing the specific date, he changed the burial place as a result of police pressure and the fear of being discovered, to the site where the body was finally found."

Late August was a Full Moon, on August 29 to be exact.
http://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/spain/pamplona?year=2015

I've been looking at pictures and videos of the alleged first burial place and IMHO it does not look like the earth has been perturbed recently, if at all. The reconstruction and the video were made on September 15, so in their own script, two weeks earlier, MAMB would have been digging here.
The spot looks like nothing has happend there. (No wonder they did not find the hands.) After he dug her up, he did not leave the grave open. When did he do that? How did he do that? Wasn't he worried the dogs might notice even quicker the soil of the burial place after it had been turned around?


:waitasec:

 

[ZaZara]

MOON PHASES, MURDERERS AND LAWYERS

On September 17, 2015, less than a week after Denise's body was found, La Voz de Galicia wrote the following:

LaVozDeGalicia
http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/notici...nterro-cadaver-denise/0003_201509G17P6993.htm


"His guilty conscience was eating him. The blame for what he had done and why, was devouring him and that is why he unearthed the body days after the event to move it to a place where they could find it, and, thereby, he was hoping to break free of the burden."
His lawyer, Vicente Prieto, presents the confessed murderer of American peregrina Denise Thien as a repentant man who apologizes to the family of the woman for what he has done. The description he offers, seeks to explain why Miguel Angel Muñoz dug up the woman's body several days after the death occurred. In fact, it was found outside the municipality of Astorga, in a field outside his property, where he carried her and left her lying under bushes.


BBM


Days after the event .... not months!
Looking at the moon phases for Pamplona, Spain in 2015, FULL MOON in April fell on April 4, one day BEFORE Denise went missing.
NEW MOON in April was day 18.
Cedric Thiem arrived in Spain to look for his sister and report her missing on April 20. The news of her missing went viral around April 27.

IMHO, IF (if!) there is any truth in this story that he buried her and then dug her up again, it is far more likely that this happened in April, before Denise had been reported missing than in late August, when the area was filled with Police and dogs, MAMB was under surveillance and the moon was shining brightly.


I also wonder how he dug that first grave, with his bare hands? Did he fetch a shovel?
Work in broad daylight? Or in the light of a moon that was full minus 1 day?

I am returning to the scenario that he attacked her on the main Camino, on the spot near where her body was later found.
Denise did not take the detour to Castrillo de los Polvazares, she did not get lost and she had no need to ask him for directions. MAMB only tells this because he wants to hide his true actions and intentions, namely that he had set a trap and was waiting for her while she approached on the empty road.
IMHO, based on his previous failures, he had perfected his MO and attacked his victim from behind, while she barely had the chance to notice him, and no chance at all to get away.

:thinking:

 

[ZaZara]

THE MURDERER OF PILGRIM DENISE PIKKA THIEM WILL DEFEND HIS INNOCENCE AND INVOKE HIS MADNESS

The lawyer says his client suffers from a number of psychiatric problems that led him to admit to the crime

El Norte de Castilla
http://www.elnortedecastilla.es/leon/201607/23/asesino-peregrina-denise-pikka-20160723122906.html

Miguel Angel Muñoz, the confessed murderer of the pilgrim of Denisse Pikka will defend his innocence. Despite his confession before the judge and the reconstruction in which he went recounting step by step how he killed the American woman, his counsel will base his innocence on his mental state.

This was stated by counsel Vicente Prieto, in talks with Channel Sixth. He says his client has a number of psychiatric problems that led him to confess to the crime and even invent the scene.

Moreover, the main advantage of the defense will be the reconstruction that Miguel Angel Múñoz made hours after his arrest. In it you can see a quiet man who, however, collapses when he remembers how he ended the life of Denise. He even starts to cry, then shows himself defiant with the police agents.

A reconstruction in which the detainee said that "....I had a change of mind, picked up a stick and hit her on the head. I felt terrible. At that moment, Denise began to convulse. I felt that this person was suffering and made a cut in the neck so that she might stop suffering. The cut was not very deep. I was not enraged with her, I just wanted her to not suffer. But I can not explain what I felt because you have to feel it in so you can do it."


BBM


This is going to be interesting, although I doubt its wisdom.
How will the lawyer explain that MAMB, despite his mental state, never confessed to other crimes? (or maybe he did?)
How could it happen that so much of what he told was accurate? Like the spot where she was hidden? Or the missing hands?
And what about the money that he allegedly found?

Questions, questions.

In the same article, it says:

After that, he covered the body with earth and put "points of reference ". At that moment he points at a stone and says that "when you open that hole you will find the remains of her. I put stones on top of her, camouflaged her very well because I was aware of that you would be coming."

Well, was there a hole beneath that stone? and if there was, did they find remains there, or didn't they?

The family had to wait very long before the judge allowed the repatriation of the remains of Denise.
A reason given for the delay was that more tests had to be done to the remains in order to establish if rodents could have taken the hands, as opposed to the killer cutting them off with a kitchen axe.
It is one of those details that you hope the less about it is said, the better, but with this line of defense, it may become a focal point.


:sigh:

 

[ZaZara]

All of a sudden, the name of Denise Thiem pops up again in the Spanish press.

A young woman from Madrid has gone missing from a small village near the Galician coast where she was on a holiday. The case is getting a lot of media attention, and some of the organizations involved in the searches are the same as those who were involved in the rastreos for Denise.

La Voz de Galicia
http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/notici...16/08/28/sainete-psdg/0003_201608P28C8995.htm

While hundreds of locals from Pontevedra supported the family of Sonia Iglesias so that her case may not be forgotten, we received confirmation that a young woman, Diana Quer has disappeared from A Pobra do Caramiñal where she was on vacation. Her parents and sister call out to not stop the pressure on the police. But her initial traces six days after she was last seen, cause much concern. Associations such as SOS Disappeared Galicia insist that the first 24/48 hours are crucial to direct the investigation and get the clarification of each case. Police errors usually happen there and then. How often it has happened that the security forces act by the book, they presuppose a possible getaway of a minor or a voluntary disappearance of an adult until signs require them to reconsider and thus initiate investigations that are two days late!

In Galicia unsolved crimes with women as victims remain irking. María José Arcos, Elisa Abruñedo, Socorro Perez and, of course, Sonia Iglesias, are those most recalled. Instead, the crime of Denise Thiem was the recent exception that confirmed another feature of unresolved crimes: the lack of resources and personnel. When that was corrected as happened with American pilgrim (by pressure on Rajoy from Barack Obama) ... holy remedy !

I hope that the case of this girl from Madrid will not enter into that shamefaced list that permanently reminds us that there really are no perfect crimes, only imperfect investigations.

An estimated 14000 persons disappear each year in Spain. There is no official list of the number of persons who remain disappeared.
Each year, one hundred cases remain unsolved.
The odds are worst if an elderly person of 70+ goes missing. 46% of them are found deceased, another 46% are found alive and the remaining 8% are never heard of again.
Source: http://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2016-09-04/diana-quer-desaparecidos-investigaciones_1254379/

Until now, I never considered the search for Denise a positive exception, but apparently, that is what it was after all.

 

[ZaZara]

ANOTHER HORRIBLE DEATH, PRESUMABLY A MURDER, ON THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO

Body of a Belgian pilgrim was found on a compost heap in a regional recycling centre in San Román de la Vega near Astorga.
Container is thought to have come from León and surroundings.


RTL.be
http://www.rtl.be/info/monde/europe...rin-qui-marchait-vers-compostelle-850529.aspx

Spanish police have opened an investigation into the death of a Belgian man of 41 years in the north of Spain, the federal department of foreign affairs indicated Monday. Today, we know a little more about the man's identity. According to the first findings of the investigation, his death would not have been natural.

An investigation was opened after the death of a Belgian man of 41 years in northern Spain. The body of the victim was found on a compost heap in the town of San Román de la Vega, in the province of León. The man is Jeroen Schelstraete. The traveller from Ghent was a pilgrim who was on the road to Santiago de Compostela at the time of the tragedy, according to the site Het Laatste Nieuws.

The autopsy offered more information about the man's death. According to the first results of the investigation, his death is not natural. The hiker would have been robbed by three men while on his journey. They took his phone, his money, his bag and medications for asthma and heart problems. With nothing on him, police mistook him for a beggar. The Belgian man ended up in a police station for several hours, according to the explanations given by Wendy, his companion, according to Het Laatste Nieuws. After being released, Jeroen phoned his mother to tell her about his misadventure.

But after this call, no news from the pilgrim was received by the two women. Then they got a message on Facebook. Someone was trying to contact them to tell them that a worker had found a body in a compost pile. It was necessary to identify the remains. The mother went to Spain. She recognized the face of her son on photos. She could not see Jeroen due to poor condition in which his body was.

According to initial assumptions, the man from Ghent was hit by a car and the driver would have swung him, alive or dead, into "a compost dump nearby the scene of the collision (...) The Investigators do not rule out a premeditated criminal act," it said on the site of the newspaper. The circumstances of the death are still a mystery.

The man from Ghent and his companion had become engaged a few days before the tragedy occurred.
Wendy had to leave Jeroen and return to Belgium for work. "Jeroen had just asked me to marry in Spain. We were going to set a date on his return to Belgium. I left him in Burgos. But I had no concern because he really knew the area," the woman aged 35 tells.

Jeroen Schelstraete was planning to finish his ninth solo pilgrimage on September 20. "He was thrown like a dog on a pile of garbage. What lowlife can do something that?" the woman asks, collapsing.


BBM


Allegedly, the robbery occured on Wednesday September 7 in or near León, and the body was found on September 9.
At the plant in San Román de la Vega, before composting, they habitually check the containers with material (branches, leaves etc) for stuff that does not belong (like matresses). That is how they found him in time.
If not, Jeroen would probably have disappeared from the surface of the earth.


Interview with his fiancé Wendy here:

http://nieuws.vtm.be/binnenland/206557-onderzoek-naar-dood-gentse-pelgrim


RIP Jeroen :rose:

 

[ZaZara]

POLICE FOUND A NAIL OF DENISE ON THE SPOT WHERE MUÑOZ CLAIMED HE HID HER

Today (11-09) marks one year since the arrest of the man accused of having committed the murder


DiarioDeLeón
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...-lugar-donde-munoz-dijo-escondio_1098179.html

The National Police found a nail of Denise PikkaThiem in the place where Miguel Angel Muñoz Blas claimed to have buried her for first the first time. MAMB is awaiting his trial and has been in custody for one year today.

Although he currently denies responsibility for the events and claims he confessed due to factors beyond his control, the investigation has found that the body of the victim was actually buried for the first time in the same place as the suspect confessed to the judge in his second court appearance and at identical point in which he said he had done so during the reconstruction of the facts. The reconstruction was videotaped by the National Police. This is stated in a report contained in the files on folio 931 and in the third volume of the summary.

Subsequently, in order to facilitate the discovery of the body, he took it from that point and placed in the area in which it later appeared, a few kilometers from his home. Now, however, he denies having anything to do with any of those points.

Presumably the victim died on April 5, the day of her disappearance. That is what the man under investigation confirmed before the judge. But in his new version he maintains that this was all invention and that he has nothing to do with the facts for which he is indicted.

That all happened when the use of a credit card let out that he had gone to the Asturian town of Grandas, where he was hiking the Camino de Santiago. The police had followed his trail ever since he changed in the office of a bank the dollars that Denise was carrying in her backpack. He claims that he found them lying in a spot of the Camino.
Pending that trial date, which is expected around spring next year, the summary of the case contains two reports of female tourists who performed the Camino de Santiago and were attacked with the purpose of robbery and possibly sex. The problem is that none of them can reliably identify the perpetrator, although they maintain that his physical build was very similar to that of the accused and the events occurred in the vicinity of his home.

The prosecutor demands a sentence of 20 years in prison for murder and five for robbery with violence. The defense argues that there is no single proof linking him to the crime, except his initial confession that is now disproved and not sustained over time. (*)


BBM

(*) not anymore now!


This is a HUGE breakthrough. The Prosecutor can now confirm this part of his confession.

So Denise probably did take the detour via Castrillo de los Polvazares and was misled by a false arrow.

 

[ZaZara]

VANDALS AND DISASTER TOURISTS


Home of the alleged murderer of the pilgrim Denise Thiem has been ransacked


iLeon.com
http://www.ileon.com/actualidad/066...presunto-asesino-de-la-peregrina-denise-thiem

A year after Miguel Angel Muñoz Blas entered the prison of Mansilla de las Mulas, the house where he lived, located in the hills between Castrillo de los Polvazares and Santa Catalina de Somoza, has been vandalized inside and out. The prefab house looks neglected with windows, door and interior shattered.

This Thursday, life in Castrillo de los Polvazares goes on placidly and quietly, away from the impassable wall of police that a year ago protected the roads towards house of Miguel Angel Muñoz from nosey persons and prying media. In the village they have turned the page of an event that took five months to resolve and that went beyond the borders of Spain due to pressure from the United States.

But the house in which the alleged murderer lived, in the hills between Castrillo de los Polvazares and Santa Catalina de Somoza, was recently ransacked, presenting a complete wreck inside. The prefab house was put up by the alleged perpetrator of the death of the pilgrim with the help of some locals from Castrillo and Santa Catalina. It has recently been torn apart, and police are investigating whether this is a case of robbery or some sort of revenge.

DiarioDeLeon
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...e-convertida-lugar-peregrinacion_1099397.html

The media coverage at national and international level of the disappearance and murder of American pilgrim, Denise Pikka Thiem, who was hiking the Camino de Santiago, has turned the area and the home of the alleged murderer Miguel Angel Muñoz Blas - where he apparently ended the life of the woman of 41 years - into a place that crowds of onlookers have flocked to this summer. The property, in the municipality of Castrillo de los Polvazares, is located in a remote area and hardly visible from the main road. A fact that has contributed to, as noted by several sources in nearby villages, the looting suffered by the house since late August. Over time, the spot has become an abandoned place where the door is open, the shutters have been torn off and grass and weeds grow at will.

Some locals said that in the summer months, the house "has become a place of pilgrimage". Many cars and many persons have gone up there, driven by interest and morbid curiosity to know the site where the woman allegedly died such a violent death in April 2015. "Even in the undergrowth a trail has appeared made by the footsteps of the many persons who came to take a look," they said and they confirm: "Now the house stands abandoned and badly damaged."


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

THE BODY OF DENISE WAS BURIED FOR 4 MONTHS AT 200 METERS OF MUÑOZ' HOUSE

Diario de León
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...da-4-meses-200-metros-casa-munoz_1105254.html

The body of Denise Pika Thiem, the pilgrim killed on April 5, 2015 in the vicinity of Santa Catalina de Somoza while she was hiking the Camino de Santiago, was buried for between four and five months at only 200 meters from the defendant's house. Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas initially denied having anything to do with her death, then confessed before the investigating judge his responsibility for the attack and now he has reverted to his initial version and rejects any kind of relationship with the case.

According to a police report that has been accessed by this newspaper (this is an eleven-page document that is signed on November 18, 2015), Muñoz Blas detailed in the reconstruction of the facts the places where everything happened and how the events developed. The first spot in which the corpse was buried is incorporated in the report as "metric witness number 2". The police detail in their report that the place "was hidden with dry wood from the hills and thistles." The earth was excavated at the surface "because the momentary weather conditions were not conducive to digging more deeply, since due to the rain certain traces might get lost," according to the author of the report, the Chief Inspector of the Ocular Inspections belonging to the Service of Operative Actions of the Central Operational Coordination Unit, belonging to the General Police Station of the Scientific Police.

"However, some superficial remains of what appeared to be putrid matter were collected from the burial site, and these were sent to the Biology / DNA Laboratory of the General Police Station of the Scientific Police, in order to search for genetic material of the victim," the report explains.

"In the same area a blank sample of the sand near the burial place was taken to make a comparison with the grains of sand that the victim carried in her hair. The place is being guarded by the Police Intervention units," the report emphasizes "until those conditions allow a deeper investigation."

The weather conditions changed six days later, when the rains ceased that fell during that time in the zone of Santa Catalina.


The police cannot detail, however, when the change of location of the corpse took place. From the demonstrations that were made sponeanously by the investigated person and from the data obtained in the investigation, it is clear that this happened after the start of the spectacular police operation aimed to locating the corpse. Muñoz Blas allegedly removed the mortal remains of the victim from the initial spot in which he had buried them and deposited them "at about 125 meters from the LE-142 road in a straight line to the south", at the site marked "final burial" in the chart accompanying this information.

Next to the mortal remains of Denise larvae were found, a beetle that was under the body, and several larvae in the armpits. An analysis and comparison were made of the earth that was collected from underneath the mortal remains.

BBM

 

[ZaZara]

THE DEFENSE OF THE MURDERER OF DENISE PIKKA REQUESTS NULLITY OF THE CASE B/O LACK OF EVIDENCE FOR HIS DETENTION

The lawyer puts into question that the investigation incorporates a psychiatric report to justify the imputability of his client | Prosecutor and prosecutor rely on the change of dollars, previous assaults on pilgrims and his subsequent confession to maintain the demand for 25 years in prison


LeónNoticias
http://www.leonoticias.com/astorga/201611/03/defensa-asesino-denise-pikka-20161103145045.html


The first contacts in the 'Denise Pikka case' are taking place at the Provincial Court of León. Prosecutor, prosecution and defense have met on Thursday at the oral hearing in which they have raised their issues ahead of the trial by jury.

Presided over by magistrate Carlos Alvarez, the defense lawyer of Miguel Ángel Múñoz, the confessed murderer of the American pilgrim, has highlighted the violation of the fundamental rights of his client, even calling for the nullity of the case.

Firstly, lawyer Vicente Prieto has warned that his client's detention was "illegal" and the result of media pressure because, as he remarked, there was no indication whatsoever of his alleged guilt. The public prosecutor objected to that petition and asked the defense why he never appealed the arrest warrant if he was of the opinion that there were no indications for the arrest of his client.

The previous attacks suffered by other pilgrims in the surroundings of the defendant's home, the exchange of dollars, and later his own "detailed and meticulous" confession that served to discover where the body was hidden are some of the signs that bolster the guilt of Miguel Ángel Múñoz.

Secondly, the defense questioned the actions of the National Police even if, according to the prosecutor, María Tornadijo, the finding of the body was possible because of the indications of the accused. He also raised the violation of the right to legal assistance during the realization of various proceedings.

At this point, Fernando Santocildes, counsel for the prosecution, recalled that according to the law the presence of the lawyer is not required in certain proceedings, such as in the proceedings around the finding of a fingernail on the spot where the lifeless body of the pilgrim appeared.

He also requested that the psychiatric report issued by the Forensic Anatomical Institute be reassessed. This report stresses the accountability of Miguel Ángel Múñoz following the incorporation of a psychiatric report that seeks the imputability of the accused.

Finally, as both prosecutors and the defense have reported to this newspaper, both [ prosecuting ] parties have objected to the exclusion, at the request of the defense, of the open indictments against the confessed murderer of the two other assaults suffered by peregrinas in the vicinity of his house. According to them, this is a fact that the jury "must take into account although these two cases are not on trial here".

Miguel Ángel Múñoz is facing a 25-year prison sentence for two counts of murder and robbery while his defense maintains his innocence and requests his free acquittal.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

THE JUDGE REJECTS THE NULLITY OF THE CASE AND OF THE CONFESSION OF THE MURDERER OF PILGRIM DENISE


LeónNoticias
http://www.leonoticias.com/astorga/201611/16/juez-rechaza-nulidad-causas-20161116130356.html

The President of the Jury dismisses the issues raised previously in the case of the pilgrim whereby the defense of the accused sought to nullify the reconstruction of the facts based on "defenselessness"

The presiding magistrate of the Court of the Jury who will judge the murder of the pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem has overturned the claims of the confessed murderer after dismissing the previous questions of the defense that asked for the nullity of the case.

Neither will certain actions performed during the investigation be annulled such as the localization of the victim's body, the declaration of self-incrimination before the Judge of Instruction by the accused, and the proceedings of visual inspection and reconstruction of facts.

The defense went as fas as to point out that the detention of his client was "illegal" and the result of media pressure given that, as he remarked, there was no indication of his alleged guilt. However, the magistrate president recalled that there were indeed indications, "and not only one but several against the accused."

The magistrate pointed to the "asocial and anti-establishment" behavior of the defendant who clashed with several members of his family as well as with neighbors of the zone. He also remarked that after the disappearance of the pilgrim, the accused made a radical change in his way of dressing, passing from being dirty and scruffy to well-dressed in clean clothes and wearing mountain gear from a specialized brand.

In addition, according to the judge in his decision, the occurrence of previous attacks on pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago next to his home are suspicious, because the victims said that they were attacked a person with physical characteristics that fit the defendant.

He also recalls that the accused ceased his telephone activity, using a public phone boot in Astorga and painted green part of the walls of his prefab home in the days following the disappearance of Denise, without any reason for justification.

The magistrate also remarked the finding inside his home of a hiker hat similar to the one worn by the American pilgrim and the change of 1,132 dollars into euros, all of which are indications that are "sufficient" to justify the arrest of the suspect.

In addition, the President of the Jury Court has denied all subsequent proceedings arising from the previous ones, which had requested the defense of the accused by considering that his fundamental rights to personal liberty and to legal defense would have been violated.

The magistrate also rejected the contestation, which the defense of the accused had also made, of a means of proof of evidence that had been proposed by the prosecutor and the private accusation. Likewise, he has denied certain means of proof that the defense intended to be practiced in the trial in addition to those already proposed in the indictment.

Lastly, the magistrate has also rejected the contestation, made by the private accusation of a means of proof that the defense of the accused had proposed, and has denied a means of proof that the private accusation intended to be practiced in the trial in addition to those already proposed in the indictment.

Against the order that resolves the previous issues an appeal can be made before the Civil and Criminal Division of the TSJCyL. The oral trial will be held before long.


BBM


Very happy to read that German pilgrim Josie and the Chinese peregrina did not report to the Police in vain after all.

:tyou: I hope you are doing well, now that you know you got away from a murderer.