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

[ZaZara]

THE DEFENSE CHANGES ITS STRATEGY AND THE ACCUSED REFUSES TO TESTIFY

ElMundo.es
http://www.elmundo.es/sociedad/2017/03/14/58c7c37a468aeb86078b45f0.html

In the midst of great anticipation, Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, the only person accused of the crime of the pilgrim Denise - whose corpse was found in an advanced state of decomposition on September 11, 2015, five months after she disappeared after leaving Astorga- arrived at the Provincial Court of León two minutes before 9.00 hrs on Tuesday morning. Visibly thinner, after a year and a half in the jail of Villahierro, he did not hide from the cameras and although his lawyer, Vicente Prieto, had indicated that he would declare himself "innocent and that he would answer all parties", when the defendant's turn arrived, he took advantage of his right not to testify. Even his lawyer has not wanted to ask questions.

This change of strategy "does not imply that Miguel Ángel is admitting the facts that are imputed to him," said Prieto, who explained that he does not ask any question because he believes "that the facts should be clarified with the expert evidence."

BBM

 

[ZaZara]

THE MAN ACCUSED OF MURDERING THE PILGRIM ON THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO REFUSES TO TESTIFY

ElPais
http://politica.elpais.com/politica.../1489493418_576299.html?id_externo_rsoc=TW_CM

With a simple sentence, Miguel Ángel Muñoz has ended all the expectations surrounding the second session of the oral trial for the murder of the pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem. "I am not going to declare and I will not answer any questions, neither of the prosecution nor of my lawyer," the 41-year-old defendant said Tuesday after he sat down on the bench past 12.30 hrs to confront the charges of assassination of the American woman and robbery with violence. Two crimes for which the prosecution and the private prosecution seek a sentence of up to 25 years in prison.

This decision of Muñoz implies a change of strategy of the defense. The same defense that on Monday anticipated that the alleged assassin would not only answer questions from his lawyer, Vicente Prieto but also from the prosecutor and counsel of the victim's family. "But this Tuesday he was not in a psychological condition to testify. Nor to face a questioning of two hours. I do not know what would have happened if he had done so," Prieto said. He has claimed that the accused has "suffered how they assaulted and burned his house in recent weeks." And this Monday they took him out at seven in the morning from the jail to bring him to trial and returned him to eat in the afternoon, without food or even giving him a coffee. And that has affected him more," the lawyer hammered home.

After the defendant's refusal to testify, the hearing was suspended. It will resume on Wednesday with the statement of several police officers who participated in the investigations. This will be the first appearances heard by the members of the jury - eight women and one man - who were presented on Tuesday. "Muñoz is going to lie to you, because he has already lied before," the prosecution has warned. "This case is an assassination because there was extreme violence and premeditation. Denise was a small woman, 1,55 meters, a foreigner and in an unknown place. And she suffered a brutal and surprise attack," the representative of the public prosecutor stated, before concluding: "The body of the victim was found on the indications given by the accused."

In the same vein, also the lawyer of the victim's family insisted, presenting the alleged murderer as a "miserable", "vile" and "ruthless" character. "You have before you Miguel Angel Muñoz, the confessed murderer of Denise," he stressed, before emphasizing how the accused "cut off her hands because he had touched them and was afraid that traces, remains or DNA of his would appear on them." "Spontaneously he told us how he killed her and with all kinds of details," the lawyer stated.

Faced with this entire battery of accusations, Munoz's lawyer has tried from the outset to dismantle the arguments put forward by the prosecution. "This is a terrible fact and we do not deny the pain of the family. But we should not take it for granted that this murder was committed by Migul Ángel," the lawyer began, accusing the police of focusing their investigations on the accused after a US senator, months after the disappearance of the pilgrim, phoned to the president of the Spanish Government to offer the collaboration of the FBI to solve the case.

According to the indictment, Thiem was murdered the same day she disappeared, on April 5, 2015. After leaving the main Camino to visit the town of Castrillo de los Polvazares, she followed some arrows that the defendant had diverted to make her pass near his property. Then they met one another and Muñoz attacked her by surprise, hitting her with a stick on her head. Later, according to the prosecution, he transferred her to a more secluded enclave, where he cut her neck, undressed her, cut off her hands - that never have been found - and buried her.

BBM


Well then, if he wasn't feeling well today, could he perhaps testify tomorrow, if they promise to bring him coffee?

 

[ZaZara]

THE CONFESSED MURDER USES HIS RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT

RadioLeón
http://cadenaser.com/emisora/2017/03/14/radio_leon/1489498913_525236.html



Video (in Spanish) at link.
First 16 seconds: Accused refuses to testify. From the way the video is edited, it looks as if this was a last minute decision because first you see him conferring with his counsel. But that is video.

Later in the video: Defense lawyer indicates how big the cut to Denise's throat was, as opposed to what the defendant told. Don't watch if you don't want to.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

"THE POLICE WOULD NEVER HAVE FOUND THE REMAINS OF DENISE WITHOUT HELP OF THE ACCUSED"

GaliciaPress.es
http://www.galiciapress.es/texto-di...a-encontraria-cadaver-peregrina-ayuda-acusado


The Chief Inspector of the National Police in Astorga stated on Wednesday that without the collaboration of Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, alleged murderer of the American Denise Pikka, the corpse of the pilgrim could not have been located.

The interrogation of this witness, who was so adamant, opened on Wednesday the third session of the jury trial for the murder of the pilgrim that is celebrated in the Audiencia de León.

The Chief Inspector, responsible for the investigation since the proceedings began and until the arrest of the alleged perpetrator, confirmed the nervousness of the defendant, Miguel Ángel Muñoz, when they asked him about the incident and he assured them that he was not aware of anything. She added the suspicious phone call that he made in on that day [of the murder] that lasted longer than usual, "so we suspect that it was with a close relative to release a situation of tension."

For the Inspector the bank investigation carried out on the accused is also relevant, since in September it was discovered that had made the change of dollars at the end of April.

Also, during the search of the home of Muñoz Blas, the Police found a hiding place under the floor in which appeared a high amount of money, a T-shirt and burned headphones.

Asked about the reports of two other foreign pilgrims in 2014, the police inspector explained that the first (*) of them, of German nationality, stated that the facts had occurred in the neighborhood of his house. At the entrance of the house the glasses of the victim were found, although she could not identify to him because he had covered his face, but the physical description coincided with the one of the presumed killer.

The fact that people had seen him harass other pilgrims, the use of clothing other than the normal one and the exchange of currencies are "evidences determining that Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas could be the killer of Denise Pikka."


BBM


He kept mementos ..... burned headphones ... the creep.


(*) As far as I'm aware Josie from Germany was the second pilgrim one who denounced an attack by MAMB.

 

[ZaZara]

CHIEF INSPECTOR IN CHARGE OF THE INVESTIGATION: MAMB WAS THE MAIN SUSPECT FROM THE BEGINNING

DiarioDeLeón
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...ncipal-sospechoso-primer-momento_1145459.html

The Police Inspector who directed the investigation aiming to locate the American pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem has assured that the work that was done was "titanic", they followed many leads and from the first moment they were aware that her disappearance had not been voluntary.

The Chief Inspector of the National Police of Astorga (León) who led the investigation opened this morning the testimonial evidence in the trial that is being held in the Audiencia de Leon against Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, 41, who is accused of the murder of the peregrina. He allegedly committed the murder on April 5, 2015, the day of her disappearance. The Inspector explained that although the clues followed were many, even outside Spain, from the beginning the accused became the main suspect because of his profile and the fact that prior to the disappearance of Denise two pilgrims, one German and one Chinese, had denounced attacks in the vicinity of his home. In this regard, she confirmed that the yellow arrows of the Camino de Santiago in the area were manipulated to redirect the pilgrims to the house of the accused, and after filing these complaints they were placed in the original position.

The accused stood also out as a suspect from the beginning, according to agent, because of the statement of several people who said they had seen the accused harassing several pilgrims. She further explained that the pilgrims who filed complaints could not identify their aggressor because he acted with his face covered, although his height and complexion coincided with that of Muñoz Blas.

According to the head of the investigation, in the first search near the defendant's house, the Police contacted him to ask him if he had seen the pilgrim, which he denied. At all times he appeared "very nervous". The Chief Inspector also noted that once the suspect was under surveillance they found that he stopped using his mobile phone and began to go to the phone boots of Astorga.

The Inspector explained that the day after the disappearance of the pilgrim he held a conversation of more than 45 minutes with his ex-wife when the usual was that their calls hardly lasted a couple of minutes. This could reflect the need for an emotional discharge, without implying that he confessed to the crime.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

SEARCHES WERE VISIBLE FROM DEFENDANT'S HOME, BUT HE NEVER PARTICIPATED


Leonoticias
http://www.leonoticias.com/leon/201703/15/hubiera-sido-imposible-localizar-20170315100504.html

During her statement, the Inspector in charge said that Miguel Angel never participated in a search despite the fact that their searches were visible from his home and stated that he never spoke to them about the alleged finding of dollars or the fact that he noted a strong smell in his area. She also pointed out that the attention of the members of the investigation was drawn to how days later he painted his house and how he stopped using his cell phone and went to the phone booths in Astorga to make calls.

It was on September 8 when the Police discovered that MAMB had fled Astorga. This obliged them to establish a search operation that involved the bus and train companies as well as Barajas Airport. Subsequently and given their suspicions, the Police proceeded to make an entrance in his house, where they found 38.000 euros.


BBM


...... when your client finds a backpack with 1000 dollars, sees the Police search the area and decides to paint his house....

:thinking:

 

[ZaZara]

MUÑOZ BLAS CONFESSED VOLUNTARILY THAT HE HAD MURDERED THE PILGRIM

DiarioDeLeón
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...ariamente-habia-matado-peregrina_1145495.html

One of the policemen who participated in the reconstruction of the crime of the American pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem said today that the man accused of her murder, Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, voluntarily confessed to the facts and explained in detail how he had killed her.

"Calm down, calm down, I will take you there," the accused told them when he was asked about a matter concerning the pilgrim's death during the reconstruction of the crime in the presence of the judge.

This agent of the National Police testified this morning in the trial that is being held in the Audiencia de León against Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, 41, accused of the murder of the pilgrim, which he allegedly committed on April 5, 2015, the same day of her disappearance.

As the officer explained, Muñoz Blas indicated "with precision" where he had initially buried the corpse and the place to where he later transferred it fearing it might be found given the numerous searches by State Security forces in the area.

Her also told that he [the accused] admitted that he had cut off the pilgrim's hands to erase evidence, and explained that he had also buried them.

"In the case of the hands he was not as precise as with the corpse and he indicated a very wide area, and although we tried to locate the hands, this was not possible," the agent said. In his opinion, the defendant possibly knows very well where he buried them.

Another officer of the National Police who testified this morning stated that the arrest of the accused was carried out with all the guarantees regarding the appeal raised by his defense, whio even requested the nullity of the process because irregularities.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

MAMB DIRECTED THE RECONSTRUCTION AT HIS OWN PACE AND TOLD WHAT HE WANTED TO TELL

Leonoticias
http://www.leonoticias.com/leon/201703/15/miguel-angel-dirigio-reconstruccion-20170315112220.html

Miguel Ángel not only dominated the situation but he was the one who directed the reconstruction of the crime of Denise Pikka. This was testified by an agent of the National Police who took part in the reconstruction, a reconstruction in which the accused even set the pace of his tale.

"Calm down, calm down, I'll will take you there," the accused snapped at a certain moment in response to an agent's questions during the reconstruction. In this reconstruction he described meticulously, with a wealth of detail how he ended the pilgrim's life. The challenge was the key to locating the lifeless body of the pilgrim.

Not so her hands, for which they are still looking. The agent said that Miguel Ángel could have more accurately pinpointed the place where he buried them "because he must remember. Unlike with the remains of the body, this time we are faced with a very large search area that has not allowed us to locate them."

In that same line the Chief Inspector of the section of the Ocular Inspections of the Scientific Police testified, and remarked how Miguel Angel directed them in the reconstruction of the crime. "We were asking him where her hands were and he did not know or he did not want to tell us," the witness said. He told that there was a moment when [the suspect] curled up and lamented the facts. "I do not know if he pretended or not, although he also boasted that if it had not been for him, we would not have found her."

In addition, the agent assured that he [the accused] had a "perfect knowledge of what he knew and what he had done. The officer could deduce that the accused was in his right mind and that what he said, he said it because he wanted to and how he wanted to say it, while he was hiding what he wanted to hide in the way he wanted.

At a certain point he noticed that Miguel Ángel took a detour to the place where he buried her but when he arrived in the area "he indicated perfectly where she was".

This is the testimony of one of the 17 agents who testified at the second session of this trial in which prosecution and prosecution aimed to demonstrate not only the evidence that proves the guilt of MAMB but also the fact that the rights of the accused were respected during and after his arrest.

The defense of the accused pointed to the lack of evidence that would determine that MAMB was the author of placing erroneous signs on the Camino with the aim to mislead the pilgrims, and how no traces of Denise were found inside the house.

BBM


Until now, I assumed that ".... if it had not been for him, we would not have found her" was a statement of the Police. But it was the suspect himself who said that! One of those bloody hell moments you don't see coming ....
And no wonder the defense counsel wanted this reconstruction thrown out...!

 

[ZaZara]

THE CONFESSED MURDERER SHOWED RELIEF WHEN THE BODY WAS FOUND

Leonoticias.com
http://www.leonoticias.com/leon/201703/16/asesino-confeso-denise-mostro-20170316102839.html

Miguel Ángel Muñoz looked like "a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders and showed the relief" of a murderer once the corpse of the pilgrim of Denise Pikka was located. On Thursday this was the description given by the Deputy Inspector of the Judicial Police of the Group of Disappearances and Homicide to whom the confessed murderer of the pilgrim indicated his intention to collaborate and tell exactly where he had buried the woman of 41 years.

"The face of Miguel Ángel changed. His grimace relaxed. It was like relieving himself of a great burden, like saying this is what I've done but it's over. This is a typical gesture in this type of crime, especially in people who are not professional murderers. It was a relief. The need to open up set him free," the witnesses said. He testified he had been in Grandas de Salime after being informed of the arrest of the accused.

The agent assured that at no time Miguel Angel conveyed that he had received an irregular treatment by the agents who carried out his arrest. He told that that the commander did not allow Miguel Angel to speak in the helicopter although they supplied him with headphones. "Even if he had tried to talk to us, he would not have been able to speak out loud and it would have been impossible to hear a conversation."

It was once they got out of the helicopter when Miguel Ángel made clear to the witness that he wanted to collaborate and tell them where the girl was. "Until he got out of the helicopter he did not show his intention to collaborate and at no time he made a reference to a rotten smell. He tells us that he will take us to where Denise is."

As a result, the deputy inspector informs in person his superiors about Miguel Angel's intention to collaborate, as well as the investigative judge who gives them the approval to start a search operation for Denise's body. This task lasted for an hour and a half.

The witness ensures that the first indication is a direct one. "Miguel Angel directs us to the zone of Castrillo of the Polvazares." Once they are there, the defendant becomes disoriented and in an area near the locality, they turn around. He leads the officers that accompany him in the vehicle towards the inmistakable location of the body. "He knew exactly where he was taking us."

Subsequently, and after entering a dirt road Miguel Angel requested to stop the vehicle and continue on foot. "We climbed a slope on its left side, left a poplar to the left and down that slope we came across a very long stone fence that we skipped. And we move into a more wooded area. "

It was there that, at about 15 or 20 meters, the agents started to perceive a smell of putrefaction. It was a hunting area and they could not distinguish if the smell was human or an animal. They were, he continued, about two or three kilometers from the house of Michelangelo as the crow flies..

At that moment, the accused pointed out the exact spot where he had buried the body of the pilgrim.Then, the sub-inspector guided by the odour stepped further into the area until he hit upon a human body in an advanced state of decomposition. A discovery that "liberated" Miguel Ángel. "Miguel Ángel's face changed, his grimace relaxed. It was as if a burden was lifted from his shoulders," the agent said. He added that this is a typical gesture of murderers who are not professionals.

After locating the body, investigators isolated the arrested man to avoid communication with the agents and ensuring that his rights of defense were not contamined. Because of this, and being in an area far from a populated center, the first step was to order the GEO team to transfer the accused to the police units in Astorga.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

A NAIL AND A HALF-BURIED BODY

DiarioDeLeón
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias/provincia/cuerpo-semienterrado_1145677.html

One of the officers of the Scientific Police who participated in the removal of the body of Denise Pikka Thiem on September 11, 2015, five months after her disappearance, explained during the trial that the body was located under a pine, half buried, covered by varied vegetation, naked and in an advanced state of decomposition. "We had no doubt that it was a human body," he said, and he referred to his statement that he had already made in the Forensic Anatomical Lab in Ponferrada "where it was discovered that the body had its hands cut off."

The agents of the Scientific Police also participated in the investigation that took place on the 21 of September on the location of the first burial of the body of the victim. There they scoured the earth and found "a kind of leaf-litter that seemed strange to us, that's why we kept it and sampled it." It was a nail of Denise, they discovered.

BBM

Earlier this week, the counsel of the family explained in Detrás de la Verdad on Spanish TV that the nail that was found is a toenail. Apparently there was some confusion about this, since Denise's hands remain missing.

 

[ZaZara]

HE KILLED THE PEREGRINA BECAUSE SHE 'LOOKED DISAPPROVINGLY AT HIM'

DiarioDeLeón
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias/provincia/el-acusado-mato-peregrina-porque-miro-mal_1145780.html

Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, 41, accused of murdering American pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem in April of 2015, assaulted the woman because "she looked at him disapprovingly and with distrust and at that moment his mood flipped," a police officer who was present in the reconstruction of the crime confirmed today.

This agent, assigned to the group of Homicides and Missing Persons of the Judicial Police, has testified this morning in the trial that is being held in the Audiencia de León against Muñoz Blas. He allegedly committed the crime on April 5, 2015, the same day of the disappearance of the pilgrim.
The officer explained that during the reconstruction of the crime, the accused explained to the investigators that he contacted the pilgrim in the vicinity of his home and that at one point "she looked at him disapprovingly, with clear mistrust."

"He told us that that moment his mood flipped and he does not know what went through his head to make him do what he did," the agent said, The accused explained that "he first hit her with a stick on her head and when she was convulsing on the ground cut her neck with a knife. "
He added that the accused stated that he finally cut off her hands with a small axe, although after the autopsy forensics are of the opinion that he used a saw given the type of cut.

This witness also testified that Muñoz Blas told them he took the body to the place where he initially buried her "some times carrying er and others dragging her" and told them that an inert body is heavier than normal.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

THE CONFESSED ASSASSIN INSTALLED OBSERVATION POSTS TO SPY ON FEMALE PILGRIMS

Leonoticias
http://www.leonoticias.com/leon/201703/16/asesino-confeso-instalo-puestos-20170316120952.html

The spider's web that Miguel Ángel Muñoz wove to prey on female pilgrims included the construction of observation posts, similar to those of hunters in the woodlands, that enabled him to watch and observe the walkers as they passed through the vicinity of his home.

The village mayor of Castrillo de los Polvarazes informed to the deputy inspector of the Judicial Police of the Group of Disappeared and Homicide about this evidence. The evidence concurred with previous attacks on peregrinas, attacks that directed the focus of the investigation to that locality, "more precisely to the environment of the house of Miguel Ángel and to his person."

"The declarations of the German pilgrim leave no room for doubt because, although the attacker was hooded, the glasses that had been stolen from her, appear a few meters from the entrance of the property of Miguel Ángel," the deputy inspector stated. He affirmed that the arrest of Miguel Ángel was no surprise action.

Moreover, he said that the arrest was the result of an intense work with several lines of investigation in which all those people in the area of Astorga were scrutinized of whom there existed reports of violence as well as those marauders who pestered peregrinas "even those masturbating as the peregrinas pass by."


BBM

Observation posts, previous attacks on women, harassment of other pilgrims, theft and so on .... WHY WASN'T THIS MAN STOPPED EARLIER?

Why was there NO WARNING TO PILGRIMS??
The village knew all about it....!

 

[ZaZara]

THE MAN ACCUSED OF THE MURDER OF THE PEREGRINA MOVED HER BODY FROM ONE GRAVE TO ANTOHER 'DRESSED IN BLACK ON A NIGHT WITH NO MOON'

ElMundo
http://www.elmundo.es/sociedad/2017/03/16/58ca93ff268e3efd6e8b4570.html

Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, 41, the only person accused of murdering the American pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem in April 2015 - though her body was found five months later - told police officers who participated in the reconstruction of the crime, that he moved the corpse from one place to another during "a night without a moon and dressed in black," to avoid being discovered. He did that wearing a balaclava, gloves and using guerrilla tactics, which he knows well.

This was stated on Thursday by an agent, member of the unit of Homicides and Missing Persons of the Judicial Police, who testified during the third session of the trial - before the jury of eight women and one man - that is being held at the Audiencia de León. The investigators concluded that he initially buried the body in an area close to his house and at the end of August moved it to a remote spot about 2.5 kilometers from his home to avoid that it would be found during one of the numerous searches that were done in the region. He put the corpse in a black bag.

The two points where the corpse was located are five kilometers apart, a distance that the defendant covered according to his initial statement, while "carrying the body a few times, and dragging it at other moments."


BBM


The distance of 2.5 kms from his home to the second burial spot is a the crow flies.

 

[ZaZara]

SECOND WEEK OF THE TRIAL: POLICE, RELATIVES, PILGRIMS AND LOCALS WILL TAKE THE STAND


DiarioDeLeón
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...os-vecinos-relevan-policias-sala_1146444.html

The trial for the murder of the American pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem begins its second week. The days of Monday and Tuesday have been reserved for the testimony of the police who intervened in the case. They will corroborate and add, if possible, further details about the investigation and detention of the accused.

The sessions on Wednesday and Thursday will set a new tone to the hearing, as the relatives of Muñoz Blas will take the stand. Denise's brother will testify. Testimonies will be heard of the residents of Castrillo de los Polvazares, of pilgrims who coincided with the victim on her journey as well as that of the German citizen who reported having suffered an attack next to the house of Muñoz Blas. This testimony will be done by video conference.

The German pilgrim was attacked by a man with an electric pistol, but she was able to escape after a struggle with the aggressor. She will speak before the jury on Thursday, as will Cedric Thiem, who traveled from Arizona to Astorga in search of news of his missing sister. Cedric's statement is scheduled for the afternoon due to the difference in time zones.

A pilgrim who suggested to Denise Thiem a visit to Castrillo and who provided a photograph of her with a guide of the Camino de Santiago, that indicated the locality as a landmark will also answer the questions of the parties.

The father of the accused, the woman with whom he had a daughter, the uncle who left him his house in the municipal district of Santa Colomba will be other witnesses that pass through the court room. The village mayor of Castrillo de los Polvazares will also be called, as well as locals. They will testify about the relationship that Muñoz maintained with the rest of the village and the problems of coexistence with Muñoz that arose after he came to live there.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

THE ARREST OF THE ACCUSED WAS CONDUCTED WITHIN THE LAW

EFE
https://www.efe.com/efe/espana/soci...-ajusto-legalidad-segun-policia/10004-3212866

The arrest in Grandas de Salime (Asturias) on September 11, 2015 of Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, 41, accused of assassinating the American pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem, was conducted in line with the legal requirements at all times, the Police officer who led the arrest operation assured today.

This agent, currently head of the police station of Mieres (Asturias) and stationed in Luarca (Asturias) when the accused was arrested, testified this morning in the trial that is being held in the Audiencia de León against Muñoz Blas, who allegedly committed the crime On April 5, 2015, the same day of the disappearance of the pilgrim.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

'AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS PERSON WHO MIGHT BE ARMED'

LaVanguardia
http://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20...rina-se-ajusto-a-legalidad-segun-policia.html

[ This agent ] explained that the Directorate of the Police Corps requested them to go to Grandas de Salime for the arrest of an "extremely dangerous" person who might go armed, although he said that even after they had proceeded to arrest him they were unaware that he was the suspect in the death of the pilgrim.

The agent went from Luarca to Grandas de Salime in the company of a subordinate with a picture of the suspect and once they arrived in the town in the southwest of Asturias, they located him with the help of a local policeman. He was sitting on the terrace of a central bar and they proceeded to detain him.

He indicated that he [the suspect] was detained in a "surprise" action, although he did not resist, and he was transferred to the Town hall where he was put in to custody until the arrival of the agents of the Special Operations Group (GEO) and of the policemen who were in charge of the investigation of the disappearance of the peregrina.

As explained by this witness, no one took a statement nor was the suspect allowed to communicate with anyone during the time that he was guarded in the town hall.

A local police chief of Grandas de Salime also has testified this morning. He was the first person who tracked him [the suspect] down after a bank alerted him about the presence of the latter in the village when he took money from a cash machine.

Muñoz Blas had left his home in the vicinity of Astorga two days before and the police tried to locate him. A search and arrest warrant were issued, prompting a telematic indicator to announce the banking operation he had made.

The rest of the police agents who participated in the arrest have corroborated this morning before the court and jury the statement of the agent who led the operation and have stressed that at all times the legality was respected and the protocols established for this type of high risk action were followed.

The defense of the accused, exercised by lawyer Vicente Prieto, has indicated that his client felt pressured after he was detained by the large number of agents who concentrated in Grandas de Salime after his arrest, in what he has described as a disproportionate operation .

He has also insisted that his client never fled his home in León, as shown by the fact that he registered at the albergue for pilgrims of Grandas de Salime with his name and used the card to carry out a banking operation.

He said his client had just taken a few days off.

The defense claimed before the trial that the proceedings against Muñoz Blas were void on the basis of annulment of evidence due to infringement of rights of the accused, a claim that was rejected by the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León.

According to the defense, the arrest was illegal because there was not enough evidence and they unsuccessfully requested that all subsequent proceedings be annulled.

The defence counsel argued that the arrest was not due to existing evidence, but because of international pressure because "a US senator became interested in the case and called the police to urge its resolution."

The defense lawyer also requested that, if the case was not annulled, the first interrogation without a lawyer was considered null, from the arrest in Asturias to the time when he had counsel seven hours later in Leon, and the localization of the places where the victim was buried. Her body was transferred long after her death.


BBM


All claims were rejected, else we would not be here now.

 

[ZaZara]

"THEY WANT THE JURY TO SEE THE DEVIL SITTING NEXT TO ME"

Leonoticias
http://www.leonoticias.com/leon/201703/20/abogado-acusado-trata-jurado-20170320132832.html

The lawyer of Miguel Ángel does not understand "that it befits this procedure" to raise issues of two years ago like the attempted attacks on the German and Chinese peregrinas.

The session of the trial for the murder of Denise Pikka has made clear the actions carried out by the State Security Corps during the detention of the confessed murderer of the pilgrim.

The lawyer of the Thiem family, Fernando Rodríguez Santocildes, considers that it has been demonstrated that this was "rigorous, with respect for the legality and respect for the guarantees of the detainee; nothing has made anyone think otherwise as the defense has sustained for several months." This issue had previously been resolved by the Court of Instruction of Astorga, the Provincial Court of León and the Superior Court of Justice of Castile and Leon.

For his part, the defense counsel believes that the session has followed the agreed course. "They come to ratify the homogeneity of these statements, nobody spoke with the detainee and nobody was with him, but they all say the same, with the same words, and without anyone asking them," objected Vicente Prieto.

"If everyone says so, it must be true, but using the same words without being asked is curious," the lawyer said to the media. He has also doubted the extreme danger of his client, who was eating at a bar with his friends. "I put in question that danger taking into account what he was doing."

All this led him to end up recognizing that "I do not understand that it befits this procedure to present something from two years ago and for which no crime was imputed to my client," he said regarding the statements that will be given on Tuesday by the police in charge of the proceedings about the alleged attempted attack by the accused on a German pilgrim. "This is about trying to make the jury see the demon sitting next to me, to make them see the monster in the person."

Finally, Vicente Prieto has acknowledged that his client already has become "calmer" after the episode that prevented him from testifying during the first session of the trial. "He was not in a position because they burned his house, robbed him and he suffered from other inconveniences, but he is stabilizing a bit. I find him more calm and he informs me about the participation in the facts of the agents who are testifying."


BBM



I'm with the defense counsel on this one, though probably for a different reason.
Why wasn't MAMB tried and convicted for the two previous attacks on female pilgrims? Why did they let him go?

 

[ZaZara]

THE OTHER VICTIMS OF THE MURDERER OF PEREGRINA DENISE THIEM


LaVozDeAsturias
http://www.lavozdeasturias.es/notic...grina-denisethiem/00031490097196880363266.htm

When Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas was arrested in September 2015 he refused to give DNA samples. He had done the same thing a year before, after the report of a German woman who was attacked in front of his house.

In September 2015, Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas refused to give his DNA when he was arrested for the murder of the pilgrim Denise Pikka. He had already dug his heels in a year earlier, following the report of a German woman who was attacked in front of his house. An agent attached to the group of Scientific Police of Astorga Commissary who participated in the investigation testified this today on Tuesday in the trial that is held in the Audiencia de León against Muñoz Blas .

The German pilgrim went to the Astorga police station in September 2014 and reported an assault by a man who was wearing a balaclava. She stated that she was able to escape after struggling with him and "kicking him in his genitals." After the complaint, Muñoz Blas was arrested, since the woman's glasses were found very close to his home. In addition, his description coincided with the one that the victim had given of her aggressor (a slender man of 1.70 meters of stature). However, given the fact her attacker had worn a balaclava, the German pilgrim was not able recognize him with certainty, reason why the judge who presided the proceedings let Muñoz Blas go free without charge, but not before the latter refused to have samples of DNA taken.

This woman had explained in detail that her attacker tried to hurt her with an electric stun gun and specified that, when he came towards her, he had binoculars in his hands, which he later left on the ground. Also, she offered him 50 euros in case the motive of the attack was a robbery. She arrived in the area of the defendant's home after she had become confused because of false arrows that indicate the Camino de Santiago, arrows that had been removed when she subsequently returned with the police to the spot.

Previously, in May 2014, another pilgrim, in this case of Chinese nationality, reported to have been the victim of a similar incident. On the same spot.

In addition to this agent, other police officers who searched the defendant's home on April 30, 2015, 25 days after the disappearance of the pilgrim, testified at the trial. At that time Muñoz Blas had already become the main suspect because the investigators were well under way to reject other hypothesis.

All the agents agreed that the defendant was calm at all times and even collaborated with the agents in the search of his home. The second search of the house occurred on September 10, 2015, in this case after they opened the door by force, as Muñoz Blas had left the area, allegedly fleeing from the pressure that he was subjected to with the numerous searches that were taking place in the region, in an effort to locate the body of the pilgrim.

Some of these agents were also present when the man who confessed to the crime led them to the place where the corpse of the pilgrim was hidden after he was arrested in Grandas de Salime (Asturias). They explained that it was difficult for him to orient himself, but that he finally led them to the body, which was half-buried in a difficult-to-reach place between the localities of Santa Catalina de Somoza and San Martin de Agostedo, about 2.5 kilometers from his home in a straight line.

With the declarations of this Tuesday the testimonials of the policemen and guardias civiles who participated in the investigation and the arrest of the accused end. The hearing will resume on Wednesday with more testimony, in this case of people close to the accused and relatives and locals of the area.

BBM


Makes one wonder if his DNA would have been found on those sunglasses.... :thinking:

 

[ZaZara]

THE ASSASSIN OF THE CAMINO, VIOLENT, WITH LINKS TO GUERILLAS AND WORRIED ABOUT BREAKFAST

"When do we eat here?" Muñoz Blas asked, during his transport from prison before the first meal of the day. Today his family will testify.

LaNueavaEspaña
http://www.lne.es/sucesos/2017/03/22/asesino-camino-violento-vinculado-guerrilla/2077014.html

"When do we eat here ?" Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, the murderer of the Camino de Santiago, became more worried about breakfast than about the 25 years that are at stake in the trial of the American pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem .

The lawyer of this 41-year-old man from Madrid, Vicente Prieto, brings him every day, during the recess of the trial that is held in the Audiencia de Leon, a coffee and a bite because Muñoz Blas is taken out of prison at about seven In the morning on an empty stomach. The first day of the trial was even more serious, because they kept him without food until four-thirty in the afternoon. This "mistreatment" was one of the reasons Muñoz refused to testify. According to his lawyer, he is very affected by the fire of his house in Castrillo de los Polvazares and by the theft of some documents from his prison cell.

This image of "victim" squares poorly with the profile of him that the woman who was his partner can offer this morning. He had a daughter with her. During the investigation, this woman indicated that Muñoz was violent and had had contacts with the Colombian and Mexican guerrillas. The defendant's father and several witnesses of Castrillo and Astorga are also being summoned today, as will be the bank employee who changed $ 1,300 days after the disappearance of the peregrina.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

"WHITE AND IN A BOTTLE" THAT MIGUEL ÁNGEL PLACED FALSE ARROWS AND DUG TRENCHES NEAR THE CAMINO

The provincial mayor of Castrillo de los Polvazares testifies that neither before his arrival nor after his arrest incidents in the area have repeated themselves.
The witness states that twice he saw peregrinas who tried to flee from the accused

Leonoticias
http://www.leonoticias.com/leon/201703/22/miguel-angel-blanco-botella-20170322113709.html

"White and in a bottle" [ cristal clear ]. Miguel Ángel Muñoz, the confessed assassin of the pilgrim Denise Pikka, had woven a spider's web around his house in which he tried to trap solitary peregrinas. His was a perfectly drawn plan on a terrain he knew perfectly well and which he had in fact been swamped with traps.

This was testified this Wednesday by the president of the neighborhood council of Castrillo de los Polvazares, Estaban José Salvadores, who was firm in his statements. The confessed murderer who stands accused today would have made hiding places and hidden indicators next to the Camino de Santiago. These kinds of trenches were always hidden by the undergrowth. Two of them were located by the witness.

In addition, the village mayor had to correct on two occasions the modification of the arrows of the Camino de Santiago located in the crossing of Santa Catalina with which, presumably, the defendant redirected to the pilgrims to his house through a road "that is not walked by anyone."

These incidents, he said, were neither recorded before Miguels Ángel's arrival nor repeated after his arrest. "White and in a bottle," [ cristal clear] the witness said. He acknowledged that he never saw Michelangelo change the direction of the signs or steal from the gardens. "We have not seen him but there are many coincidences that point directly to him being responsible."

To this must be added, the witness said, the previous incidents that he caused with several peregrinas. Moreover, the village mayor witnessed how Miguel Ángel harrassed two peregrinas each on Saturdays in January and February 2015. "He spoke to them and they ignored him, appearing to escape."

But it was not the only thing that made the alarms go off. The arrival of Miguel Ángel represented a "before and after" in the area despite the fact that initially the neighbors turned out in numbers to help him on his arrival. "He struggled to bring his wife and daughter to live in the village and so we all offered to help him with the usual tasks of setting up a house."

Among those tasks was the installation of the septic tank in the house that he had installed a few kilometers from Santa Catalina. A fact that even aroused the admiration of the locals. "I was surprised that with only a peak and a shovel he had managed to dig a hole of more than two meters deep. At that moment I admired him."

But soon, the relationship between Miguel Ángel and his neighbors changed. This started after he confessed that his family would no longer be moving into his home. From then on, he related, the squabbles started with the man who stands accused today.

"One day he jumped very violently from his house claiming he was fed up with the traffic of people around the house," said the witness said. He recalled that Miguel Angel even accused him of hanging around in the area to snoop on him.

It was from there that several incidents occurred in the area. Salvadores recalled that thefts were recorded from vegetable gardens in the area. Small notice boards started to disappear from the hunting area. Later they were found folded and thrown away, which led to further clashes with Miguel Angel.

Given all this, the local mayor of Castrillo started to raise alarm to prevent anyone from passing close to the dwelling of the accused who, from that moment on, came in the spotlight of all the locals of the area.

During his story, the witness recalled that he had been surprised that after the news of Denise's disappearance broke out, the defendant cut his hair and beard and began to wear top-quality mountain clothes, which was unusual.

"I believe in coincidences but not in so many because Miguel Ángel changed from one extreme to another," the witness remarked. He stressed that after his arrest the incidents in the area have not repated themselves.


BBM


"Blanco y en botella" or "white and in a bottle" is a Spanish expression for a riddle that is too easy to solve and the answer is obvious.