Beauty queen's killers nabbed, Venezuela says
Beauty queen Monica Spear posted scenic photos and videos of the Venezuelan countryside online in the days before her death.
According to CNN, now, days after attackers gunned down the soap opera star and her ex-husband, investigators say Spear's camera was a key link that helped them track down her killers.
Police found the camera inside the home of one of seven suspects authorities have arrested in connection with the slayings, the head of Venezuela's national crime investigation agency said Thursday. Four suspects are still on the loose, he said.
No one has been charged, but officials say there is evidence linking the group of suspected gang members to the double homicide.
The high-profile case has galvanized Venezuelans to turn up the pressure on their government to act on the country's high crime rates and prompted pledges from officials to end the violence.
The victims' 5-year-old daughter, Maya, witnessed the roadside shooting and suffered a gunshot wound herself but survived.
"It's terrible that this happened, and society has to react," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said at a security meeting he convened with mayors and governors on Wednesday. "It is not time to faint, to throw in the towel, to let our guard down. To the contrary, it's time to react."
For many Venezuelans, what happened to Spear is nothing new. Violence on Venezuelan roads and highways, they say, is all too common. A nonprofit that tracks homicides in the South American country says there were almost 25,000 violent deaths last year in the country of about 30 million people.
"I ask Venezuelans to wake up because it was Monica a few days ago, but, how many people have died on highways in this country?" said Mary Spear, the soap opera star's aunt. "Monica had to die so that the whole world learns that we can't be out on the street because we're afraid."
The head of Venezuela's national crime investigation agency said Thursday that investigators believe robbery was the motive in the attack.
But during Wednesday's meeting, Maduro theorized that the killings may not have been a robbery or a normal street crime.
"This murder seems more like a contract killing," he said.
The president did not elaborate on his statement.
Four men, a woman and two minors with ties to the crime have been arrested. Four other suspects remain on the loose, including the man believed to have the murder weapon, said Jose Gregorio Sierralta, director of the Corps of Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations.