12.31.2009

murder, assassination and suicide news

1. Filipino confesses to murder in Vienna

MANILA, Philippines—A Filipino has confessed to the murder of the stay-in housekeeper of the Lebanese Ambassador to Austria Ishaya El-Khoury, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Esteban Conejos told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview.

He said he could not give out the name of the suspect and other details about him yet.

...On the other hand, Administrator Carmelita Dimzon of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said she was told that the motive in the murder was “jealousy.”

read more @ inquirer.net


2. Iran: Ashoura Day's assassination carried out by 'rare gun'

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said one of those killed in Tehran on Ashoura day was shot with a "rare gun."

He said that there was a "Western scenario" aimed at inciting violence in Iran through killing people on Ashoura day. "After close reviews it was revealed that he has been assassinated by a rare and special gun," Iran's interior minister said in remarks that seem to be an indirect reference to Ali Mousavi, the nephew of the defeated presidential election candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. "He was assassinated in an area that was not the scene of protests," Mohammad Najjar added. "Foreign agents assumed that they could incite tension by making such moves," press tv quoted the Iranian official as saying on Wednesday.

...Meantime, the intelligence minister dismissed the reports that Seyed Ali Mousavi, the son of Mir-Hossein's sister, was killed during the Sunday frenzy in Tehran. "The incident has happened in the form of a terror attack and in a place other than the area of the unrests," he added.

read more @ fars



3. Finland: six now dead in shopping mall murders


Finnish police have said that a sixth body found after a shooting at a shopping centre in the country's second city this morning is that of the gunman.

The suspected gunman's former-wife has been found dead in an apartment in Espoo, according to state broadcaster Yle.

The gunman has beenidentified by police as 43-year-old Ibrahim Shkupolli.

...Finland, a nation of 5.3 million, has 1.6 million firearms in private hands and ranks among the top five nations in the world in civilian gun ownership.

Politicians, social workers and religious leaders have all urged tighter gun laws, more vigilance of Internet sites, and more social bonding in the small Nordic nation. [reaction, solution...]

read more @ irish times



4. UK: Christmas suicide mystery of millionaire tycoon who ran shooting parties for royalty


A millionaire businessman is believed to have killed himself at his shooting estate just days after Christmas. Father-of-two Jonathan Wraith apparently shot himself at the estate, which has been visited by royalty, hours before he was due to host a shooting event. Mr Wraith, 35, had concentrated on running the shooting business since selling a portable accommodation firm which he ran with his father for £30million in 2007.

...

Police are not treating the death as suspicious and it is understood no suicide note was left. A source close to the family said Mr Wraith's death 'did not make any sense'.


...Jonathan Wraith was involved in a bitter family feud after his parents divorced in 1988. David and Shirley Wraith were teenage sweethearts who enjoyed a millionaires' lifestyle, living in a £1.6million estate in Kent, with a yacht, a penthouse in Majorca and three other apartments there. They hit the headlines six years after their divorce when Mr Wraith successfully sued his former wife for slander in the High Court after she alleged he gave her a sexually transmitted disease contracted from a Dutch sex club, an allegation he said was part of a 'ferocious campaign of spiteful vengeance'. Jonathan, their only child, sided with his father after the split. He gave evidence at the hearing alleging that his mother used to beat him with a cane and 'went crackers at the tiniest thing'.

read more @ daily mail


5. three critics of mine proposed by B.C. firm in El Salvador recently killed

Three activists opposed to a mine proposed by a Vancouver-based company in El Salvador have been murdered, two in the past 10 days.

Pacific Rim Mining Corp. had hoped to develop its El Dorado gold mine, approximately 65 km east of the country’s capital San Salvador, but has been unable to obtain the necessary permits, according to the company’s website. (The company did not respond to voicemail messages asking for comment.) As a result, in July 2008 the company decided to stop all drilling in the area.

Yet despite the lack of activity, tension between the anti- and pro-mining groups appears not to have abated. In the last 10 days, two members of Cabanas Environment Committee, an environmental group opposed to the opening of a mine, have been killed. Dora Recinos Sorto, who was eight months pregnant, was killed on Saturday. The youngest of her six children, a son whose age has not been confirmed, was shot in the foot. A second activist, Ramiro Rivera, was killed Dec. 21. Another anti-mining activist, Marcelo Rivera (no relation) was kidnapped and killed in June, according to news reports.


read more @ vancouver sun


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