Priest found handcuffed, dead in Tijuana

SAN DIEGO UNION ^ | Oct 25, 2005 | Not named

[radar101]

TIJUANA – A Catholic priest was found handcuffed and dead in his car yesterday morning with six bullet wounds in his head and neck, Mexican police said.

Police found eight spent cartridges from a .38-caliber firearm near his body.

The Rev. Luis Velázquez Romero's Ford Thunderbird was parked at the Plaza Fiesta center, an establishment of nightclubs, restaurants and other entertainment venues near the border, Mexican police said.

"This was a situation in which there was a struggle that resulted in him being (restrained) with handcuffs," said Francisco Castro Trenti, who coordinates homicide investigations in the Tijuana region for the state police department. "He was subdued and finally killed."

Velázquez specialized in canon law and was a priest for 20 years, most recently at the Santa María Reina church in the Colinas de Agua Caliente section of town, according to a news release from the Baja California Attorney General's Office.

[Red Badger]

God's really gonna be po'd............I wouldn't wanna be in those guy's zapatas.........

[DainBramage]

Colinas de Agua Caliente

Son body een hot wada

[Old Grumpy]

Murdering a priest. How rotten could anybody be!

[TXBSAFH]

Prayers from TX

[yldstrk]

Evil.

[PalestrinaGal0317]

Requiescat in pace.
What kind of scum murders a priest?

[NYer]

Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[Pyro7480]

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

[ArrogantBustard]

Velázquez specialized in canon law

Hmmmm ... I wonder what he was investigating, and whether it was something sufficiently explosive that some folks might want him dead in order to cover it up?

[ladyjane]

Does Canon Law relate in any way to annulments? Hard to imagine why anyone would want to murder a priest.

[ArrogantBustard]

Canon law relates to a great many things ... annulments are a small part of it. I'm wondering if he was involved in investigating some form of corruption. Murdering investigators as a way of shutting down investigations is not unheard of.

[ladyjane]

You're saying corruption in the church or within a relgious society? or do they investigate other corruption?

[ArrogantBustard]

I'm not saying anything ... I'm wildly speculating.

But parishes, chanceries, seminaries, and religious orders all provide numerous opportunities for the corrupt to engage in corruption. "The Scandal" is just one example. Investigations of "The Scandal" have resulted in one suspicious death.

[ladyjane]

I didn't realize that. Are you talking about the scandal that started to unravel with Cardinal Law in MA? I know there had been a murder of an altar boy over20 years ago. Was the priest finally charged? or was there another murder?

[ArrogantBustard]

There was a priest in New York (Albany diocese, IIRC) who was prepared to testify against the lavender mafia ... he died, very conveniently, under highly suspicious circumstances, before testifying.

La Cosa Nostra would surely approve.

[patriot_wes]

"A Catholic priest was found handcuffed and dead in his car yesterday morning with six bullet wounds in his head and neck, Mexican police said. Police found eight spent cartridges from a .38-caliber firearm near his body. "

Definately a suicide - get the Fort Marcy Park police on it right away.

[tob2]

Really dirty, rotten, smelly, evil scum.

[trussell]

Prayer ping.

Rest in Peace
Rev. Luis Velázquez Romero

My prayers go up for all who now mourn his passing.  

Blessings,
trussell

If you want on/off my prayer ping list, please let me know. All requests happily honored.