Edwin Valero detained on suspicion of murdering his wife

[rockdawg21]

Wow, an amazing career that might be flushed down the toilet. Hope it wasn't him.

http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/stor...1810?GT1=39002

Police detain boxer on suspicion of murder

Updated Apr 18, 2010 4:26 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)
Former lightweight champion Edwin Valero was detained Sunday on suspicion of killing his wife, the gravest in a string of problems that have threatened to derail his career.

Venezuelan Federal Police Chief Wilmer Flores said Valero was arrested after police found the body of his 20-year-old wife in a hotel in Valencia. Valero left the hotel room around dawn on Sunday and allegedly told security that he had killed Jennifer Viera, Flores said.

Flores told state television that police found three stab wounds on Viera's body. He said Valero was transferred a local police precinct, ``where we are headed to take samples needed for the investigation of the case'' and to question the boxer.

Valero's lawyer, Milda Mora, did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.

The 28-year-old fighter is a household name in Venezuela and he has a huge image of President Hugo Chavez tattooed on his chest, along with the country's yellow, blue and red flag.

His all-action style and 27-0 record - all by knockouts - earned him a reputation as a tough, explosive crowd-pleaser. Venezuelans call him ``Inca,'' alluding to an Indian warrior, while elsewhere he has been called ``Dinamita,'' or dynamite.

His promoter, Top Rank, had just learned about the incident Sunday and said Valero was not scheduled to fight any time soon. He had been having difficulty obtaining a visa to fight in the United States, basically ruling him out of the most lucrative opportunities.

``He is not scheduled for Top Rank in any fight,'' spokesman Lee Samuels said. ``He couldn't come to the U.S. He did fight in Mexico his last fight.''

The former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion has been in trouble with the law before.

Last month, Valero was brought up on charges of harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel who treated her at a hospital in the western city of Merida. Police arrested Valero following an argument with a doctor and nurse at the hospital, where his wife was being treated for a series of injuries, including a punctured lung and broken ribs.

Valero entered a Venezuelan rehab center March 28 for treatment of drug and alcohol addiction, Mora said at the time. The boxer's attorney said Viera was injured when she fell down a flight of stairs at the couple's home while checking a water tank on the roof.

The Venezuela daily El Universal also reported that Valero had been arrested recently after a neighbor called authorities and claimed the boxer struck his mother and a sister.

``I've never hit my little sister and much less my mother,'' Valero responded at the time, in comments published by Venezuelan television station RCTV's Web site.

Valero shot to fame when he won his first 18 fights by first-round knockout, setting a record that has since been eclipsed by Tyrone Brunson. Valero last fought in February, stopping Antonio DeMarco in an entertaining fight in Monterrey, Mexico.

He was replaced as WBC lightweight champion in February after he expressed a desire to campaign in a higher weight division, WBC president Jose Sulaiman said.

``He's a boy who is extraordinarily talented in boxing,'' Sulaiman said by phone from Mexico City. ``It's a shame what is happening.''

It's hardly surprising to those who have followed his career, though.

Valero was involved in a motorcycle accident in 2001 that resulted in a cerebral hemorrhage, and because most jurisdictions refused to license a fighter who sustained a brain injury, he was unable to fight in the United States. The boxer wound up fighting mainly in Japan and Latin America, where he won his first title in 2006.

While Valero had little trouble in the ring, outside of it was another matter.

Along with accusations of domestic violence in Venezuela, Valero was charged with drunken driving in Texas, which is the primary reason he was denied a U.S. visa.

He accused the U.S. government of discrimination, saying he had completed all the necessary paperwork for the visa but his application wasn't approved because of his sympathy for Chavez, a fierce critic of the U.S. government.

Valero had the image of the president tattooed on his chest after he was barred from entering the ring in one match with shorts that bore a pro-Chavez slogan.

He has appeared as a special guest at televised events hosted by Chavez, and has been lionized by Chavez supporters as a national hero, while some critics have accused him of avoiding punishment for past problems due to close links to the government.

---

AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta in New York and Associated Press Writer John Rice in Mexico City contributed to this report.

[rockdawg21]

Reuters reports he admitted it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...041802308.html

Venezuelan boxing champ admits killing wife

Reuters
Sunday, April 18, 2010; 4:45 PM

CARACAS (Reuters) - Champion Venezuelan boxer Edwin Valero admitted killing his wife and was arrested on Sunday, police and judicial authorities said.

The attorney-general's office said in a statement Valero, 28, confessed to murdering Jennifer Carolina Viera de Valero, 24, overnight at the InterContinental hotel in Valencia.

She died of stab wounds.

The statement said Valero would be charged with the slaying. "Valero went down to a hotel reception and confessed to the employees that he had carried out the murder," it said.

Valero, nicknamed "The Inca", had held the World Boxing Council lightweight title but has had a troubled start to 2010 and is listed by the WBC as "champion in recess".

Valero was detained in March for mistreating his wife and has also had treatment for alcohol problems.

Valero is a supporter of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, with whom he once shadow-boxed in jest during an event on live TV.

Mexico's Humberto Soto has taken the Venezuelan's place as current WBC lightweight champion.

(Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne and Enrique Pretel, editing by Philip Barbara)

[J.B.]

I couldn't believe it when I read the reports this morning.

Truly sad that he wasted all that talent.

Didn't he hang himself in prison?

[J.B.]

Oh my...what a troubled soul.

Yes RNC, reports are that he did in fact commit suicide overnight.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=27038

[J.B.]

Here is more proof of why I think Bob Arum is a giant turd. http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=27049

Today, Arum told Michael Marley that Valero killing himself was the "first sensible thing" he has done recently. Completely tasteless.

That's real nice Bob, considering you KNEW Valero had mental health and addiction issues and you still signed him to your promotion. The guy could barely get cleared to fight because he was clearly brain damaged after the motorcycle accident and years of drug and alcohol abuse. Yet, even though you know his family and friends are in a state of shock and sadness over this tragedy, you have no problem saying such a cold thing in the press about a person who you were trying to cash in on.

I don't usually like to be very nasty, even when I really loathe a person, but the sport of Boxing is going to be a much better place when Arum is gone.

[J.B.]

Wow...this is just getting loonier by the hour.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=27058

By Jhonny Gonzalez

Venezuela - Relatives from both sides of the family, are speaking about the tragic events which took place over the last two days. Undefeated boxer Edwin Valero (27-0, 27KOs) was arrested early Sunday morning for the murder of his wife, Jennifer Carolina. Valero took his own life on Monday morning in a jail cell in Carabobo. The head of the CICPC (Office of Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations), Wilmer Flores, issued a statement that Valero hung himself using his own clothes. Valero still had vital signs when they cut him down but they couldn't save him.

Valero's wife was found dead in a hotel room in Valencia with three stab wounds. Valero made a confession to the murder shortly after it happened. He was taken, without incident, to a police station in Carabobo.

"Edwin Valero went down to hotel reception and made a confession that he killed his wife, so the hotel staff immediately called police, who later confirmed the death in the room," said the general director of the CICPC to BoxingScene.com on Sunday.

Kenya Finol, the cousin of the wife, says Valero made call after the wife had been killed, and claimed she was murdered by underworld thugs.

"When he called, he sounded like he was drugged. In a real quiet tone, he said Jennifer was dead in a hotel room in Valencia, and that she had been killed by some thugs who had been pursuing them," Kenya Finol said.

The story Valero gave to his wife's family, was the exact story Valero gave to police in Carabobo, according to a source who was present in the police station.

"I did not kill her. We were being pursued by some thugs and they killed her," Valero was quoted as saying by the source.

Valero would also tell police that he was very high on drugs and could not remember exactly what happened. He remembered finding his wife's body, but he couldn't remember much of anything else or how she was killed.

Jennifer Carolina's uncle, Evelio Finol, said Valero did not go crazy overnight. He described him as a very violent person who had the entire family living in fear. Nobody was willing to say anything against him because the fighter had political backing. More revealing was the entire family keeping quiet while Valero was forcing his wife to take drugs.

The uncle's story rings true when comparing the recent events. Valero had recently beaten his wife, causing multiple injuries that sent her to the hospital on March 27. The wife, along with family, sweeped the beating under the rug by telling police the injuires were caused a slip and fall accident on a flight of stairs. Because of their story, charges were dropped against Valero and he was released from police custody.

"[We never said anything because] we were threatened with death. We have to take the blame for what happened [for not speaking up earlier], but so do the authorities of this country and President Hugo Chávez. Because Valero was an athlete, he received preferential treatment, so they too are responsible for what happened," Evelio Finol said.

"Jennifer's death can not go unpunished. If he would have been sent to mental hospital, they would have said he wasn't crazy. He was keeping Jennifer on drugs since January when they lived in Caracas. He forced her to take them, or else he would have killed her, her children and her mother. During the ten years of marriage, she was always under threat of death."

Eloiza Vivas, the mother of Edwin Valero, blames the legal system of Venezuela. She says the system failed her son, who was very ill from over a decade of drug and alcohol abuse.

"The authorities of this country are responsible for everything. It's true that I have to take the blame for not saying anything, but Edwin was very ill. He was using drugs since age 18 and drank a lot," said Eloiza Vivas.

There are now conspiracy theories in Venezuela that Valero was so high from a combination of drugs and alcohol, that he may have mistakenly killed his wife during a extreme hallucination and once the high wore off and he began to realize what had happened, he took his own life.

[rockdawg21]

What a fight it could have been

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpWm9...layer_embedded

[J.B.]

It really is a damn shame.

It never ceases to amaze me how people like Valero can throw it all away.

27 wins, 27 KO's, no losses, a world champion, and big opportunities on the horizon. Nobody in the widely accepted 300 year history of Boxing has done what Valero did in terms of KO percentage against volume of fights WHILE becoming a world champion.

I really think he was brain damaged from the drugs, booze, and the motorcycle accident.

[J.B.]

It makes me sick even typing this, but I figured some new info was worth mentioning about the story.

Apparently, Valero had purchased an extremely excessive amount of cocaine the night of the murder (allegedly around 50 grams) and he was paranoid that he and his wife were being followed. Supposedly, when they got to the hotel, Valero continued to use cocaine and drink heavily, and he told police that was the last thing he remembered before waking up in bed covered in blood next to his dead wife. Then, Valero headed down to the hotel lobby acting strange and hotel employees were concerned, so they tried to phone the room where he and his wife were staying. When she didn't answer, they approached Valero and that's when he supposedly said; "she won't answer, because I killed her".

As if this tale is not already grisly enough, it gets worse. A video of Valero's naked and lifeless body after hanging himself in his jail cell has been leaked to the internet, and it has conspiracy theorists going crazy. I will not post any links to the video, but I will admit that I did see it and it puts a very real and humbling view on this whole situation. All I can say is that it's one of the most disgraceful and humiliating scenes I have ever witnessed.