MIGUEL GRIMA, PREMORTEM
(Gee, he doesn't really look like a bullying anal-retentive control freak, does he?)
Posted on 01/19/2007 7:37:54 AM PST by aculeus
Miguel Grima was not a well-liked man. As mayor of a tiny hamlet in the foothills of the Pyrenees in northern Spain he had ruffled a few feathers.
The farmers turned against him when he put a stop to the centuries-old custom of herding livestock through village.
The hunters got annoyed when he refused to issue them with shooting licences and the local drinkers revolted after he prevented the settlement's only bar from setting out tables on the terrace in summer.
He had repeatedly received anonymous threatening letters and reportedly told friends recently that he feared for his life and he was considering standing down as mayor of Fago at the next election.
So last Friday evening when he failed to return home from a late council meeting in a nearby town, his wife took his absence seriously and contacted police. advertisement
The next day the battered body of Mr Grima was discovered in a roadside ditch. He had been shot at least four times in the head and chest at point-blank range.
Police believe Mr Grima was the victim of a meticulously planned ambush involving at least three perpetrators and, in a move worthy of an Agatha Christie murder mystery, the police are considering the entire population of the village as suspects.
Fago, the second smallest village in the province of Aragon, comprises fewer than 90 stone-built residences tightly packed on cobbled streets around a 16th century Romanesque church, a stone's throw from the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.
Always quiet in the winter months, the place resembles a ghost town as this week the majority of the 37 permanent residents have been taken in for questioning by the police and have had to give DNA samples.
Those who own property for use as a weekend getaway or holiday home are also being sought. Although no official statement has yet been given, the Guardia Civil have indicated that they strongly believe those responsible for the murder of the 50-year-old mayor bore a grudge over his policies in the village.
There is no shortage of contenders. During his 12 years in office, the mayor, a member of the conservative Popular Party and the owner of the village's only guest house, had been involved in almost four dozen individual court cases with homeowners in Fago.
He had taken out injunctions to prevent people making home improvements and closed down a bed and breakfast because it competed for business with his own establishment.
Mr Grima had even incurred the wrath of the parents of the only two children living in the village by banning basketballs and shooting hoops in the village's only flat area - the central plaza.
The most public battle in recent times came about after the mayor imposed taxes of almost 400 euros a month on outdoor tables at Fago's only drinking establishment – the Casa Moriega bar – an amount locals consider high for an isolated village which attracts only a modest number of visitors in summer.
To protest against the prohibitively high tax, the owners of the bar hung a huge banner on the facade of the building stating: "Fago is not Madrid, not Paris, not London... Fago is not New York."
Santiago Miramar, the only villager who would comment on this week's events, said there were few in Fago who didn't consider themselves an enemy of the mayor.
"He was an unpleasant man who ran this place like his personal kingdom. He made life difficult for most of us but for a select few he made life impossible," he said.
Another villager, who refused to be named because he had been told by a judge that no one was to speak publicly while they were under suspicion, said: "Revenge is a dish best served cold. I'm not saying anything more than that."
Elections? We don't need no stinking elections!
pinging Ray Nagin...
Sounds like he was voted out of office.
There's a lesson here, somewhere.
I do. Here's some information for those who don't know about it.
Skidmore received national attention for the 1981 shooting death of town bully Kenneth Rex McElroy. Although the killing occurred in broad daylight in front of the D&G Tavern, none of the townspeople would come forward to say who did it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Rex_McElroy
www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/classics/ken_mcelroy/22.html
MIGUEL GRIMA, PREMORTEM
(Gee, he doesn't really look like a bullying anal-retentive control freak, does he?)
"Unintended Consequences"
Dictators and tyrants forewarned.
The hogs are eating well lately in Fago.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
He had been shot at least four times in the head and chest at point-blank range.
----
Why suspect the people? It's obvious to anyone that a gun was responsible for this death. I say: Arrest all the guns in the town and put them in jail.
Just imagine what a jerk the guy he beat out in the last election was.
-----
LOL, good one
Sort of like when those WWII veterans in Athens, TN threw out the corrupt sheriff. It involved dynamite, IIRC.. :p
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure. -- Thomas Jefferson
My first thought on seeing the headline was "Does the Orient Express stop in that town?"
Please tell me you know where I can find out more about that incident.
They missed the real story.
The story here is there are 90 houses in a village of 37 people with only 2 children. It's not just the mayor who is dying, it's the village - and Spain itself!
With a birth rate of 1.28 and a replacement rate of 2.10, the entire country is doomed. The Moors will be the new owners.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1084874/posts
Dang, somebody needs to make a movie out of that.
I guess in Spain they don't elect mayors or something. Instead, someone appoints them, and if the people don't like him, they just murder him.
Glad I live in the States.
That is one of my all-time favorites as well. What an absolute gem!
Very weird. I can't figure out how he got elected for what was obviously more than one term. The PP is the conservative party, so perhaps everybody automatically votes PP there? That would be unlikely in Aragon - but possibly the other candidate had ETA ties, since ETA wants to take over Aragon and Navarra as well, and it could be that there was really no other option for the locals to vote for. He sounds like Bloomberg, to me...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.