By David Eade – Costa del Sol News
The young gypsy who was found guilty of shooting to death José Muñoz Soto, the senior brother of the Gitanos confraternity in Ronda, has been handed down a 19-year jail term.
Eighteen of the years are for the murder itself with a further year for the possession of the murder weapon for which he had no licence. He also has to pay to the family of his victim over 172,000 euros in compensation.
It was at around 14.00 on September 8 2009 that José Muñoz Soto parked his Land Rover car on the perimeter road of the Spanish Legion barracks in La Indiana, Ronda. In the vehicle with him was his assassin who had just reached 18 years of age. It is believed they had an argument over a business deal probably involving horses when the youth pulled out a Glock automatic pistol and shot him three times at point blank range.
Death came almost immediately. José Muñoz Soto only had time to open his car door, take two steps then collapse dead. At 14.20 his killer was at the Hotel Don Benito nearby and summoned a taxi to take him along the Sevilla road to Algodonales. At 15.10 he was detained by the local police in Algodonales and handed over to the National Police homicide unit.
The shots were clearly heard in the Legion’s barracks and Legionnaires on duty witnessed the slaying. He was unanimously convicted of murder by a jury which also took the view he suffered from no mental illness or had a limited capacity or intelligence.
José Muñoz Soto leaves a widow and three children. He ran a furniture business in Ronda and only the year before had been elected as the senior brother of the Gitanos confraternity, one of its most popular and respected in the town. Such was the dismay in the confraternity that in the following Semana Santa the guild did not partake in the traditional parade on Palm Sunday.
RONDA RESIDENT ARRESTED FOR TRAFFICKING IN ENDANGERED SPECIES
The Guardia Civil have arrested two people, a Ronda man and the owner of a zoo in Cádiz province, in operation Mollo. They are charged with various offences of trafficking in protected species of animals, fraud and issuing false documentation.
It is believed that in recent years the pair had trafficked in over one hundred species including primates, marsupials and exotic birds. Officers from Seprona, the environmental arm of the Guardia Civil, started the investigation in July when they were alerted that a resident of Badajoz was keeping a Capuchin monkey in his home that he had bought over the internet.
It emerged the seller was a man living in Ronda who had offered the animal on the internet with documentation that was not valid for the ownership of the monkey by individuals. Later the officers arrested the owner of the zoo who is suspected of supplying the animals and documentation to the Ronda man so he could offer them for sale over the internet.
None of the documentation sold with the animals that originated from the zoo had any validity and hence the buyers had suffered a fraud. The animals had been bred in the Cádiz zoo and the documentation related to them being kept there or sold to other zoos and not individuals. Private ownership was prohibited for sanitary reasons and indeed the animals could endanger the public health. Primates cannot be owned by individuals only research centres and authorised zoos.
TAJO WALKER RESCUED
The Málaga fire consortium based in Ronda rescued a man on Monday from the Tajo gorge. The 67-year-old from Badajoz had suffered a fall whilst out walking.
The fire brigade received an emergency call at 12.50. Two teams were sent to the Arco del Cristo zone where the man had fallen and in the process broken an ankle bone.
The rescuers prepared an evacuation stretcher to take him from the rough terrain of the gorge. With the help of the National and local police he was carried to a safe spot where he could be attended to by a medical team.
WORDS WAR
The Partido Popular mayor of Ronda, María Paz Fernández, has sent a personal letter to all residents of the town explaining the economic situation and how the PP-PA coalition has inherited a 29.5 million euros debt from the outgoing PSOE council. An angry PSOE says it will send out its own letter pointing out this debt was largely inherited from previous PP administrations.
CHOPPERS GALORE
Infoca, the specialist summer fire prevention team, base in Ronda has been visited by the regional government’s environment minister Juan José Díaz Trillo. Nearly 900,000 euros has been spent on upgrading the facilities creating a purpose built heliport which has a capacity to handle 10 fire watch and fighting choppers covering the Sierra de las Nieves, Sierra Bermeja, Los Alcornocales and Genal valley.
SEWAGE WORKS
The Andalucía water agency has started a million euro project to repair the collector that serves the new water treatment plant in Ronda. The problem has largely been caused by the heavy rains of recent winters which have flooded the area at La Muela and displaced the pipeline. The land is being reinforced to prevent future slippages and the dangerous, collapsed road repaired.
SAFE SPRAYING
The campaign to spray the olive groves in the Serranía de Ronda starts anew. Ecologists, bird protection groups, the environment and agriculture ministries have all negotiated an agreement ensuring an environmental spray will be used that cannot damage the flora and fauna. The aircraft will be guided where to fly by GPS systems and no fumigating will be carried out in residential areas.
PARK KEEPERS
Britons of a certain age will remember the park keepers that patrolled and kept order in the local green zones. Now three vigilantes have been appointed by Ronda to ensure the local parks and gardens are used correctly. Notices have been erected banning dogs from fouling the parks and listing other prohibitions. The service runs till September but will be extended if successful.
EIGHT ROBBERIES
Guardia Civil in Cortes de la Frontera have arrested a local resident who allegedly carried out eight break-ins in both the village and nearby Benaoján. Officers started an investigation after numerous reports of the thefts which all had the same modus operandi. The 46-year-old is said to have been active at exactly the same times and days of the week at each location.
