VALERO COMMITS SUICIDE IN HIS POLICE CELL
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 19 Apr 2010
Edwin ?El Inca? Valero, the knockout artist from Venezuela and the WBC lightweight champion ?in recess? has committed suicide after stabbing his wife to death in their room at the Hotel Intercontinental in Valencia following a quarrel early Sunday morning.
The suicide ended a weird sequence of events that culminated in a cell at the Carabobo police station where Valero reportedly hanged himself using his own clothes. Police said Valero was still alive when he was spotted by another inmate but efforts to revive him proved futile.
The sensational fighter with 27 knockouts in 27 fights visited the Philippines as a guest of pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao at Pacquiao?s lavish birthday celebration in General Santos City along with David Diaz two years ago and told us then he had a wonderful time.
He even paid a courtesy call along with Diaz on PLDT-Smart owner Manny Pangilinan in his Makati City office.
Valero's last fight was in February when he pulverized Antonio DeMarco into retiring in the 9th round in Mexico. He had a huge image of President Hugo Chavez tattooed on his chest next to Venezuela's yellow, blue and red flag. A hero in his country, Valero was handled by Japan's wealthy businessman-sportsman Akihiko Honda and trained at his Teikken gym and fought in Japan because he couldn't obtain a license to fight in the US.
Police said that Valero and his wife Jennifer took a rented van to the Hotel Intercontinental and later stabbed her to death after an argument while apparently under the influence of alcohol.
Boxingscene.com said the head of the CICPC (Office of Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations), Wilmer Flores said that when Valero was found he still had vital signs but they could not save him.
For quite some time, the fighter had been battling alcoholism and psychological issues. On Sunday, his wife was found dead in their hotel room with three stab wounds. Valero went down to the front desk and told the receptionist on duty that he had killed his wife. He was arrested and taken to the police station without incident.
Boxingscene.com reported that according to sources close to the family, Valero had been under the influence of alcohol when he and his wife left Merida in a rented van to travel to Valencia. They arrived at the hotel at 11:30 pm on Saturday. At 5:30 am, Valero told the reception that he killed his wife.
On March 25, Valero had been arrested by the commission and prosecutors of the CICPC at the Hospital Universitario in Merida, after assaulting his wife. The wife was admitted to the facility with multiple injuries. The charges were later dropped after his wife had claimed the injuries occured from falling down a flight of stairs. Last September, there were claims the fighter had attacked his mother and sister in a drunken rage, which the fighter later denied.
Family and friends were trying to place him in a rehab center after the fighter told them he was unable to stop drinking. Earlier this month he was scheduled to spend 30-days at rehab center in Cuba, but Valero missed his flight after he was involved in a car accident while under the influence of alcohol.
Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz said the pound-for-pound king who was out campaigning and didn't even know anything about what had happened but that he would inform him the moment he returned home.
Top photo: Tragic ending for Edwin Valero (L) and wife Jennifer. Photo by El Nuevo Dia.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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