Advertisement

Farmer found guilty of murdering US pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago

The Local Spain
The Local Spain - [email protected]
Farmer found guilty of murdering US pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago
Denise Thiem disappeared on the camino de Santiago on April 5th 2015. Photo issued by Thiem Family

A farmer from northern Spain has been found guilty of the brutal murder of American Denise Thiem, who went missing as she walked the pilgrimage route to Santiago.

Advertisement

Miguel Angel Muñoz Blas, 41, was convicted by a court in León on Wednesday of the murder of a 40-year-old woman whose body was discovered on his land five months after she disappeared while walking the Camino de Santiago.

Denise Pikka Thiem, from Arizona, was last seen on  April 5th 2015 in a rural area of northwestern Spain's Leon province while following the French route of the Camino de Santiago, a popular pilgrimage also called the St. James Way.

Five months later, after a renewed appeal for information backed by US Senator John McCain, Spanish police arrested Muñoz and he led them to where he had hidden her body, after chopping off her hands, on his land.

Muñoz in court in León. Photo: AFP

Throughout the trial, Muñoz, who had originally given a full confession to police, had refused to answer questions.

"I will not make a statement. I won't answer any questions from prosecutors or my lawyer either," he said.

At the time of his arrest the accused claimed that Thiem appeared on his property "lost and asking for help to find her way back to the pilgrimage route," said his lawyer, Vicente Prieto at the time.

"He claims she asked him to show her the way, then got nervous and somehow, and this has not been made clear, it ended with him hitting her," his lawyer said.

Police said that they believe the perpetrator may have painted fake yellow arrows used to mark the pilgrimage route to divert unsuspecting pilgrims off the official track towards his house.

Prieto told the La Manaña programme that his client had hit his victim with a stick and when she fell to the ground was hit on the head with a stone.

"After determining that she had stopped breathing he then buried her in front of his house," said Prieto.

But Muñoz later dug her up and carried her to a more secluded area of farmland and reburied her. "She was naked, I am not sure why," said the lawyer. "He burned her clothes and her backpack." 

Police investigators at the time said they believed the killer may have removed her hands in an attempt to hinder her identification and possible forensic traces of her attacker that may have been under her fingernails after the struggle.

DNA tests confirmed that the remains were those of Thiem and the post mortem report stated that Thiem had received a blow to the head that had most probably caused her death.

Muñoz was also accused of stealing more than €1,000 dollars that Thiem was carrying and that he exchanged for euros at a local bank days after she disappeared.

During the three week trial in which more than 100 witnesses were called, the jury heard testimony that several other women had been harassed by the accused as they walked the same route.

The public prosecutor is asking for 25 years of imprisonment for Muñoz, 20 years for homicide and 5 years for theft with violence.

A jury of eight women and one man returned a guilty verdict after a trial that lasted three weeks. Muñoz will be handed a sentence by the León provincial High Court within a few days.

 

Munoz is also accused of stealing more than €1,000 dollars that Thiem was carrying and that he allegedly exchanged for euros at a local bank days after she disappeared.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also