John Culatto
AN ELDERLY man who shot dead one of two robbers that entered his house in the Balearic Islands has been found guilty of murder by a Spanish court.
A jury found that Pau Rigo, now 83, went over and above the act of self-defence when he fired at the robbers who entered his home in Palma de Mallorca.
The pair broke into his safe on the morning of February 24, 2018, but when they found that there was only €15,000 inside, they started to threaten Rigo’s wife in a bedroom.
It was at the point that Rigo remembered he had a shotgun in his bedroom and he went to get it.
According to his version of events, he just wanted to scare the robbers but he ended up firing and killing one of them.
The robbers, Freddy and Mauricio Escobar Benitez, both in their twenties, had originally planned the raid with two other men.
Mauricio lost his life in the attempted robbery but Rigo did not emerge unscathed either.
The elderly man was later admitted to hospital with a disfigured face and other injuries.
“I panicked and I thought they they would leave us locked and gagged in a room and we would die,” the shooter said.
“That’s why I decided to do something to survive,” he added.
The jury discussed the evidence for three days before reaching Rigo’s guilty verdict.
They also found three men who guilty of carrying out the violent robbery.
Now the prosecutor wants to send Rigo to prison for three years and nine months.
A local group of citizens has started up a campaign to free the shooter.
They claim that he is not a dangerous person, that he acted in self-defence and that because of his age he should not go to prison.
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