Valero murder-suicide a grimly predictable ending

Really don't know what to think this morning, but I wish I could say the news reports coming out of Venezuela for the last 36 hours surprised me.

Sunday morning we learned that Yennifer Carolina Viera, the wife of former WBC lightweight champ Edwin Valero, had been killed and that Valero was in custody in connection with the crime. Then this morning I was awoken by a text message from Hardcore Sports Radio producer and good friend Corey Erdman, confirming our worst-case-scenario speculation from a conversation we'd had Sunday night -- that when the full weight of the tragedy crashed down on Valero, he might kill himself.
 

But how can I come to a definitive conclusion about what happened in Venezuela this weekend when the news reports filtering out of that country still offer as many questions as answers?

The link posted above says another inmate at the city jail encouraged Valero to kill himself before Valero fashioned a noose out of his own clothing and hanged himself from the bars in his cell. Prison guards sprinted to the scene when they heard the commotion but Valero died shortly after they arrived.

But this story from the Associated Press says the other inmate simply summoned guards after discovering Valero's body.

Both reports confirm a grimly predictable end to the Valero narrative, but neither provides the deeper answers we crave about why a national hero would do something so savage to the mother of his two young children.

 

Truth is those answers might never emerge and before we truly make sense of this tragedy we have to accept it for what it is.

A waste, undoubtedly.

Two promising young lives extinguished, two young children orphaned.

A mystery, certainly.

Was Valero too proud to continue living after taking his wife's life, or too cowardly to accept the consequences of his actions?

But a shock?

Not quite.

Before any of this went down we knew Valero had talent. Twenty-seven straight knockouts don't happen by accident, and in his last fight, a ninth round knockout over Antonio DeMarco, Valero showed remarkable maturity and polish for a knockout artist, taking punches, avoiding punches, maintaining composure and chopping away at DeMarco until the Mexican retired on his stool.

 That bout established Valero as a legitimate candidate to rule the 135-pound division, and vaulted him into the discussion of possible future opponents for Manny Pacquiao.

But Valero's issues have always been just as obvious as his ability, and while you always hoped his ability would prevail you also couldn't ignore that his issues were gaining the upper hand.

* Last September he was accused of hitting his mother and younger sister, a charge he vehemently denied.

* In March his wife was hospitalized with a punctured lung and broken ribs. Police said the injuries resulted from Valero's abuse; Valero's lawyer said Viera fell from the roof of the family's home. He allegedly threatened both hospital staff who treated Viera and police who arrived to arrest him.

* As a result of that assault charge, he was ordered to undergo drug and alcohol rehab. He was scheduled to travel to a clinic in Cuba but an April 9 car crash delayed his departure indefinitely.

Still, I'm not going to pretend I knew from the very beginning that Valero's story would end with with a murder and a delayed suicide.

Yes, you can trace his issues back to the motorcycle crash that led to the brain surgery that led U.S. boxing authorities to ban him from fighting in the states.

And yes, he undermined his own cause when after finally gaining a license to fight in Texas, he caught a DUI charge, derailing his efforts to gain a U.S. visa and relegating him again to fights in far-flung places.

In retrospect they look like early signs of bigger trouble, and an easy conclusion to reach after the tragedy.

But for every Lawrence Phillips -- an athlete who committs increasingly serious infractions until finally earning a lengthy prison term -- there's a Josh Hamilton, an athlete who appears destined for a tragic end before finding redemption.

Some guys figure it out, some don't. The dots don't always connect.

Nevertheless the blend of domestic violence and drug abuse is about as toxic a mix as you can concoct. Even when you factor in the restraining order a Venezuelan court issued against Valero it wasn't difficult to imagine the level of violence skyrocketing without a more definitive intervention.

And that apparently never came.

And now Valero joins a macabre roll call that includes, among many others, Carlos Monzon, Rae Carruth, Chris Benoit and Tommy Kane.

But therein lies another temptation we need to resist in analyzing this tragedy.

It's easy to add Valero to the pantheon of athletes who have killed their significant others, and his subsequent suicide probably accords him special status. And if Valero were a player in a mainstream North American sport we would already have been flooded with news stories and expert interviews dissecting where he fits into this "trend."

As if dregding up past tragedies adds instant context to a fresh one.

As if the dynamics of domestic violence are somehow different because one of the people involved is famous.

And as if shoehorning this murder-suicide into a pre-existing paradigm will help us make sense of an inherently senseless act. 

I've been around too long to draw a straight line between the testosterone-addled world of pro sports and the sad reality of spousal abuse.

Five years ago I covered cops and courts in York Region and followed the sentencing hearing of a Woodbridge resident named Cosimo Pasqualino, who had a history of spousal abuse, and who had been convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting of his wife, Marisa.

One morning after their children had left for school he unearthed the gun he kept hidden in his house, cornered his wife and shot her in the head several times. He then drove to his lawyer's office and waited for police to pick him up.

While Pasqualino read a statement in court apologizing for his actions, I sat a few metres away from Marisa's uncle, massive man who muttered to himself as he mashed a fist into his palm and glared at Pasqualino.

Outside the courtroom I spoke with employees from the women's shelter where Marisa Pasqualino sought refuge from her husband's rage.

And I listened to the couple's then-grown children, who refused to call their father anything but Cosimo, tell me they rarely left their parents alone together because they feared what their father would do to their mother if given the opportunity.

When the opportunity arose, he acted, slaying his wife and earning himself a life sentence in the penitentiary.

And when I wrote the story nobody asked me about the connection between his job -- pizza parlour owner -- and the crime he committed.

Nobody asked me to pull together a graphic featuring restaurateurs who batter and kill their wives.

Everybody involved with publishing that story accepted it for what it was:

A tragedy that stands on its own.

The same with the deaths of Yennifer Carolina Viera and Edwin Valero.

Her slaying isn't any easier to understand because her husband threw punches for a living, nor was it easier to avoid. Spousal abuse cuts across lines of race, class and occupation. If Valero were a plumber or cab driver a similar heartbreaking sequence of events may still have unfolded. 

The only difference is that we would never have heard about it.

Comments

[LatinoPorVida]

Morgan as you know I was recently in Venezuela trying to get an interview with "El Inca"

I was excited about driving to Merida, Venezula which happens to be Valero's hometown. I'd talked to several of his people who mentioned Valero wasn't available at the time. Valero was actually getting ready to travel to Mexico for his last fight against DeMarco. While I was trying to get a hold of Valero I got this strange feeling thinking to myself maybe I should enjoy the sun and beach and leave boxing aside. I love boxing enough I just couldn't stop with my boxing it's too dam hard.

Yesterday of course I woke up to the bad news after having a great time in Montreal watching Bute VS PANTERA. Both Corey Erdman and The Boxing Bulletin's Andrew Fruman said to me "Edwin Valero killed his wife". I thought for a minute I'm dreaming went back to bed got up and realized it was no joke.

This morning I wake up once again with Corey Erdman sending me an email Valero kills himself in Spanish. I was so tired but after hearing these sad and scary news I just couldn't go back to bed. I am still shocked though I shouldn't be especially after knowing what Valero's life was like. I got this horrible feeling inside of me I just feel bad for his kids and wife especially his wife. I also feel somewhat bad for Valero if only he could have gotten help. Only God can judge Valero I'll end it at that:(

[Phil, Toronto]

I think you are missing a critical link here - all of the athletes you mentioned participate in violent sport where head trauma is common. There has been a link established been head trauma and 'deviant behaviors' such as spousal abuse. You also wouldn't see anyone mention someone's line of work in this type of situation if they were a golfer.

[Gee Free]

Having been around fighters - both in the street and in the ring for a significant portion of my life - I can tell you that for the most part they are socio-paths. They really believe that the court of last resort is a violent confrontation. For starters, just think about the notion that it is ok to punch someone in the face, HARD! Then compound that thought by placing yourself in the ring and sizing up your opponent, drawing up a macabre game plan in your head to attack the jaw-line just below the ear lobe, or the solar plexus, or a cut that has been opened and bleeding. And then doing it! And we all know a knock-out is a concussion. Yet, any fighter worth his/her salt is going to go for the KO and then gloat over the accomplishment after. And MMA takes the macabre to another level that still shocks and bothers me. You can actually jump on a hurt fighter while he's down and pummel him some more; this time with his head also bouncing off the mat below. That can't possibly be "sport" yet it is becoming a rage to both practicioners, spectators, and (ahem) sports writers. One wonders how that stuff can really be "legal" in a civilized society. In fact an interesting book that addresses this very subject is The Legality of Boxing; A Punch Drunk Love? by Jack Anderson. I realize that this was not the core point of Morgan's article; but it is a subject that he broached nonetheless. So let's get the fighting "sports" off their idealistic pedestals because they don't belong there.
Morgan's key point has to do with what he percieves as a double standard in mind-sets and reporting when it comes to "criminal" acts of violence, especially spousal abuse, committed by those who are also involved in the fighting sports on the one hand and those who are not on the other. His point is well taken. It is the truth.
And I hope those who give out awards for journalism are paying attention because Morgan Campbell just wrote an award-winning piece!

[Jason Abelson]

Morgan,

I echo Gee Free's sentiments...a fantastic piece of op-ed journalism.

On my radio show that I taped today for Friday, I was more pointed in my criticism of Valero, and the Venezuelan system of justice which botched everything about this case (keeping Valero, an outspoken supporter of Hugo Chavez, out of holding after the assault on his wife, and not having any guard surveillance immediately after his murder confession).

I react, whereas you reflect. I envy your intellect, and ability.

Jason

[Morgan Campbell]

@ Ivan: Un gran lastima que todavia me tiene muy triste.

@ Phil: Not missing that link. There's a very real connection between head trauma and irrational behaviour of all types, and I pointed out in the article that Valero's problems seem to have started when he cracked his head open in that motorcycle crash. Just wary of half-assed attempt to contextualize tragic events like this.

@Gee Free: I agree. High-level MMA has an impeccable safety record, but as this generation of fighters ages their chickens will come home to roost as well. It's a traumatizing game, period.

@ Jason: React/Reflect. Yin and Yang. Plenty of blame to go around here. While we're looking for trends, I wonder how many murder cases involving a man and his (current or former) significant other also involve abuse and/or stalking combined with a toothless restraining order? Again, without stronger intervention this was pretty much bound to happen...