CARACAS, Venezuela- Former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero committed suicide in his jail cell on Monday just hours after he was arrested for killing his wife, Jennifer Viera, police said.Valero used his own clothes to hang himself from a bar in his cell and was found by another inmate, who alerted authorities in the police lockup in north-central Carabobo state. The former champ still showed signs of life when they took him down, but they were unable to save him and he died about 1:30 a.m., Venezuelan Federal Police Chief Wilmer Flores told reporters.
Valero was detained after police found the body of his 24-year-old wife in a hotel in Valencia. The boxer left the hotel room around dawn Sunday and allegedly told security he had killed Jennifer Viera. Police found three stab wounds on Viera's body, but investigators who searched the hotel room had yet to find the weapon used in the killing, Flores said.
The fighter was a household name in Venezuela and had a huge image of President Hugo Chavez tattooed on his chest, along with the country's yellow, blue and red flag. His all-action style and 27-0 record — all by knockouts — earned him a reputation as a tough, explosive crowd-pleaser. Venezuelans called him "Inca," alluding to an Indian warrior, while elsewhere he was called "Dinamita," or dynamite. He was replaced as WBC lightweight champion in February after he expressed a desire to campaign in a higher weight division, WBC president Jose Sulaiman said.
The Valeros have two children together, aged five and seven, and promoter Bob Arum believes president Chavez will ensure the children are taken care of.
Valero was detained after police found the body of his 24-year-old wife in a hotel in Valencia. The boxer left the hotel room around dawn Sunday and allegedly told security he had killed Jennifer Viera. Police found three stab wounds on Viera's body, but investigators who searched the hotel room had yet to find the weapon used in the killing, Flores said.
The fighter was a household name in Venezuela and had a huge image of President Hugo Chavez tattooed on his chest, along with the country's yellow, blue and red flag. His all-action style and 27-0 record — all by knockouts — earned him a reputation as a tough, explosive crowd-pleaser. Venezuelans called him "Inca," alluding to an Indian warrior, while elsewhere he was called "Dinamita," or dynamite. He was replaced as WBC lightweight champion in February after he expressed a desire to campaign in a higher weight division, WBC president Jose Sulaiman said.
The Valeros have two children together, aged five and seven, and promoter Bob Arum believes president Chavez will ensure the children are taken care of.
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