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To: Tom Clarke who wrote (16595)	5/29/2000 5:42:00 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Respond to of 17770

Thanks for the links re: Piper.... Concerning the May 4, 1998 triple murder in the Vatican, I think the following scrap might provide us with a plausible lead: Estermann had accompanied John Paul on more than 30 foreign trips and had tried to shield the pontiff after a 1981 assassination attempt in St. Peter's Square when John Paul was wounded. He joined the Swiss Guards in 1980 after four years as an officer in Switzerland's army, and had been acting commander since Buchs' retirement in October. The Vatican did not say why it took so long for the appointment, but Navarro-Valls acknowledged the difficulty of recruiting a commander, given the position's modest wage. The job pays about $2,300 a month, and includes a large apartment. Meza Romero, 49, worked at the Venezuelan Embassy to the Holy See. The couple, who met in Italian language class in Rome, had no children. While in Italy, Meza Romero earned degrees in civil and canon law from the Vatican's Lateran University. Meza Romero's four sisters were traveling to Italy to collect her remains and take them back to Venezuela, said a cousin, 26-year-old Venezuelan journalist Lisette Luces. Tornay, from the southern Swiss canton of Valais, worked as a garage mechanic before he entered basic training in the Swiss army. Swiss records indicate his first name was spelled slightly differently, Cedric as opposed to Cedrich. The last homicide inside the walls of Vatican City was in 1848, when Pope Pius IX's prime minister, Count Pellegrino Rossi, was assassinated during political unrest. In 1959, a guard disgruntled over his dismissal wounded his commander and tried to kill himself. _________________ Excerpted from: onlineathens.com $2,300 a month... Such a pittance! I mean, especially for a Swiss national --Switzerland enjoys one of the world's highest GDPs per capita. So, my point is that, granted that the Vatican conceals as much sex scandals (involving high-ranking Eminences) as any other human society, a disgruntled insider could easily turn himself into a formidable blackmailer.... Several news articles reported that Estermann used to informally meet priests and other Vatican officials, not to speak of his attending VIP garden parties.... Just think of the culture shock: a German-minded fellow, coming from a country as puritan as the US's Deep South (remember, Switzerland is the cradle of Protestantism, Zwingli (), etc.), finds himself in charge of protecting Vatican City, that is one of the most shady, corrupt dens on earth. And one of the richest organizations by estimates of its financial resources (the Vatican is one of the biggest real-estate agents, e.g.). Now, suppose Estermann gathered "sensitive intelligence" on a couple of Cardinals who used to spend more time fooling around with hunks than kneeling in prayer.... Got the picture? I for one bet you some Cardinals got their compromising pictures --LOL! Well, I guess that once Estermann got pinpointed as the mystery blackmailer, some Eminence devised a trick to get rid of him, like promoting him Head of the Swiss Guard... begging an appointment.... asking for the negatives and.... snuff him out! () newadvent.org