Former beauty queen and husband killed in Venezuela
A former Venezuelan beauty queen and her British husband have been shot dead in their car while on holiday in Venezuela.
Police believe Monica Spear, 29, and her British husband Thomas Berry, 39, were the victims of a failed robbery attempt.
Their five-year-old daughter, who was injured in the incident, is said to be in a stable condition in hospital.
The couple were travelling at night from the city of Merida to the capital, Caracas.
They were waiting for breakdown assistance after hitting a sharp object "placed on the road", according to Venezuela’s investigative police chief Jose Gregorio Sierralta, when a group of five people approached.
The couple lived in the United States and were in Venezuela on holiday.
The family had spent New Year’s in the mountains of the western state of Merida then travelled to the plains, said Luis Carlos Dominguez, a longtime friend and former business associate of Berry.
He said Berry was raised in Venezuela and ran a travel agency.
Five men have been arrested.
Diane
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