Catholic World News News Feature

Evidence mounts in probe of Swiss Guard killing May 06, 1998

VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The Vatican investigation into the deaths of Colonel Alois Estermann, his wife Meza Romero, and Corporal Cedric Tornay is lending support to the conclusion that Tornay killed the Estermann couple, then himself, at the Vatican on Monday.

An autopsy conducted by Drs. Piero Fucci and Giovanni Arcudi revealed that Colonel Estermann was killed by two bullets, which lodged in his neck and head. His wife died of a single wound, as a bullet passed through her should and into her spine. Tornay apparently then placed the gun in his mouth and shot himself through the head. All of the bullets were 9 mm. rounds, of the kind fired by Tornay's Sig Sauer service weapon, which was found beneath his body.

The autopsy reports are consistent with the hypothesis which the Vatican advanced immediately after the slayings were discovered: that Tornay was responsible for all three deaths.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls cautioned that the investigation would not be considered complete until the Vatican judge in charge of the inquiry, Gian Luigi Marrone, issues a final report. He added that blood tests, fingerprints, and ballistic comparisons are still being analyzed. However, it is considered unlikely that any new evidence would substantially change the preliminary conclusions.

Navarro-Valls told reporters that the Vatican had revealed all of the available evidence regarding the murders, with the single exception of a letter mailed by Cedric Tornay to his family just prior to the shooting. He disclosed that Judge Marrone has a copy of that letter, but insisted that, out of respect for the Tornay family, the contents of the letter would not be disclosed.