3 Killed in Shooting at Vatican

The new head of the papal Swiss Guards, who shielded Pope John Paul II during a 1981 assassination attempt, was found shot dead Monday with his wife and another guard, the Vatican said.

The triple killings were the first violent deaths at the Vatican in 150 years and occurred only 10 hours after the pope had appointed Alois Estermann, 43, captain commandant of the Swiss Guards.

A neighbor found the bodies of Estermann, his wife, Gladys Meza Romero, and officer Cedrich Tornay after hearing loud noises coming from Estermann’s Vatican apartment.

Preliminary evidence suggested that Tornay, 23, killed the couple in a “moment of madness” before turning the gun on himself, chief Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said. Tornay’s gun was found under his body, he added.

Autopsies on the three bodies were to be carried out this morning by Vatican medical examiners.

The pope was informed of the killings, Navarro-Valls said.

Estermann had been serving as acting commander of the papal army. The position had been vacant for nearly seven months.

The three bodies, which were clothed, were found lying in the entrance hall of the apartment just inside the St. Anne gate, one of the Vatican’s main public entrances. The dwelling is a few hundred yards from the sprawling complex of papal apartments.

Italian police were stationed outside the portal as several off-duty guards entered through the gate.

In what looked like a sign of mourning over the killings, two candles were placed on windowsills of the barracks, apparently by Swiss Guard recruits.

Violence at the Vatican is rare, at least in modern times.

The last time shots rang out in the tiny city-state was in 1981, when John Paul was wounded in front of thousands of onlookers.

The last killing inside the walls of Vatican City was in 1848, when Pope Pius IX’s prime minister, Count Pellegrino Rossi, was assassinated during the political unrest preceding the unification of Italy.

In January, a Roman nobleman who served in the Vatican’s protocol corps was killed. The slaying of Enrico Sini Luzi, however, took place in the man’s Rome apartment.

An 18-year veteran of the force, Estermann was one of the few non-noblemen to head the 100-member corps, whose colorful uniforms were designed by Michelangelo.

The Swiss Guard corps keeps order at papal events and guards the entrances to Vatican City. A plainclothes detachment accompanies the pope on his foreign travels.

Estermann joined the force after four years as an officer in Switzerland’s army.

He was present during the 1981 assassination attempt on the pope in St. Peter’s Square. Estermann sought to shield the pope after Turk Mehmet Ali Agca shot John Paul in the stomach and left hand, seriously wounding him, news reports said.

The recruits for the guard must be Roman Catholic men from Switzerland who have served their military duty.

Pope Julius II, who reportedly was impressed by the bravery of Swiss mercenaries, founded the corps in 1506.

Forty recruits were to be sworn in Wednesday, a day the Vatican marks the death of 147 guards who fell protecting Pope Clement VII in 1527.