A BLOODY START TO THE NEW YEAR

THE Balearics dominated the news headlines across Spain yesterday, but for all the wrong reasons.
41 -year-old Pilar Crevillén who was apparently shot dead by her ex-partner, Domingo P.M., at her Arenal home late on Thursday night was the first tragic victim of domestic violence of the year in Spain. Her two sons Jose and Jaime, aged 18 and 21 respectively, were also shot and seriously injured but her daughter escaped unhurt.
The shooting has shocked Spain and there was widespread outrage and condemnation yesterday.
The incident happened just before 10pm at the victim's home at 31, calle Torrente de S'Arenal when the 41-year-old suspect, from whom the victim has been separated for over a year, turned up, armed with a hunting rifle. Domingo had been served with a restraining order, but it is understood that the order had been wavered at the request of the victim.
Apparently using his old keys, the gunman walked into the house, shot the mother and two sons in front of her 15-year-old daughter and elder son's girlfriend. Both women managed to escape and flee to the house across the road to raise the alarm. The gunman fled the scene but a massive search was mounted. However, the suspect handed himself into the Guardia Civil at 3am.
Sources close to the family said yesterday that on New Year's Eve, Pilar Crevillén received a text message on her mobile from her ex-partner which stated that he would not bother her any more. It appears that, according to sources close to the family, the suspect, who ran a bar in Palma and has been suffering financial problems lately, was “obsessed” with Pilar Crevillén. Domingo P.M. has also suffered problems with Pilar Crevillén's 21-year-old son Jaime.
News of Pilar Crevillen, which has stunned the country, did not however come as a surprise to some of her neighbours.
Some claimed that they could see this coming and had apparently seen Domingo P.M. lurking about the area just a few days before the shooting.
Some of Pilar Crevillen's colleagues at Son Dureta hospital where she has been employed on the cleaning staff for the past three years, had also been concerned for her safety lately. Prior to their separation, Crevillen reported Domingo to the police for domestic violence on various occasions but eventually dropped the charges and asked for the restraining order to be withdrawn. Members of her family were angry yesterday about Domimgo P.M. being awarded an arms licence, despite having been reported to the police for having a violent nature. Unlike Pilar Crevillen whose friends and family, many of whom knew about what she was going through, described as “a good mother and a quiet person.”