Former Miss Venezuela, Husband Murdered
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ANDREW ALVAREZ/AFP/Getty Images(CARACAS, Venezuela) — Venezuela is reeling following the shooting deaths of a soap opera star and her husband in what is described as a highway robbery gone wrong.
Monica Spear, who was crowned Miss Venezuela in 2004, and her husband, Thomas Henry Berry, were gunned down in their car Monday about 125 miles west of the capital city of Caracas.
Their 5-year-old daughter was also in the car and shot in the leg but the injury was not life-threatening.
Spear, 29, appeared in soap operas for the U.S.-based Telemundo network including Pasion Prohibida.
The deaths highlight reports of rampant street crime in Venezuela that the government of socialist President Nicolas Maduro claims is under control.
However, the nonprofit Venezuelan Observatory of Violence alleges that murders have reached an unacceptable level in the country, putting the figure last year at 79 per 100,000 inhabitants.
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