![]() Ms Pikka Thiem's family applied for compensation to the tune of €150,000 for her brother and €100,000 for her parents, but the court has reduced this to €80,000 for Denise's parents and €30,000 for her brother. The private prosecution, led by Denise's brother and other family members, has reduced its request for the accused to go to prison for 22 years down to 20, since the magistrate says there was no proof of wilful violence intended to cause human suffering.ĭenise's hands having been cut off was believed to have been a posthumous mutilation aimed at hiding evidence of a possible physical fight as she tried to break away from her killer. He took police to the site of Denise's body, later bragging on Facebook about how he had been clever enough to find her.īut police say the spot was so secluded that nobody would have discovered it by accident. Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, then aged 39, lived in a derelict and remote farmhouse near Astorga (León province) and was said to have often shouted insults at pilgrims and hassled the female ones. Nobody heard anything further from her, and her body was found in September of that year with her hands sawn off. So our memorial in Astorga is not the first, but it remains a special place to pause and reflect.THE killer of an American-Chinese tourist walking the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route has been found guilty, exactly two years to the day since his victim vanished.ĭenise Pikka Thiem, then 41, sent an email on Aptitled 'Hello from Astorga', where she was staying at one of the pilgrim hostels along the famous Camino de Santiago hike. (NOTE: Since writing, I have been informed that a group of Argentine pilgrims set a memorial plaque for Denise along the Camino earlier on. If you would like to support our ongoing efforts to ‘Do Good on the Holy Way’, you can donate by visiting our website Please pause at the park to reflect when you pass Astorga. It sits at the foot of a red maple tree, planted especially for Denise, and hung with pilgrim scallop shells, There’s an epitaph written by Denise’s brother, Cedric, with Denise’s favourite flowers planted nearby. So, after another summer, two American friends and I carried a plaque of Yorkshire stone over to Astorga, mixed some concrete, and set the Denise Pikka Thiem stone in place. I again gently asked Denise’s family: “Would you like a Camino memorial?” This time they agreed. ![]() The Bishop of Astorga blessed the site in the spring of 2016 and, in 2017, we installed and blessed our first memorial plaque, for Ron Duke, an Australian pilgrim who died in León ( see article in Camino Chronicle #23 December 2017). The people of Astorga agreed with the idea – even to supplying the trees and mowing the grass. This park even had a small chapel, where memorial services or Mass could be held. I contacted some well-connected people in Astorga, to discuss a little park alongside the Camino path. But the Thiem family wasn’t ready to sign off on anything for some time, so plans for a memorial were laid aside. ![]() In the months following Denise’s murder, the culprit was caught, judged, and sentenced to 26 years of jail time. We did not want the park to be a dark spot or a memorial: rather, a place to stop and reflect, to honour fellow pilgrims, and remember how short our lives are. Planting a tree and placing a plaque could be a way for friends and family to share a reminder of their loved one along the trail they loved. Here’s how Peaceable Projects began and the work that they are doing.Īfter Denise’s death, we conceived the idea of a small park along the path, dedicated to pilgrims who die while on their Camino journey. Peaceable Projects Inc, a US non- profit organisation, started in October 2015, has established a memorial park out- side Astorga to remember Denise and other pilgrims who lose their life on the Camino. Castrillo de los Polvazaresĭenise Pikka Thiem, an American pilgrim, was killed outside Astorga in the spring of 2015. In loving memory of Denise Pikka Thiem, a beautiful soul.
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