European News: Hitmen kill the birdman of Palma
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The man with the biggest collection of parrots, macaws and cockatoos in Europe was shot dead yesterday in Mallorca, along with his eight-year- old son and maid. Police think they were victims of a Mafia-style "hit squad".
Manfred Meisel, 49, a beer importer known on Mallorca as "the Beer King" and manager of a bar that employed 90 staff, was found with with a bullet in his head in his villa near Palma. He had told friends of feeling under threat since March, perhaps because of the enormous amount of cash he handled in connection with his exotic birds, which he imported from the Philippines and Singapore.
No money or credit cards were taken from the villa, and not one valuable bird freed from 400 cages. The killers scaled a spiked perimeter fence and eluded five guard dogs. Meisel's son Patrick was shot twice in the temple while he was sleeping. Claudia Leisen, 30, who tended the newly hatched chicks every four hours, appeared to have had her wrists tied before she was shot in the back. - Elizabeth Nash, Madrid
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments