Did you know that our hero Juan Luna, the great Filipino painter, was once convicted of murder?
The crime occurred in Paris, France where Luna was residing at the time. In a jealous rage, he mercilessly shot to death his wife Maria de la Paz (of the illustrious Pardo de Tavera clan), and his mother-in-law.
The crime was a sensation in Parisian society, where Luna's name was known because he already gained a measure of fame as a painter. The story even made it to the front page of many Paris newspapers.
Curiously, Luna never served any jail time for his crime. A French court ruled that the killings were a crime of passion, and thus were mitigated. Luna was ordered to pay a symbolic fine of only 2 francs - one for each victim.
photo credit: http://en.wikipilipinas.org/images/thumb/6/6e/Juan_Luna.png/200px-Juan_Luna.png
Both Luna brothers were unhinged. Antonio Luna was assassinated on the orders of Mabini, seconded by Aguinaldo, because he was a hot-head who did not like taking orders (his Spanish mestizo blood had something to do with it). Too bad. He actually had some pretty good ideas on how to beat the Americans.
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