- Eleuterio Sánchez
Eleuterio Sánchez (born
1942 ), known as "El Lute", was a legendary Spanish outlaw, now a writer.Life
Eleuterio Sánchez was born in
1942 inSalamanca , in westernSpain . He was born into a desperately poorMerchero family, while his father was in prison.Eleuterio Sánchez was sentenced to six months in prison for stealing two hens. Shortly thereafter, in
1965 , he was sentenced to death over the robbery of a jewelry store inMadrid in which a security guard was killed. Eleuterio Sánchez claimed he was not guilty of the murder, and was imprisoned because of his poor background as a convenientscapegoat Fact|date=February 2007. The sentence was commuted to thirty years in a military prison. Eleuterio Sánchez maintained his innocence and fought his conviction.He escaped several times and was Spain's most wanted person.Although he entered prison as an illiterate peasant, he taught himself to read and gained a law degree, authored five books, and continued his fight to clear his name.
He was finally pardoned on
June 20 ,1981 [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05E0DB1038F932A15755C0A967948260 Spain Pardons Eleuterio Sanchez, The Murderer Known as El Lute] ] .Eleuterio Sánchez lived in
Tomares , Seville with his second wife and her two children, having largely left the persona of "El Lute" behind.In February 2006, he and his wife argued in the street in
Punta Umbría , Huelva over alleged infidelity [http://www.elpais.es/articulo/elpporesp/20060319elpepinac_15/Tes/espana/Lute/siento/crucificado El Lute: "Me siento crucificado"] ,El País , 19 March 2006. [http://www.elpais.es/articulo/andalucia/fiscal/pide/carcel/Lute/presunto/maltrato/esposa/elpepiautand/20061019elpand_17/Tes/ El fiscal pide cárcel para El Lute por presunto maltrato a su esposa] , El País, 19 October 2006. es icon] .His wife alleged mistreatment at his hands, and he was arrested. He was later freed temporarily.In popular culture
In
1979 , Eleuterio Sánchez's story was the subject of a hit single byBoney M from the albumOceans of Fantasy . His major work, published while in prison, is "Camina o revienta" ("Forge on or Die").He was the subject of a series of two films by
Vicente Aranda (three chapters in the TV version) " [http://imdb.com/title/tt0093458/ El Lute: Camina o revienta] (1987)" and " [http://imdb.com/title/tt0095559/ El Lute II: Mañana seré libre] " (1988). Sánchez was played byImanol Arias .ources
* "Eleuterio Sánchez: «Para unos fui un héroe y para otros fui una bestia»", Karolina Almagia, KULTURA [http://www.ikusbide.net/files/050607-005.pdf] es icon
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