Sofia Rodriguez-Urrutia-Shu
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Sofia Rodrigez-Urrutia-Shu (November 11, 1997 – June 26, 2006) was an 8-year-old Australian girl who was murdered at around 4:10 pm in the disabled toilets in a Canning Vale shopping centre in Perth, Western Australia. Her body was discovered by her 14-year-old brother Gabriel Shu minutes after she disappeared. When Sofia did not return from the toilets, Gabriel looked inside and found the disabled stall locked; he was acknowledged by a man's voice. He then decided to check the carpark, and upon returning, saw a man running out of the toilet. The boy chased the man, but lost him in the crowd. Sofia's body was found naked in the toilet. She had a broken arm and leg.
21-year-old Dante Wyndham Arthurs has been arrested in relation to the crime, and has plead non guilty. After his arrest, rumours spread suggesting Arthurs is in reality one of two boys convicted of murdering 2-year-old James Bulger in the UK more than 10 years earlier; Bulger's killers were given new identities upon their release in 2001, but the police have strongly denied any relation between either of them and Arthurs.[1].
A memorial "Chapel of Innocents" is to be erected on the grounds of her school an parish, Mater Christi, in Yangebup.[2] On November 10, 2006, Sofia was granted Australian citizenship by Amanda Vanstone at the Mater Christi Catholic Primary School in Yangebup.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Any link to Bulger murder debunked by Snopes retrieved March 12, 2007
- ^ http://www.sofiamemorial.com/