(UPDATED 4:15pm 17AUG) A priest was stabbed and killed this morning in Lima’s famous convento de San Francisco in central Lima. Criminals entered the popular tourist attraction in the early hours of Friday in an attempt to steal precious objects from its interior.

The 73 year old priest, from Puerto Rico,  resisted the attempted theft and was stabbed to death before the thieves made their escape. Also killed in the attack was the priest’s assistant, also the victim of stab wounds.

It isn’t yet known if the criminals were able to escape with anything of value.

(UPDATE 29AUG)

Priest Linán Ruiz Morales allowed the men who killed him along with assistant and nurse Albany Ananías Águila Cruz into the church voluntarily, the killers were well known.

According to police investigators, the criminals shared a cup of coffee and watched a movie with the victims before stabbing them to death in to steal valuables. The men, now identified and on the run, residents of the district of Barrios Altos, were able to escape with two safes containing a total of S/.20,000 to be used to fund a two soup kitchens to feed some 300 poor people.

The body of the priests assistant was found with 25 stab wounds.

Tags: convento san francisco, crime, lima, theft