otários X

Hitmen 'killed matadors' horses'

Three mounted matadors are on trial in Spain accused of hiring Colombian hitmen to set fire to a dozen horses belonging to a rival in June 2001.

Six animals belonging to the Domecq family died after petrol bombs were put in their horseboxes. Six others took years to recover from serious burns.

But they were not the intended target, prosecutors said. The hitmen were meant to kill those of another man.

Police said the crime was unprecedented in the history of mounted bullfighting.