A forensics expert who claimed that the former President of Argentina was involved in covering up the killing of investigators looking into the deadliest Latin American terror attack in history has been found dead with a bullet wound to the head.
Argentine forensics specialist Osvaldo Hugo Raffo had also claimed that federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman – the leading investigator in Latin America’s biggest terror attack on a Jewish centre in 1994 – was murdered in 2015.
The 88-year-old was found lying in the bath with a bullet wound to his head at his house in San Andres in the eastern Argentine province of Buenos Aires.
He was considered a supporter of Nisman, who was in charge of investigating the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) building in Buenos Aires on 18th July 1994, which killed 85 people and injured hundreds.
In October 2006, Nisman formally accused the government of Iran of orchestrating the AMIA bombing, and the Hezbollah militia of carrying it out.
The investigation rumbled on and Nisman published a 288-page report six days before his death.
He accused the then president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of being involved in a cover-up and drafted the arrest warrants for the Argentine leader as well as her foreign minister Hector Timerman, according to the Buenos Aires Herald.
The 51-year-old federal prosecutor was due to speak to Congress on his findings when he was found dead at his home on 18th January 2015.
His death was initially ruled as suicide and then changed to homicide in 2018.
According to local media, Raffo always maintained that Nisman was killed and that Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was involved in a cover-up at the time.
He also believed that Iran was responsible for the AMIA bombing and the evidence was withheld because of political and commercial interests, according to reports.
Raffo was recently found dead at his home with a gun in one hand and a note in the other that said “I cannot stand the pain anymore. Do not blame anyone for my death. God forgives me,” according to reports.
Raffo’s death is currently being investigated.
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Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
