Former Argentine Police Chief Mario Ferreyra Commits Suicide On Live TV

Former police chief Mario Ferreyra (spelled in some sources as “Ferreira”) killed himself in front of television cameras in the midst of an investigation into his role in Argentina’s so-called “Dirty War.” Police were on their way to arrest him when he pulled a gun from his boot, announced that he would forever love his wife, and shot himself in the head on top of a water tank at his home in San Andrés, Tucumán. The 63-year-old was in the middle of being interviewed for Argentina’s “Crónica TV.”

Dressed in his customary uniform of a black shirt and white cowboy hat, Ferreyra told reporters he was innocent before shooting himself behind the ear.

“Crónica TV” reporter Roxana Bazán and cameraman Alejandro Contreras allowed TV cameras to continue rolling as police arrived shortly thereafter and family members gathered, horrified, around Ferreyra’s body. His son, Franco, raced to where his father had fallen and screamed that he was still alive and needed an ambulance.

Soon after the interview, footage of the suicide was uploaded onto YouTube by a television viewer who had saved the live images onto a cellphone camera.

Families of those who disappeared during the “Guerra Sucia” suggest his suicide was part of a pact of silence with those Ferreyra would be forced to testify against in court. He and his cohorts are accused of committing state-sponsored acts of kidnap and torture from 1976 through 1983, during Jorge Rafael Videla’s military government

Argentine man kills himself on TV [BBC]
Verdugo argentino se mató para no ser enjuiciado [Cronica Viva]