Confession from Colombian mercenaries lifts lid on Haiti presidential assassination

With Haiti still in shock after the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that took thousands of lives earlier this month, the country made the headlines once more last week after the emergence of audio recordings in which a group of Colombian mercenaries confesses to murdering late president Jovenel Moïse on July 7.

The tapes, published by Colombian media giant Radio Caracol, showed Lieutenant Jheyner Carmona recalling how Captain Germán “Mike” Rivera told the group that it was “time to go in [to Mr. Moïse’s home] and kill everyone, including any cops or any mascots they might have around, as there should be no witnesses left.”

Captain Rivera, meanwhile, said he received the order from a former Haitian anti-corruption official, Joseph Badio, who told them to “kill everyone, policemen, presidential security, everyone in the house.” The mercenaries are currently in custody in Haiti.

Warrants were issued against Mr. Badio and businessman Jaar Rodolphe, a local gang leader who sheltered the mercenaries and provided them with weapons according to the Caracol investigation, but they remain at large.

In addition, Lt. Carmona said he heard the name of Víctor Pineda mentioned as the shooter, though he could not confirm this was the case, as he was not a direct eyewitness of Mr. Moïse’s murder.

According to the crime scene reconstruction, the assault on the compound lasted around half an hour. After killing the president, the mercenaries shifted their attention to uncovering the wads of cash they were...