Haitian President Jovenel Moïse killed by gunshot to heart, says forensic expert

Haitian President Jovenel Moïse died from a gunshot to the heart after his body had already been riddled with bullets during the brazen July 7, 2021, attack on his home, Haiti’s top forensic expert testified Thursday in a Miami federal court.

Jean Armel Demorcy, Haiti’s only forensic pathologist who performs autopsies, said he conducted Moïse’s autopsy after receiving the body three days following the attack. He told jurors he counted “a dozen entry wounds,” including one large wound that appeared to have been caused by two bullets piercing the body nearly simultaneously. There were also wounds in the forearm, wrist, and head. Demorcy said he believes a shot to the heart proved fatal. Another bullet, lodged in the head, appeared to have been fired after the president had already died.

Federal prosecutors are seeking to prove that four South Florida men conspired to kill Moïse by hiring former Colombian soldiers to execute the deadly attack more than four years ago at his home in the hills above Port-au-Prince.

Standing trial in Miami are Arcángel Pretel Ortiz, 53, a former FBI informant, Colombian national, and U.S. permanent resident; Antonio Intriago, 62, the Venezuelan-American owner of a Doral security company that hired Pretel; James Solages, 40, a Haitian-American handyman who also worked for Intriago; and Walter Veintemilla, 57, an Ecuadorian-American prosecutors say helped finance the plan targeting Moïse. All four have been in custody at the Miami federal detention center since their arrests. A fifth defendant, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haiti-born doctor who prosecutors say wanted to be named president, will be tried at a later date due to health issues.

Martine Moïse, the widow of Haiti’s late president, testified Wednesday about being shot and wounded during the attack. Speaking through a Creole interpreter, she described going to bed around 10 p.m. the night before the assault and waking to gunfire about three hours later. She said she turned to her husband and asked what was happening.

“Honey, we are dead,” Jovenel Moïse said, according to Martine Moïse’s testimony.

Gunfire continued as she crawled downstairs to check on her two adult children. She returned to her and her husband’s bedroom, where they got on the floor on either side of the bed to shield themselves. Men eventually burst into the room and opened fire with what sounded like an automatic weapon, Martine Moïse said. She was struck several times and said she heard attackers speaking in Spanish before her husband was shot multiple times, killing him.

After the attackers left, she expected to find the bodies of the 30 to 50 security officers assigned to protect the house but discovered they had abandoned their posts, reportedly after being paid to do so.

Martine Moïse was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and later flown to a Miami hospital for surgery. She testified that her right arm remains disabled and she continues to experience pain.

- Advertisement -

The assassination of Jovenel Moïse triggered unprecedented political turmoil in Haiti, where gang activity and violence have escalated in the years since.