Interrogation of "El Chereje" killer of 43 of 51 killed in Iguala September 26th

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat narrative translation by Un Vato

The following translated narrative, was taken from the interrogation of El Chereje, one of the arrested subjects held responsible for the execution of 43 “normalistas”, students studying at a Normal School to   become elementary school teachers.

The interrogation was a part of the press presentation by Mexico’s attorney general Jesus Murillo Karam. The press video in its entirety is at the bottom of this post.  

The translated portion is a description of the horror and events leading up to the executions, and shortly thereafter.

Noteworthy, is that his testimony, at its core, does not differ from that previously stated by Catholic Priest, and Social activist, Padre Solalinde.  He was given details by “witnesses” present during September 26^th and 27^th the night and following day, after  the devil came to Iguala.

Murillo Karam ordered Solalinde to the PGR offices in DF to give a formal statement.  After which Murillo Karam said “at least 80% of Fr. Solalinde’s statement, we can agree with”.  As it turns out, Solalinde’s sources were sadly 100% accurate.

51 KILLED ON THE NIGHT OF TERROR….NOT 43

Lost in the equation is the fact that at least 51 people were murdered in Iguala on the night of terror.  43+8.  

44 normalistas taken to their deaths from the scene, 1 killed by being flayed alive, 43;  smothered in transport, shot, or burned to their deaths. 3 normalistas killed on the buses, 3 futbol players on team bus, including a coach and 15 year old player (funeral below),  A woman riding in a taxi

AGUSTÍN GARCÍA REYES, EL CHEREJE INTERROGATION

-How many students did you have with you?

-There were, they say, 44, I heard… not that I counted them one by one, no.

-Who told you?

-They said.

-Who?

-El Pato, El Guereque, they said there were 44 or 43, that’s what I hea, but I did not count them. But there were a lot, so then, ‘El Pato’ went from there…

-And what (vehicle) did the 43 or 44 (students) come in?

-They were in the largest pickup.

Two of the detainees claim that some of the victims  moved to the landfill  of Cocula arrived lifeless or unconscious and the others were questioned by members of GU to determine who they were and the reasons for their arrival in Iguala. 

-Were there some dead (students) in the pickup before they took them down?

-Yes. At the time that I was handing the boys down to him, there were already some dead, there were already about 15 dead.

-Dead from gunshots or what?

-From asphyxiation.

AGUSTÍN GARCÍA REYES, EL CHEREJE CONTINUES:

-They asked them what they were, and all of them answered that they were students.

 “We’re students”, then they got them down and asked them why they had come into Iguala, and they said they came for Abarca’s wife, that’s all they said.
 

-But did they belong to some group?

-That’s what they asked them, “Do you belong to group?”, and they said “No”.

(after being asked how they were unloaded, he illustrates the manner in which they took the bags with human remains off the truck)

They were letting them fall down like that, and then, as they were falling down like that, they tell “El Terco”, “La Rana”, or “El Pato, they would grab them this way, over here, and they were arranging them like this. The ones who were alive would get up, so they would grab them and would walk like this (he acts out the way they were led off with their hands on the back of the head and looking downward), and then they would place them there and tell them: Are you going to tell me?... and they would shoot them.

-Were there some (students) already dead when they were taken off the truck?

-Yes, at the time I was handing the kids over, there were already some dead, there were already about 15 dead bodies.

-Dead from gunshots or what?

-From asphyxiation. Like that, they were leaving them, and those they grabbed around here, they would shoot. Then, the rest would drag them by their legs or their hands and arrange them over there and the rest of the kids, the ones who were left live, they were placed on this side.

Continues:

The ones on top, boss… they told me, “You drag the ones that are already dead to the edge of the garbage dump,” since it is high, well, yes… from here to here I carried them with another person, with “El Bimbo”, like this, carrying them.

-You?

- Yeah, and there were two more men here, and those two would swing them and throw them to the bottom, while we were bringing them over.

-So then, they killed them up on top?

-No, some of them, the ones on top.

-Who threw the bodies down?

-I took part in that, with “El Primo”, “El Guereque” and “El Peluco”.

-How did you get the bodies on top to get to the bottom?(answered with more detail)

-One would grab the hands and another (person) would grab the legs and we would swing them so they would get thrown downwards, and once there, the bodies would roll down to the bottom where it levels off.

- What did they do once they were on the bottom?

-They began to place rocks in such a way that they built a circle made out of rock. Then, on top of the rocks, they would throw the tire, and on top of the tire, they would put firewood, and the bodies were placed like this, in a layer, and so on like that, until the bodies were in place and from there…

-Did they spray something over them?

-Yes. “El Huasteco” got there with diesel and gasoline and soaked the bodies, and there with the layer of diesel and gasoline, “El Duva” and “El Huasteco” set fire to them on one side and the other...

NEW VIDEO, SAME WITNESS, QUESTIONED IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS ATTORNEY:

-How long and until what time were you there?  How long did the fire last?

-Without doing anything to it, it lasted six, seven hours.

-At what time did the fire die out?

-Well, it did not die out, it stayed burning, and we left that day at about 2:00 (in the afternoon) and we left the fire burning hot. We left, and after that they came back to clean up, and I just returned, went in on a motorcycle and went back.

AGUSTÍN GARCÍA REYES EL CHEREJE WITH HIS CONSENT BEING QUESTIONED BY PSYCHOLOGIST

-It was around three that the fire died out, and we waited for it to….

-Three in the afternoon?

-Yeah, for it to get cold...

-How long did it take to get cold?

-Well, from three, four, about 5:30 it died out and we threw ashes and dirt on top so it wouldn’t be so hot and we put a double bag and some people had shovels, and I just gathered stuff up with bottles.

- And what were you picking up?

- Well, it was charcoal (ash) and little pieces of bone, like this. And from there we got to…

-How many bags were you carrying?

-There were eight, but not full, they were about half full.

-What size were the bags?

-Trash bags, the big ones.

-The black ones?

-Yes, plastic.

- The ones with a tie?

- No, not that kind, the thicker ones.

-Aha…where did you buy them?

- “El Terco” already had some with him, boss.

- Eight bags?

- Yeah, we took them away on pickups, and when we got to the San Juan bridge, that’s what it’s called, but before we got to the town, almost at the town, they said “get down to throw the bags away”, “El Terco” said. When he told us, “throw the bags out”, I grabbed two and just threw them out. The others would grab the bags, dig holes and empty, and that way...

-In other words, you threw out two complete ones?

-I just threw them like this…

-They… did they sink or stay there?

-No, because it had a lot of water.

-They were carried off?

-Yes, they were carried off

-And the other ones?

- The remainder, some sank right there and others were carried off.

- And the other ones, did they tear them open and dump them?

-Well, it happened very fast. But, yeah, I grabbed two (bags), throw them away and by the time I looked, some were (floating) away, I didn’t see the others.