Roberto Girón Mendoza, 49, and Pedro Castillo, 39, were two Guatemalan men convicted of murder and executed,
" ''Orlando Sentinel
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company.
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...
''. September 14, 1996. Retrieved on March 3, 2016. with their deaths by
firing squad
Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...
occurring on 13 September 1996. It was the first official firing squad execution in Guatemala since 1983.
[Harrell, William Clark.]
The Death Penalty and Due Process in Guatemala
" '' Human Rights Brief'', The Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Washington College of Law, American University
The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...
. Volume 4, Number 2 ~ Winter 1997. Retrieved on March 3, 2016. It was also the first execution to occur in Latin America, with the exception of Guyana and the Caribbean, in a span of over ten years.
The executions occurred outside of the Canada Penal Farm (Granja de Canadá),
[ in Escuintla, Guatemala. The men had raped and murdered four-year-old Sonia Marisol Álvarez García on 19 April 1993. The execution was broadcast on live television.][Galicia, Néstor.]
1996: el último fusilamiento en Guatemala
" '' Prensa Libre''. September 9, 2017. Retrieved on October 20, 2018.
The men survived the initial volleys of bullets, so after a doctor had confirmed they were alive a squad leader killed each man by firing a bullet into their heads. The resulting controversy caused the Guatemalan legislature to change the method of execution to lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...
.[
Their executions were filmed by the press and featured in the 1998 ]shockumentary
Mondo films are a subgenre of exploitation films and documentary films. Many mondo films are made in a way to resemble a pseudo-documentary and usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, or situations. Common traits of mondo films include por ...
film, ''Banned from Television
Joseph R. Francis (born April 1, 1973) is an American entrepreneur, film producer and the founder and creator of the Girls Gone Wild entertainment brand. Francis worked as a production assistant on the syndicated program ''Real TV'' before rele ...
''.
See also
* Capital punishment in Guatemala Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Guatemala, and is carried out by lethal injection and, to a lesser extent, the firing squad. It is only in military codes of justice, and was abolished for civilian offences in October 2017.
Five executions ...
Other executions:
* Manuel Martínez Coronado
Manuel Martínez Coronado (1964 or 1965 – 10 February 1998) was a Guatemalan mass murderer, convicted for the killing of seven people on 17 May 1995. Coronado was sentenced to death for the murders, and was executed in 1998, the first executi ...
* Amilcar Cetino Perez and Tomas Cerrate Hernandez Luis Amilcar Cetino Perez and Tomas Cerrate Hernandez were two Guatemalan men convicted of murder. They were both executed on June 30, 2000. Their execution was televised on Guatemalan television. Cetino was 35 and Cerrate was 39. The executions, bo ...
References
External links
*Rico, Maite.
Fusilados dos campesinos que violaron y asesinaron a una niña guatemalteca
. ''El País
''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.
It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...
''. September 14, 1996.
Fusilaron a dos campesinos que violaron y mataron a una nena
. '' Clarín''. Saturday September 14, 1996.
Guatemala - Two men executed for rape and murder - 1996
" Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
. Uploaded July 21, 2015.
*Video of the execution:
Los últimos fusilados en Guatemala
" SinReservas Guatevisión
Guatevisión (an acronym of Guatemalteca and Televisión, officially known as Red Guatemalteca de Radiodifusión Sociedad Anonima) is a Guatemalan television channel operated by TVN and Librevisión and owned by Casa Editora Prensa Libre S.A., t ...
. January 14, 2014.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberto Giron and Pedro Castillo
1996 deaths
Filmed executions
20th-century criminals
People executed for murder
People convicted of murder by Guatemala
Guatemalan people convicted of murder
Guatemalan murderers of children
Executed Guatemalan people
People executed by firing squad