Široka Kula massacre The Široka Kula massacre was the killing of 41 civilians in the village of Široka Kula near Gospić , Croatia during the Croatian War of Independence . The killings began on 13 October 1991 and continued until late October , perpetrated by the Croatian Serb SAO Krajina police and generally targeted ethnic Croat civilians in Široka Kula . Several victims were ethnic Serbs suspected by the police of collaboration with Croatian authorities . Most of the victims ' bodies were thrown into the Golubnjača Pit , a nearby karst cave . Thirteen individuals were charged and tried in connection with the killings , four were convicted " in absentia " in Belgrade . The other eleven were tried and convicted " in absentia " in Gospić . One of the those convicted by Gospić County Court subsequently returned to Croatia , where he was granted a retrial and acquitted . A monument dedicated to the victims of the massacre was built in the village in 2003 . Background . In August 1990 , an insurrection took place in Croatia centred on the predominantly Serb - populated areas , including parts of Lika , around the city of Gospić , with significant Serb populations . The areas were subsequently named SAO Krajina and , after declaring its intention to integrate with Serbia , the Government of Croatia declared it to be a rebellion . By March 1991 , the conflict escalated into the Croatian War of Independence . In June 1991 , Croatia declared its independence as Yugoslavia disintegrated . A three - month moratorium followed , after which the decision came into effect on 8 October . As the Yugoslav People ' s Army ( JNA ) increasingly supported the SAO Krajina , the Croatian Police were unable to cope . Thus , the Croatian National Guard ( ZNG ) was formed in May 1991 . The development of the military of Croatia was hampered by a UN arms embargo introduced in September , while the military conflict in Croatia continued to escalate — the Battle of Vukovar started on 26 August . By the end of August the fighting intensified in Lika as well , specifically as the Battle of Gospić continuing through much of September . Killings . SAO Krajina forces occupied Široka Kula located northeast of Gospić in Lika in September 1991 . The village had an ethnically mixed prewar population of 536 consisting of Croats and Serbs , but most of the Croat population fled by the end of the month . On 13 October , the chief of the SAO Krajina police in Široka Kula instructed the remaining Croats in the village to move to two houses before they are evacuated . After the civilians complied with the request , SAO Krajina forces shot at the assembled villagers , while houses owned by Croats were looted and torched by a mob . The attack resulted in thirteen civilian deaths . The victims were killed using shotgun s and their bodies thrown into burning houses . Some of the victims were burned to death . Most of those killed were elderly , and at least one of the victims was a child . In the following days , the killings continued . According to a 2013 news report , a total of 41 civilians were killed in the village that month , and most of the corpses thrown into the Golubnjača Pit , 22 of which were retrieved from the karst cave . In November 1992 , Republic of Serbian Krajina ( RSK ) police estimated that the bodies of approximately forty Croat civilians were thrown into the pit . In mid - October , SAO Krajina police arrested four Serbian civilians in Široka Kula , Mane Rakić and his three children for allegedly collaborating with Croatian authorities . During the night of 20 / 21 October , the police searched Rakić ' s home , and then killed his wife in another house in Široka Kula . Her body was doused with kerosene and torched . By the end of the month , Rakić and his children were also murdered and their remains thrown into the Golubnjača Pit . Aftermath . Five SAO Krajina police officers were prosecuted by Knin District Court in 1992 for the murder of the Rakić family . The investigation was spurred on by requests from relatives of the victims , who threatened the RSK authorities that they would notify the United Nations Protection Force ( UNPROFOR ) unless the RSK authorities continued searching , which led Đuro Kresović , president of Knin District Court to write to the Minister of the Interior of the RSK asking for instructions on how to proceed , stating that any attempt to retrieve the bodies of the Rakić family would uncover numerous other bodies in the Golubnjača Pit . He requested instructions on how to proceed with the investigation and what to do if the UNPROFOR found out about the bodies in the pit . The RSK investigation was finally completed and those suspected of involvement in the murders were later tried in Belgrade . The trial was concluded in 2013 , resulting in four convictions : Čedo Budisavljević was sentenced to thirteen years in prison , while Mirko Malinović , Milan Bogunović and Bogdan Gruičić were sentenced to twelve , ten , and eight years in prison respectively . In 1994 , the County Court in Gospić tried and convicted " in absentia " a group of seven Croatian Serbs for their involvement in the killings of eight civilians ( members of the Nikšić and Orešković families , but not the Rakić family ) in Široka Kula , handing out prison sentences . Nikola Zagorac , Miroslav Serdar and Dragan Vunjak were sentenced to 20 years in prison each , while Dane Serdar , Dušan Uzelac , Milorad Barać and Dragan Uzelac each received sentences of 15 years in prison . In 1997 , the County Court in Gospić also tried Vladimir Korica and Branko Banjeglav " in absentia " for taking part in the massacre . Both of them were convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison . Dane Serdar voluntarily returned to Croatia in September 2003 and was granted a retrial as he had been convicted " in absentia " . His 1994 conviction was overturned and he was acquitted in September 2004 . A monument to the victims of the massacre , as well as 164 World War II victims from the area of Široka Kula , was built in 2003 . The monument , designed by Petar Dolić and named the " Croatian History Portal " ( " Portal hrvatske povijesti " ) , was unveiled by the relatives of those killed in the 1991 massacre on 13 October , marking the 12th anniversary of the killings .