Vincent Otti Vincent Otti ( " c " . 1946 – 2 October 2007 ) was deputy - leader of the Lord ' s Resistance Army ( LRA ) , a rebel guerrilla army operating mainly in northern Uganda and southern Sudan . He was one of the five persons for whom the International Criminal Court ( ICC ) issued its first arrest warrant s on 8 July 2005 . Rumours of his death began to circulate in October 2007 but were not confirmed until January 2008 . Early life . Otti was born around 1946 in the Atiak sub - county of Gulu District , Uganda , and his parents died when he was young . He was working as a shopkeeper in Kampala when he joined the Lord ' s Resistance Army in 1987 . Lord ' s Resistance Army . Vincent Otti joined the Lord ' s Resistance Army when it was founded in 1987 . He rose to the rank of Lieutenant General and became the LRA ' s vice - chairman , second in command to Joseph Kony . He was reportedly a member of the " Control Altar " , the core leadership group that devises the LRA ' s strategy . In 1994 , the LRA attacked Atiak , Otti ' s home town , killing more than 200 people . Otti ' s brothers reportedly fled the village after the family was accused of breeding a " killer " . He is alleged to have led the Barlonyo massacre in February 2004 , during which more than 300 villagers were shot , hacked and burned to death . During the Juba peace talks , which began in July 2006 , Otti emerged as the chief spokesperson for the LRA . According to LRA defector Sunday Otto , Otti was also the LRA ' s leading advocate of joining the peace talks . Otti ' s push to negotiate an end of the conflict led to tension with Kony and a growing split in the LRA . Indictment by the ICC . On 8 July 2005 , a Pre - Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Otti had committed war crime s and crimes against humanity , and issued a sealed warrant for his arrest . He was charged with 21 counts of war crimes ( including murder , pillaging , inducing rape , forced enlisting of children , intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population , and cruel treatment of civilians ) and 11 counts of crimes against humanity ( including murder , sexual enslavement , and inhumane acts of inflicting serious bodily injury and suffering ) . Death . In October 2007 , sources in the Ugandan military reported that " Otti was killed on or around 8 October 2007 during a high command meeting that Kony convened at his base camp in Garamba " , following a disagreement with Kony over the peace process . LRA defector Sunday Otto , who claims to have been present during the execution , states that Otti was killed on 2 October , along with two other officers , and that Otti was the impetus behind the negotiations for peace . However , Member of Parliament Reagan Okumu claims to have spoken with Otti by telephone on or around 19 October 2007 , but says he has since been unavailable . LRA spokesperson Martin Ojul has repeatedly denied that Otti was executed and claimed that Otti was simply suffering from cholera . On 7 November 2007 , Kony told Gulu district chairman Norbert Mao that Otti was alive and had been detained for plotting to kill Kony and " conspiring with the enemies of the LRA " . Kony also stated that Otti would not be allowed to speak with anyone until the LRA decided it was appropriate . The President of Southern Sudan , Salva Kiir Mayardit , said on 7 November 2007 that Otti ' s status remained unclear . The government of Southern Sudan has sent a team to the Congolese border to investigate Otti ' s fate . The government newspaper " New Vision " reported on 22 November , based on statements from LRA defectors , that Otti had been executed by firing squad , along with " many others " , on 2 October . Defectors said that he had asked Kony to allow him to speak to his son before his execution . " To strengthen Kony ' s spirit " , Otti ' s body was said to not have been buried for three days after his death . Defectors also claimed Otti had been killed because of his enthusiasm for peace , thus questioning Kony ' s actual commitment to peace negotiations . On 21 December 2007 a diplomatic briefing claimed that Otti was executed on 2 October 2007 at Kony ' s home . According to this account , when Otti arrived there he found that the home was surrounded by Kony ' s guards , and before entering he made a phone call to Kony due to his concern about this , but was reassured by Kony . Inside the house , however , LRA commanders held Otti at gunpoint and told him that he was arrested ; he was then bound , blindfolded and taken outside , where he was shot , despite his pleas for mercy . Kony subsequently claimed that Otti had received foreign funds and was trying to kill him . On 23 January 2008 , Kony confirmed that Otti was dead , but did not offer any details .