Suspect The corpse of Juan Roa was displayed by the mob in the Bolívar Square The man suspected of killing Gaitán ran away heading south and pursued by an angry crowd. A policeman, Carlos Alberto Jiménez Díaz, tried to control the situation. According to police reports, the man surrendered to Jiménez, calling:" No me mates, mi cabo " ( Don't kill me, my corporal )In an attempt to avoid the mob, Jiménez locked himself and his prisoner in the nearby Granada drugstore. Some witnesses subsequently interviewed by local newspapers (El Tiempo and El Espectador, issues from April to May, same year) claimed that the man who was taken into the drugstore was not the same one who was captured, and that in the confusion Officer Jiménez was mistaken because the other man was also wearing a gray hat. According to the drugstore owner, when he asked the prisoner why he had killed Gaitán, he replied:"¡Ay Señor, cosas poderosas! ¡Ay, Virgen del Carmen, sálvame!" (Oh mighty lord! Oh powerful things! Our Lady of Carmen, save me!)After that, the doors were charged and the man was taken by the mob. His naked corpse was found later, in the Bolívar Square, outside the Presidential Palace. His face was crushed with a brick, and his body was mutilated. A bystander, Gabriel Restrepo, collected the remains of his clothes and found some personal documents, which identified him as 26-year-old Juan Roa Sierra.
Suspect The corpse of Juan Roa was displayed by the mob in the Bolívar Square The man suspected of killing Gaitán ran away heading south and pursued by an angry crowd. A policeman, Carlos Alberto Jiménez Díaz, tried to control the situation. According to police reports, the man surrendered to Jiménez, calling:" Mi cabo, no deje que me maten " ( My corporal, don't let them kill me )In an attempt to avoid the mob, Jiménez locked himself and his prisoner in the nearby Granada drugstore. Some witnesses subsequently interviewed by local newspapers (El Tiempo and El Espectador, issues from April to May, same year) claimed that the man who was taken into the drugstore was not the same one who was captured, and that in the confusion Officer Jiménez was mistaken because the other man was also wearing a gray hat. According to the drugstore owner, when he asked the prisoner why he had killed Gaitán, he replied:"¡Ay Señor, cosas poderosas! ¡Ay, Virgen del Carmen, sálvame!" (Oh mighty lord! Oh powerful things! Our Lady of Carmen, save me!)After that, the doors were charged and the man was taken by the mob. His naked corpse was found later, in the Bolívar Square, outside the Presidential Palace. His face was crushed with a brick, and his body was mutilated. A bystander, Gabriel Restrepo, collected the remains of his clothes and found some personal documents, which identified him as 26-year-old Juan Roa Sierra.
R
No me mates, mi cabo
Mi cabo, no deje que me maten
R
Don't kill me, my corporal
My corporal, don't let them kill me