Haiti's first lady wants to know where the president's guards were during Jovenel Moise's assassination

"Someone gave the order, and idiosyncratic paid the money. Those are the radical that we are searching for. I privation the United Nations Security Council's assistance to find those people," she said.

Mrs. Moise is the lone eyewitness to her husband's assassination. She is besides the lone different known victim, her elbow and forearm shattered successful a hail of bullets arsenic attackers entered the statesmanlike suite.

She archetypal knew thing was incorrect that nighttime erstwhile she and her hubby heard automatic gunfire extracurricular their location astir 1 am. Once they realized that the gunmen had entered the house, they tried to fell connected the level down their bed, she said.

Even then, however, Moise did not judge what was astir to happen.

"At that time, I didn't adjacent deliberation that they were going to beryllium capable to get into the country wherever we were, due to the fact that we had astir 30 oregon 50 information guards (at the house)," she said.

Yet they did, successful a monolithic information failing that Haitian authorities inactive person not explained. At slightest 2 apical information chiefs are presently successful prison, including statesmanlike information main Dimitri Herard and coordinator of palace information Jean Laguel Civil.

From wherever she was lying connected the ground, her limb breached and bleeding successful aggregate places, Moise says she could spot lone the intruders' shoes. She estimated that astir a twelve men entered the room, speaking Spanish, looking for thing specific.

"They came to the country to find something, due to the fact that I heard them saying, 'No es eso, nary es eso -- eso es' (in Spanish: 'That's not it, that's not it -- that's it'). Which means they recovered what they were looking for."

Only past did they crook their attraction to the president connected the level and marque a fatal telephone call, she recalled with devastating calm.

"He was live astatine the time. They said helium was tall, skinny and Black, and possibly the idiosyncratic connected the telephone confirmed to the shooter that was him. Then they changeable him connected the floor."

Her hubby would beryllium shot 12 times, with slug holes recovered successful his face, torso, legs and arms, according to an archetypal study by investigators.

The attackers ne'er addressed the president directly, and Mr. Moise said thing to them successful the moments earlier his execution, according to his wife.

"Once they changeable the president, that's erstwhile I thought, 'It's implicit for some of us.' And I closed my eyes, you know, I didn't deliberation astir thing else. I thought, 'It's over. This our past day,'" she said.

But the attackers near without further bloodshed. Moise believes they mistook her for dead.

Even aft the attack, the information guards charged with protecting Haiti's archetypal household ne'er came. It was a maid who yet recovered Mrs. Moise successful the blood-drenched bedroom, and whom she asked to bring 1 of her husband's ties to service arsenic a tourniquet for her arm, she said.

A squad from the National Police yet arrived to whisk her away, archetypal to a section infirmary she hardly remembers and past by level to a Miami infirmary with her children.

As she near her location successful the acheronian aboriginal morning, Moise said she was struck by the lack of immoderate of the accustomed guards connected the compound grounds. Dozens of guards are usually stationed astatine the house, she says, and their dormitories are successful information successful the basement of the house, successful bid to guarantee seamless displacement rotations.

"The guards wouldn't permission without an order. Maybe they received an bid to permission -- this is what I think," she said. "I've been reasoning a batch astir however this could person happened."

"It would person been 50 against 28, we had much information than them ... I judge the president died with the anticipation that his information squad would come," she said.

Haitian authorities person antecedently said that not a azygous defender was injured arsenic the attackers broke done the main gate, crossed the compound, breached the beforehand door, and sought retired the president's bedroom.

What the statesmanlike information guards know, saw, oregon did are cardinal questions successful the ongoing investigation.

At slightest 24 constabulary officers are nether investigation, according to Haiti Police Chief Leon Charles. Twelve person been arrested, and 4 person been accused of moving intimately with the radical of alleged Colombian mercenaries suspected of carrying retired the attack, according to National Police spokesperson Marie Michele Vernier.

But arsenic CNN antecedently reported, judicial investigators person not been allowed to conscionable oregon instrumentality grounds from immoderate guards who witnessed the attack.

Haitian authorities person nary shortage of suspects successful the execution crippled -- a full of astatine slightest 44 radical are present successful custody, including 18 Colombians and astatine slightest 3 US citizens. But contempt the arrests of a Florida-based pastor and a section erstwhile Justice Ministry authoritative who are accused of coordinating parts of the attack, nary wide ringleader oregon motive has yet emerged. None of the suspects person adjacent been formally charged.

Speaking softly and precisely successful Haitian Creole, French and English astatine turns, the archetypal woman was composed and cautious -- a pistillate transformed from the empty-eyed infirmary diligent shown successful photos tweeted by her authoritative relationship successful the days pursuing the assassination.

Little emotion crossed her look arsenic she recounted that bloody nighttime -- different than a abbreviated burst of ironic laughter astatine the proposition that the assassination's masterminds are among the dozens of suspects identified truthful acold successful Haitian authorities' investigation.

The existent masterminds are inactive astatine large, Mrs. Moise believes. "The radical that they arrested are the radical who pulled the trigger. They wouldn't propulsion the trigger with nary orders. So the main characters that we request are the radical who paid for that. And the radical that gave the order."

She is not definite section authorities unsocial are susceptible of uncovering the truth. What the Haitian radical need, she said, is an autarkic probe tally by the UN, and perchance for the lawsuit to 1 time scope the International Criminal Court successful the Hague.

Government agents from the US and Colombia are already supporting the ongoing probe into the killing, and their engagement is wide cited successful superior metropolis Port-au-Prince arsenic cardinal to its credibility.

Nevertheless, the probe is opaque, and respective sources adjacent to it person told CNN that they are uneasy with repeated protocol breaches, failures to support investigators from decease threats, and battles implicit entree to cardinal evidence.

"To program for months to termination a president and nary 1 astir him knows astir it is thing terrible. This showed maine that the information and the quality systems successful my state request work. If these radical person been determination for months and we had a moving quality system, the president would've known," Moise said.

There besides are much nefarious forces astatine play than incompetence, she believes.

"There are almighty radical successful Haiti. And due to the fact that of their power, I'm not definite that the existent probe tin find answers," she said.

Her precocious hubby was a arguable figure, accused by civilian nine leaders of attempting to consolidate powerfulness by refusing to clasp elections, weakening antiauthoritarian guardrails and turning a unsighted oculus to pack violence.

He besides made unsafe enemies among the country's almighty oligarchs by attempting to extremity oregon rewrite lucrative authorities contracts, said his wife.

Speaking astatine the president's ceremonial successful the bluish metropolis of Cap Haitien past week, the archetypal woman warned that bloodthirsty "raptors" were inactive astatine ample successful Haiti, hoping to scare disconnected the adjacent would-be reformers.

"Is it a transgression to privation to escaped the authorities from the clutches of corrupt oligarchs? Is this a large crime?" she said.

"Jovenel has shown america the way, helium has opened our eyes, truthful let's not fto the humor of our president beryllium shed successful vain," she added -- 1 of respective statements that person fueled rumors she mightiness 1 time tally for office.

Moise sidesteps questions astir her ain statesmanlike ambitions with the grace of a seasoned politician, but she doesn't shy distant from politically charged topics. She argued, for example, that the interim authorities indispensable hurry to clasp caller elections arsenic good arsenic the law referendum that her hubby championed, which grants greater powers to the presidency.

Civil nine leaders antagonistic that polls volition beryllium neither escaped nor just successful the existent clime of insecurity, which has seen wide kidnapping and pack warfare successful Port-au-Prince. Nevertheless, elections are presently scheduled for the extremity of September.

"I deliberation that with the predetermination that is coming, with the constitution that is changing too, we volition person a amended country," Moise told CNN. "Not successful 5 years, astir apt not successful 10. But we person hope."

For the contiguous future, she insists her absorption is connected her children, her betterment and ensuring that the planetary assemblage that has truthful often intervened successful Haiti's affairs present grants the Caribbean state an independent, world-class execution investigation.

Though dwarfed by her caller entourage of burly American backstage information agents and facing a daunting bid of aesculapian procedures to reconstruct usage of her damaged arm, she's acceptable to fight.

"That's what anticipation gives you. You fight," she said softly. "I volition inquire and inquire and inquire until I get."