'Something terrible happened': A radio call with one of the men accused in presidential assassination plot

While the unidentified caller was connected Radio Mega, a section newsman happened to overhear him successful person.

A newsman and his cameraman for Radio Television Caraibes, 1 of Haiti's biggest vigor stations, were driving up the hilly Route de Kenscoff connected a motorbike toward the President's backstage residence, connected a ngo to spot what they could find retired astir the assassination.

Footage they filmed shows an seemingly unsecured roadblock of 2 trucks, which they easy bypassed -- the opening of an bonzer 5 minutes successful the institution of radical who would soon beryllium the astir wanted men successful Haiti.

Just up the hill, 2 men successful balaclavas roseate retired of a ditch holding agelong guns and shouted. Malhaiko Senechal, the reporter, was unfazed. "I'm utilized to seeing men with guns successful my work, erstwhile I'm driving astir the city," helium said. "I thought they were helping the constabulary who were responding to the murder."

After 15 years of digging up quality successful Port-au-Prince, Senechal's instinct was to halt and find retired more. He saw much men lasting nether the shadiness of bushes and flowers overhanging a adjacent wall. They looked watchful and a small restless, but not evidently hostile oregon upset, helium told CNN. Three held guns and evident protective vests, and a 4th was sitting down, speaking rapidly into his cellphone successful Haitian Creole.

According to Senechal, the talker described himself arsenic a translator and insisted connected the telephone that helium and his radical had attempted to service an apprehension warrant to the President.

Meanwhile, Radio Mega listeners were proceeding this unrecorded from the unidentified caller:

"This radical is from the President's ain hand; it is simply a radical that helium fto into the state to supply information for him. It turns retired that the aforesaid radical has been fixed a warrant to apprehension the President."

The aforesaid caller described the purported warrant successful detail, and added, "Something unspeakable happened, though we were not expecting that to happen. I was lone translating for them, though. When we tried to participate the gross to service the warrant, the President's entourage opened fire. Consequently, these agents opened occurrence successful instrumentality to support their lives."

Standing a fewer feet away, Senechal called his boss, who confirmed his ain increasing suspicion -- helium was apt lasting successful the midst of those progressive successful the onslaught astatine the President's house.

"When I heard the interpreter who was doing the interrogation with Radio Mega, I instantly knew that I was successful danger, successful information due to the fact that these were men that came and assassinated the President. If they tin assassinate my President and I americium conscionable a elemental national -- good I was frightened for my life," Senechal said.

An apprehension plan

That anyone would assertion they were some hired to support the President and instructed to apprehension him appears astatine champion contradictory. Yet it bears adjacent resemblance to explanations already given by Haitian and Colombian authorities successful the week since the President's killing.

At slightest 39 radical person been implicated successful the sidesplitting of President Moise, and 26 of the suspects are Colombian, galore of them ex-military. Citing Haitian authorities, Colombian constabulary said Thursday that immoderate of the Colombians were hired and brought to Haiti connected the knowing their occupation was to detain the person and manus him implicit to United States instrumentality enforcement.

The archetypal program was to "arrest the president and enactment him connected show for the (US Drug Enforcement Agency)," Colombian constabulary main General Jorge Vargas said astatine a property league successful Bogota connected Thursday. Haitian constabulary person besides said the suspects allegedly carried a papers purporting to beryllium an apprehension warrant. CNN has nary grounds of the document's authenticity.

Several suspects did person US ties -- immoderate had been informants for the DEA and FBI, portion others had participated successful US subject grooming and acquisition programs portion serving successful the Colombian military. However, determination is nary denotation of the DEA's nonstop engagement successful the cognition that killed President Moise, according to Vargas, and the bureau has said that none of the attackers were operating connected its behalf.

A fig of suspected killers were apt deceived by their compatriots, Colombian President Ivan Duque told a section vigor presumption connected Thursday. Preliminary probe suggests the Colombians were moving successful 2 groups, helium said: A smaller radical who knew of a "criminal" nonsubjective and were alert the bigger cognition was a cover-up, and a larger radical that had been kept successful the dark.

"An important radical was taken determination to enactment connected a expected backstage information mission, for protection. But determination was a smaller radical who seemingly had elaborate cognition that the result of the ngo was to beryllium a transgression one," Duque said, without offering further evidence.

Whether that result was meant to beryllium a statesmanlike assassination is not clear, helium added.

Two erstwhile Colombian subject officers, Dubernay Capador and German Rivera, person been accused of starring the operation. The brace antecedently met with Christian Emmanuel Sanon, the Florida-based pastor whom Haitian authorities allege coordinated the subject cognition successful hopes of seizing powerfulness for himself, according to Vargas, the Colombian constabulary chief. Sanon has denied each knowledge of the cognition and insisted connected his innocence, according to a root adjacent to the probe who cannot beryllium named due to the fact that they are not authorized to sermon the affair.

A Colombian information defender for an lipid institution successful Bogota, Matias Gutierrez, besides said that Capador attempted to enlistee him to question to Haiti successful aboriginal May, describing a occupation "as backstage information successful Haiti. Security for the President of Haiti, who was believed to beryllium nether decease threat."

Three much of the known suspects are Haitian-Americans, of which 2 are believed to person been hired arsenic translators for the group. Based connected photos released aft their arrest, Senechal believes that the antheral helium spoke to -- and who called into Radio Mega -- was 1 of them.

Haitian Chief of National Police Leon Charles has declined to remark connected whether immoderate of the suspects person been formally charged oregon person ineligible representation, citing the ongoing investigation.

Capador and slightest 2 different Colombians were killed by Haitian authorities responding to the assassination.

Search turns up much questions

Arrests proceed successful Haiti amid the hunt for a section mastermind -- oregon respective -- susceptible of bringing in, arming, and moving astir dozens of overseas mercenaries. Several constabulary officers and heads of information units person been enactment nether "precautionary measures," which are typically intended to bounds movements, according to Haitian police. Four person been enactment successful isolation, including the caput of nationalist palace information Dimitri Herard.

"I besides judge this has been a overmuch bigger crippled and that the authorities volition person to clarify galore aspects. Who pushed for changing the result of the operation? Why each the radical progressive extremity up successful the aforesaid spot and not successful 2 places? Who was successful complaint of protecting the President? These are each things we request to reply and we're moving with Haitian authorities truthful that they pb to the instigators of this assassination," Duque, the Colombian President, said connected Thursday.

But overmuch of the probe remains opaque, leaving plentifulness of fertile crushed for conspiracy theory, speculation and rumor. Several cardinal pieces of accusation stay undisclosed, including CCTV footage from wrong the President's residence, and the relationship of Haiti's astir salient imaginable witness, First Lady Martine Moise, who was injured during past week's attack. Her authoritative Twitter relationship has released aggregate statements reflecting connected her husband's decease and thanking aesculapian unit successful Miami, wherever she is hospitalized, but has not commented connected what happened.

Without the grounds of the suspects themselves, yet to beryllium explained is wherefore they seemingly allowed Senechal and his cameraman to get truthful adjacent and besides to depart, asking lone whether the brace had seen service oregon constabulary troops astatine the bottommost of the hill. The 2 journalists had not noticed immoderate information forces connected their mode up the hill, Senechal says, though astir 20 equipped information officers could beryllium seen coming from the adjacent Place Saint Pierre arsenic helium left, astir 5 minutes later.

Which raises 1 much question: Why Haitian authorities mightiness person near a cardinal roadblock unattended successful beforehand of the suspected assassins, adjacent briefly. A spokeswoman for the Haitian constabulary did not respond to CNN's petition for comment.