PANCHO VILLA KILLED IN HAIL OF GUNFIRE IN MEXICAN TOWN
Parrel, Mexico (JFK+50) On the morning of July 20, 1923, the infamous Mexican bandit Pancho Villa*, commander of rebel armies in Northern Mexico for ten years, and "one of the main protagonists of the Mexican Revolution", was gunned down while driving his 1919 Dodge touring car through Parrel.
As Villa's Dodge passed by, a local "vendor" yelled out "Viva Villa!," a signal which prompted seven riflemen to emerge from hiding and fire forty rounds into the car. All but one of the car's occupants died, including Pancho Villa who was killed instantly.
JFK+50 NOTE
The above description of the events surrounding the death of Pancho Villa comes from sources listed below except The Evening Star. The Associated Press front-page story published in the Star on the day of Villa's death is inaccurate.
According to the Star, Villa was killed at his ranch by his own secretary Miguel Trillo who was then shot down by Villa loyalists.
Our other sources say that Miguel Trillo was one of the occupants of the car killed in an ambush in the town of Parrel. Christopher Minster states that at the time of his death, Villa had "many enemies" and lists the names of six individuals, including Mexican president Alvaro Obregon, who may have been responsible for ordering the assassination.
*Francisco "Pancho" Villa (1878-1923) was born in La Coyotada, Mexico. After his last raid in 1919, FPV negotiated a peace arrangement with the Mexican authorities which included receiving a 25,000 acre hacienda where he lived with 200 of his men.
SOURCES
"Pancho Villa Slain By Own Secretary On Mexican Ranch," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., July 20, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
"The Death of Pancho Villa," by Michal Haskew, Wartime History Network, www.wartimehistorynetwork.com/
"Who Killed Pancho Villa," by Christopher Minster, February 16 2019, ThoughtCo, www.thoughtcompany.com/
