U.S. Didn’t Ask if Linder Killing Was Cold Blood

The U.S. Embassy in Honduras has interviewed the contra group accused of killing Benjamin Linder but failed to ask them if they shot the American volunteer in cold blood at point blank range, a State Department official said today.

The official could offer no explanation why the key question had not been asked the rebel group involved in the April 28 killing of the 27-year old Portland, Ore., native, who was in Nicaragua helping the Sandinistas build a hydroelectric project.

The State Department was preparing a list of questions to be asked of the contras two weeks ago when they returned from patrol in Nicaragua.

Asked if the list had been prepared, the official replied: “We did. That doesn’t mean (Embassy officials) asked them.”

The State Department has been skeptical of an autopsy by a Nicaraguan doctor reporting that Linder died from a bullet fired less than two feet away, apparently as he lay wounded.

The contras issued a statement late last month in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, denying that Linder had been shot at point-blank range. However, they acknowledged that the patrol’s mission was to capture the foreigner of unknown nationality working with the Sandinistas.

Although the contras were not asked specifically if they had shot Linder point-blank as he lay wounded, they did say he was among the five men killed when they returned fire from the 10-man Sandinista patrol, said the official, who commented on the grounds he remain unidentified.

The Sandinista government of Nicaragua has said only three were killed from the patrol, which they said consisted of seven men. The Sandinistas also said Linder was not wearing a uniform, nor carrying a weapon.