violent, sudden, and instantaneous. All of the foregoing is consistent with a gunshot from
close range and very probably suicide.51
75.
According to the "list of physical evidence" submitted by the Chief of Police of Chimborazo
Province to the National Police Commissioner of Riobamba Canton, the following were collected: 3 cartridge
cases, 1 ballpoint pen, 1 red handlebar, 2 discharged rounds, one of them with cement, 1 Smith & Wesson .38
revolver, utility belt and holster with its accessories, and 8 undischarged .38 rounds. 52 An "evidence" record
of the National Bureau of Investigations of the National Police dated December 15, 1992, states that the
following objects were collected: 1 Smith & Wesson .38 revolver with a modified barrel; 1 olive green nylon
belt, 1 brown leather revolver holder, used, with an attached brown holster, used; 5 cartridges, .38 caliber;
paraffin residue on the right hand of Jorge Valencia Hinojosa; 1 black ballpoint pen, used; 1 gold handlebar,
used. Attached to that report was a "note" stating that at the National Police criminalistics laboratory there
were: 6 cartridges, .38 caliber; 6 cartridge cases, .38 caliber; 2 projectile fragments. 53
76.
On December 4, 1992, the experts designated by the National Police Commissioner of the
Canton to perform an examination of a firearm, projectiles, and other objects, indicated that the .38 long
Smith & Wesson revolver with the serial number AUF2290 on the grip had a cylinder with six rounds "three
of which are discharged.” They also stated that a holster was found that consisted of an olive green nylon belt
for 12 projectiles, with eight projectiles found intact, that is, not discharged, as well as a plastic holder
containing three cartridges of the same caliber; and two fragments of discharged and deformed lead bullets
with traces or residue of a dry lime mixture, possibly from the wall.54
77.
The report of the medical experts Carlos Moreno Paredes and Pedro Usiña Castañeda
regarding the autopsy was submitted on December 7, 1992, and stated that Mr. Valencia Hinojosa had died of
a “massive brain hemorrhage ” caused “by the impact of a bullet that traveled from right to left, front to back,
and upward.”55 The body was described as having been found lying “face up” and the shot that ended his life
was "from right to left, front to back, and upward.” 56 As an "appendix" to that report there is a note from the
National Police Medical Doctor, Alberto Lema Carpio, who said that "virtual Tardieu spots were automatically
ruled out as they have to occur within a context of asphyxia ... as part of a panorama of injuries ..., they cannot
51 Appendix 20. Autopsy. December 4, 1992. Autopsy report. December 4, 1992. Appendix to the State’s communication of
February 7, 2011, received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011.
52 Appendix 21. List of physical evidence. December 4, 1992. Appendix to the State’s communication of February 7, 2011,
received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011.
53 Appendix 22. National Police of Ecuador, Evidence. December 15, 1992. Appendix to the State’s communication of February
7, 2011, received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011.
54 Appendix 23. National Police Commissioner of Riobamba Canton. Record of firearm examination. December 4, 1992.
(Appendix to the State’s communication of February 7, 2011, received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011).
55 Appendix 24. Report of the medical experts to the National Police Commissioner, December 7, 1992. Appendix 9 to the
State’s communication of February 7, 2011, received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011.
56General inspection/Head, face, ears covered with blood; small, 4mm diameter excoriation on the bridge of the nose; bruising
on the both inferior palpebrals , bleeding from both ears and from the nose, distal cyanosis of both hands, livor and rigor mortis; in the
right temporal bone we found an elliptical wound with inverted edges measuring six centimeters long by one centimeter wide, running
forward and downward, the exterior of the right outer ear and the lower end eight centimeter from the inferior edge of the right ear lobe;
at the lower edge the anterior two thirds of the wound is blackened (Fisch ring). In the posterior left parietal region there is a wound
with uneven edges ... measuring four by two centimeters with the presence of brain matter and some bone fragments. On the edge of the
scalp we noted hematomas on the inner surface of the wounds described externally; in the squamous part of the right temporal bone
there is a 1 centimeter-wide orifice with regular edges; in the left posterior parietal region we found an elliptical orifice measuring 2.5 by
1.5 centimeters; from the lower edge of this orifice two fracture lines part from the lower edge of this orifice in an inverted V-shape, from
the superior edge of the orifice in the right temporal bone and from its anterior edge parts a fracture line that circumscribes the
squamous part of the right temporal bone, joins the fracture of the vertex, and descends to the right side of the os occipitale. Appendix
24. Report of the medical experts to the National Police Commissioner, December 7, 1992. Appendix 9 to the State’s communication of
February 7, 2011, received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011.