James Warren
THE notorious torturer and Franco henchman Antonio Gonzalez Pacheco, otherwise known as ‘Billy the Kid’, has died from coronavirus aged 73.
According to Police sources, Pacheco died at 7am in the San Francisco de Anis Psychiatric Hospital in Malaga.
Known for his brutality and torturing of Franco’s opposition, Pacheco was in the middle of an inquest to remove his government funded medals and inflated pensions for his ‘services rendered’ during his time in the police force.
He entered the Police Force in 1971 and was assigned to the social research department, a group dedicated to the investigation and oppression of Anti-Franco groups.
He quickly grew a reputation for his aggressive nature and his willingness to reach for his pistol in the style of the Wild West, a quirk that gave him his infamous nickname.
Since his retirement in 1982, Pacheco has been apparently immune to prosecution, with numerous courts fighting to make him accountable for his crimes.
He was tried for 13 counts of torture by an Argentinian judge who sought extradition but it was refused by the Spanish High Court on the basis that his crimes had been committed too long ago.
Essentially living as a free man, an amendment to an archaic law in 2018 enabled then interior minister Fernando Grande Marlaska to begin an investigation to whether he could be stripped of his four congressional medals and increased pension from the government.
Unfortunately he passed before any actions could be taken.
“The death of torturer Gonzalez Pacheco without having been tried, with his medals and privileges intact, is a shame for democracy and also for us as a government. I apologise to his victims, fighters for democracy and justice,” wrote deputy leader Pablo Iglesias on his Twitter page.
