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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mob Kills Mayor Murder Suspects

Compiled From Wire Services

Residents of a small Haitian town enraged by the slaying of their mayor stormed the rural police station where seven suspects were being held and stoned and hacked them to death.

Mayor Erla Francois was shot and killed early Thursday in the capital, Port-au-Prince, while she waited for a bus to take her back to Chansolme, 160 miles to the north.

Police in Chansolme were questioning seven men about the attacks Thursday afternoon when the mob overran the police station and killed them, Radio Inter reported.

The killing of Francois, 32, appeared to be the last straw for residents of Chansolme, already infuriated by recent violence in Haiti’s northwest, including an incident Wednesday in which highwaymen held up five buses and shot several passengers.