July 20, 1923 · Parral, Chihuahua Theater
July 20, 1923
On July 20, 1923, Pancho Villa was ambushed in his Dodge touring car on a street in Parral, Chihuahua, by eight gunmen who fired approximately 150 bullets into the vehicle. Villa and three of his companions were killed instantly. Villa had accepted amnesty in 1920 and retired to a hacienda in Canutillo, but his continued popular prestige and his public support for Adolfo de la Huerta against the Obregón government made him dangerous. The assassination was ordered by powerful figures in the Mexican political establishment — Plutarco Elías Calles and possibly Obregón himself are suspected, though no definitive evidence emerged. Villa was 45 years old.
Commanders