Argentina Baby Snatch Witness Dies in Trial

Days before he was to testify about the Dirty War disappearance of twins born to a political prisoner, a former Argentine army officer has been found dead of a gunshot wound to the head, the BBC reports. Police don't know if Paul Navone committed suicide but human rights groups think he might have been murdered to stop him from talking.

"It's highly likely that there are people who could have felt threatened by Navone's testimony," said a lawyer. Hundreds of babies were stolen from their dissident parents and given to childless couples sympathetic to Argentina's military junta from 1976 to 1983, when an estimated 30,000 leftists disappeared. Another army officer died of cyanide poisoning in December days before the verdict in his torture case. (More Argentina stories.)