Strange death of popular governor haunts Argentinean society

The mysterious death of a popular Argentinean governor on New Year's Eve has rocked political circles in the Southern Cone nation while authorities try to determine how the veteran politician suffered a fatal shot in the face while in his bedroom.

Carlos Soria, the popular governor of Rio Negro province, died at a local hospital early Sunday morning from a bullet wound to his left cheek reportedly fired from his own gun. His wife, Susana Freydoz, has been charged with killing her husband but authorities are still investigating whether it was an accidental shooting or murder.

Freydoz was with her husband in their bedroom when the shooting occurred, say authorities. The couple have reportedly been having marital problems, according to investigators. Rio Negro Superior Court chief justice Víctor Sodero Nievas has told several media outlets that Freydoz had bruises which could mean there was a struggle before the shooting.

It was latest of a series of tragedies to strike the president's days-old second term

The judge said that the wife who was in a state of shock after the incident told police and family members: "It wasn't my intention to kill him." The case has captured the entire nation's attention over the past few days.

Quoting her defense team, the Buenos Aires daily La Nación reported Wednesday that Freydoz had been mixing Alpax, a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety, with alcohol the night of the incident.

"Mrs de Soria was a very traditional woman who was trying to keep her family together. We understand there was a third person," Sodero Nievas told a radio station on Tuesday.

According to prosecutor Miguel Ángel Jahde, who is in charge of the investigation, Soria's daughter and her boyfriend were in another part of the house. The wife voluntarily went to police headquarters where she was dusted for gun powder to help determine whether she actually pulled the trigger.

Investigating Judge Juan Pablo Chirinos told La Nación that he would have to wait to take a statement from the wife because she was heavily sedated and was on suicide watch. Her son-in-law also told the newspaper that Freydoz had tried to kill herself with the same gun.

The 62-year-old Soria had taken office on December 10 after winning a landslide victory as part of a ruling Victory Front coalition that supports President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. A staunch Peronist and controversial figure, Soria served as intelligence minister under President Eduardo Duhalde. During that time, he was accused of lying before an inquiry into the death of two protesters shot dead in a 2002 public demonstration.

Later, President Fernández de Kirchner accused Soria of spying on her husband, the late Néstor Kirchner. Kirchner, who was said to be willing to run for a second term after his wife's mandate was over, died from a heart attack in late 2010. Soria and Fernández de Kirchner put their rift behind them last year before he won his gubernatorial victory.

This was the latest of a series of personal blows to strike the president's administration only days into its second term. On Wednesday, President Fernández de Kirchner underwent surgery for a thyroid tumor detected days before Christmas. Also last month, her deputy trade minister Iván Heyn, 34, was found hanged in his hotel room during the Mercosur summit in Montevideo - another case that has captured media attention in the last few weeks. Uruguayan authorities have determined that Heyn was practicing auto-erotic asphyxiation, according to the Buenos Aires daily Clarín.