During Villa’s life, he had been a ruthless bandit who had made many enemies. Many fathers and brothers would have loved to have the opportunity to take revenge for the abduction or rape of their wives and daughters. There were any number of potential suspects in determining who killed Pancho Villa.
Conspiracy from the Start
The assassination plot is believed to have been developed by Plutarco Elías Calles (who went on to be the President of Mexico) and Joaquin Amaro (a revolutionary general and military reformer). It is reported that Obregon gave tacit approval of the assassination of Villa. A state legislator from Durango, Jesus Barranza admitted to being the sole person responsible for the plot. He was sentenced to a long prison term, but was pardoned three months later.
Felix Lara was the Federal commander of the troops in Parral. He received a bribe of 50,000 pesos to make sure that all the police and troops were not in town on the day of the assassination. It can safely be said that no one missed Pancho Villa and most were happy that he was gone.