Official Accounts Differ.

New York Times 100 years ago today, February 24, 1913:
Public Doubts Statements That Murders Were Not Plotted.
    MEXICO CITY, Feb. 23.— Francisco I. Madero and Jose Pino Suarez are dead. In a midnight ride under guard from the National Palace to the penitentiary they were killed.
    The exact circumstances surrounding the death of the deposed President and Vice President of the republic are unknown, except as given in the official accounts, which do not conform in all cases. The only witnesses were those actually concerned in the killing.
    The Provisional President, Gen. Victoriano Huerta, says that the killing of the two men was incidental to a fight between their guard and a party attempting to liberate them. The Minister of Foreign Relations, Francisco de la Barra, adds that the prisoners attempted to escape. Neither makes a definite statement as to which side fired the fatal shots. It is not impossible that neither knows.
    An official investigation has been ordered to determine the responsibility, and solemn promises have been made that the guilty will be punished.

Explanation by de la Barra.
    Francisco de la Barra, the Foreign Minister, sent an official statement to the foreign diplomatic representatives, in which he said:
    "The Department of Foreign Relations desires to make known, as already announced to the Ambassador of the United States, the British Minister, and other members of the Diplomatic Corps on various occasions, that the Government decided at a council of the Ministers that all acts relating to Madero and Pino Suarez should be adjudicated strictly according to law, as was due, and that, in consequence, the accusation process, if such had taken place, would not have departed one iota from the legal measures applicable to the case.
    "That after taking this decision the Government agreed to remove Madero and Suarez to the penitentiary, where they would have the necessary security, consideration, and comforts.
    "That yesterday morning the Minister of Foreign Relations so informed Ambassador Wilson, saying that the Mexican Government would proceed always in accord with the law, and that the removal of the ex-President and the ex-Vice President to the penitentiary would be for the reasons before indicated.
    "That it was further expected that, with the passing of time, political passions would be subdued, resulting in the establishment of greater calmness and judgment throughout the republic.

Called Suddenly to the Palace.
    "I desire to give all the facts of which I am cognizant connected with the affair of last night, which is deeply deplored both for sentiments of humanity and because of the gravity of the affair, which has surprised the Government, and the importance of which is not underestimated by the Government.
    "Last night about 11:30 I was called with all haste to the National Palace by the Chief of Staff of the President. An automobile was sent with an aid to take me, as well as the Secretary of the Interior, Alberto Garcia Granades. Surprised by the unusual call, I attempted to talk by telephone with Gen. Blanquet, the military commander, who made known that something serious had occurred.
    "On our arrival at midnight at the palace the President explained that Francisco Madero and Jose Pino Suarez, while being conducted to the penitentiary in automobiles, were killed in an encounter, which the escort guarding the prisoners had had with a group of individuals who attempted to liberate the two men.
    "Other members of the Cabinet having arrived, it was agreed that it was an absolute necessity for the honor of the Government that not only should it proceed with a minute investigation of this act, according as the law demands, but, going further, that immediate notice should be given to the chief attorney of the military court, Jose Vasquez Tagle, that he, with the Judge Advocate, should make investigations and consign those responsible, whoever they might be, to custody, and that he proceed to examine them in conformity with the law. It was agreed also that Attorney General Castellanos, whose energy and competency are well known, should take action in this most unfortunate affair.

As Huerta Reported the Affair.
    "According to the reports which President Huerta received and communicated, to the Ministers, a group of five individuals, at a point about half way between the palace and the penitentiary, fired upon the chauffeur of one of the automobiles, which was under escort. The order was given for more speed. Shortly afterward another group, more numerous, sallied from the cross streets, firing on the escort. It seems that Madero and Suarez at this point attempted to escape.
    "President Huerta communicated to the Ministers the news of the death of the ex-President and the ex-Vice President, adding that there was another person killed and two persons wounded, according to the information he had at the moment, without being exact as to which group these belonged. He also informed the Ministers that there had been some arrests.
    "The Secretary of Foreign Relations, echoing the feeling of the Government, and moved by personal sentiments which have caused him to view with horror the shedding of blood outside of those cases wherein the law has imposed the punishment, not only laments the affair, but is convinced that the honor of the republic demands a careful investigation and exemplary punishment for those who may be proved guilty of this act, whose transcendency cannot be hidden."
    Not unnaturally a great part of the public regards the official versions with doubt, having in mind the use for centuries of the notorious "ley fuga," the unwritten law which is invoked when the death of a prisoner is desired. After its application there is written on the records, "Prisoner shot trying to escape."

Widow and Sister Barred.
    Señora Madero, the widow of the ex-President, received the first definite information of his death from the Spanish
    Minister, Señor Cologan y Cologan. She already had heard reports that something unusual and serious had occurred, but friends had endeavored up to that time to prevent her from learning the whole truth.
    Soon afterward, accompanied by her brother, Jose Perez, and Mercedes Madero, a sister of Francisco, she drove to the penitentiary, but could not get permission to see the body of her husband. Señora Suarez was also prevented from entering the mortuary, where physicians, in accordance with the law, were performing an autopsy.
    In contrast to the widow, whose grief was of a pitiably silent character, expressed in sobs, Mercedes Madero, a beautiful young woman, educated in Paris, who has been a brilliant leader of society since the revolution of 1910, was dry-eyed and tigerish in her emotions. By the side of the two women whose husbands had been killed she hurled accusations at the officers who barred the entrance.

Sister Denounces Army Officers.
    "Cowards! Assassins!" she called them, her voice pitched high.
    The officers stared impassively.
    "You, the men who fired on a defenseless man," she went on, "you and your superior officers are traitors!"
    No effort was made to remove the women, nor did the officers attempt to silence them. Señora Madero continued weeping, and the girl did not cease her hysterical tirade until the arrival of the Spanish Minister and the Japanese Chargé d'Affaires, who came to offer their services.
    The Minister spoke with the officers in charge, but was told that on account of the autopsy it would be impossible for any one to see the bodies. Later in the day, they said, the request would be complied with. The diplomats then conducted the women away from the penitentiary.
    Madero's father and Rafael Hernandez, former Minister of the Interior, and other friends made efforts early in the day to recover the bodies, and it was stated this afternoon that the American Ambassador, Henry Lane Wilson, had interested himself and obtained a promise of Minister de la Barra that the bodies should be delivered to their families for burial.

Tale of Fight in Street.
    The tragedy occurred shortly after midnight. Madero and Suarez, who had been prisoners in the National Palace since their arrest on Tuesday last, were placed in an automobile, which was accompanied by another car, and escorted by 100 rurales under the orders of Commandant Francisco Cardenas and Col. Rafael Pimiento.
    With instructions not to outdistance the escort, the cars moved slowly. No incident occurred until they had reached a point near the penitentiary, where in an open place the guards' attention was attracted, according to the official version, to a group of persons following. Shots were fired at the escort out of the darkness. The rurales closed in and ordered the prisoners out of the car.
    Thirty of the guards surrounded the prisoners, while the remainder disposed themselves to resist an attack. About fifty men, some a-foot and some mounted, threw themselves upon the detachment guarding the cars, and the exchange of shots lasted twenty minutes, when the attacking party fled. The dead bodies of Madero and Pino Suarez were then found.
    The body of Madero shows only one wound. A bullet entered the back of the head and emerged at the forehead. The body of Pino Suarez shows many wounds, entering from the front.

Japanese Protect Madero Women.
    Of the male members of the Madero family only two are now in the capital. One is Francisco Madero, the father, who bitterly opposed his son's revolution in 1910, and rode across Northern Mexico in an effort to overtake and dissuade him; the other is Ernesto Madero, the former Minister of Finance, an  uncle, though only a year older than the late President.
    Gustavo Madero, a brother, was obliged to submit to the fugitive law the day after the deposition of the President, and was shot down near the arsenal. Señora Madero and the two sisters of the ex-President, Mercedes and Angela, are to-night at the Japanese Legation. Not far from the penitentiary there are two small piles of stones, some twenty feet apart. They mark the spots where the men who a few days ago ruled Mexico fell. Holes in the wall of the penitentiary show where some of the bullets finally lodged.
    The stones were piled by groups of sympathetic persons of the lower class, whose curiosity early drew them to the scene. From the top of each pitiful monument to-night flickered candles placed there and lighted by those who thus thought to pay the last rites of the Church to the souls of the dead. From the ground had been scraped away blood-saturated earth, which was carried off by the morbid, seeking souvenirs.

Formal Action by Government.
    After the engagement on the road to the penitentiary Commandant Cardenas reported to the military Commander, who conducted him to Gen. Huerta. The President summoned his Cabinet, and after apprising his Ministers of the occurrence, issued an official announcement.
    Both President and Ministers deeply deplored the affair and decided upon a full investigation to fix the responsibility and to punish the guilty. Already formal action has been taken by the authorities, as the members of the escort are under arrest pending the inquiry.
    In his capacity as Minister of Foreign Relations, Señor de la Barra then addressed his note to the diplomatic representatives.
    There were no signs of a demonstration in the central part of the city during the day. The news was received quietly and apparently philosophically. This was due perhaps not only to the fact that the majority seem to be in favor of the present Government, but because the people are still overawed by the developments of the past two weeks.
    Felix Somerfeld, a German, chief of Madero's secret service, who, according to some reports, was executed, has not even been captured. His whereabouts are known to his friends, who say that he is safe, for the present at least.
    Among those arrested to-day is Manuel Urquidi, Under Secretary of Communications in the Madero administration. Juan Sanchez Azcona, private secretary to ex-President Madero, who was captured in his flight from the capital and is being held at Puebla, probably will be brought here.
    Heavy patrols were sent out to-night to guard the streets. At 9 o'clock the bodies of Madero and Suarez were still lying in the mortuary at the penitentiary.
    Notwithstanding the apparent air of calm, a tenseness prevailed as though the people of the capital were on the watch for further grave happenings. As an indication of conditions, a rumor spread quickly throughout the city this evening that Señora Madero had committed suicide. This was followed by a rumor that Gen. Felix Diaz had been shot. Investigation showed that there was no foundation for either report.

People of Capitol Subdued.
    Early to-day small groups congregated about the penitentiary. They were composed for the most part of men and women of the lower class. There was a decided feeling of sympathy for the Maderos. Many women were crying. Some of the men attempted to make speeches, but such attempts at public display were firmly but quietly repressed by the guards.
    In the downtown district the people went about their pursuits quietly. What had been, intended as a day of jollification for the new Administration was one of solemnity not usual on a Sunday in the capital.
    A group of independent Congressmen had announced a huge manifestation, in which air classes of society had been asked to participate, but the plan was promptly abandoned upon news of the affair at the penitentiary.
    The Maderistas have been discreet in their utterances, and the pro-Government men almost equally so. Apparently the populace remembers the cannonading of the past weeks, and patrols of soldiers as well as mounted police have served to remind them that the country is now ruled by a Government whose administrative programme is of the sternest character. No attempt is made at the National Palace to disguise this fact, and President Huerta himself has said that drastic measures will be adopted to restore order.