Legislator found dead in his home

PANAMA. 2009 started with with fatal news hailing from Chiriqui, where a PRD lawmaker was found dead inside his house early on Thursday.

Agustin Escude, barely 48 years old, was a doctor and a pastor at an Evangelical Church.

According to the prosecutor handling the case, Fulvio Teran, the deputy’s death was due to heart failure.

Teran received a phone call at 8:00 a.m.

When he reached the legislator’s house, he was met by a doctor who had certified Escude’s death after finding thebody in his bedroom.

The prosecutor added that a autopsy would not be held, but the body was transferred to the Judicial Morgue in the former Jose Domingo De Obaldia hospital.

Escude suffered from depression over the last six months, leading some to question his mental health, and speculate that the death was a suicide.

The President of the National Assembly, Raul Rodriguez, expressed his condolences and corroborated that Escude has been absent in the last few weeks.

The deceased legislator, a doctor by profession, was president of the Human Rights Commission of the Assembly.

He first appeared in the political spotlight in 2004 after being selected as a deputy for the 4-1 circuit.

However, his re-election attempts failed last year.

He lost the internal PRD election and suffered depression.

At the beginning of his term, Escude was among the noticed new faces of the PRD in the National Assembly, but his star was fading as time passed.

In another one of his facets, Escude was a pastor of the Asociacion Cristiana Vida Abundtante Church in David, as well as a sub lieutenant of the firemen’s body in David.

Yesterday, silence reigned in his temple, as the pain and sadness among those gathered was all too evident.

Jose Abdiel Cedeño, president of the Alliance of Pastors in Chiriqui, said he deeply lamented the events, and stated that this type of news always caused deep pain among evangelical people. “The pastoral group makes its pain and sadness known,” he commented.

Escude leaves behind four children and his wife, Alina Caparroso.

The funeral services, according to family members, will likely take place early next week.