Peru ex-president leaves cadaver as sign of 'contempt' for his enemies - suicide note

The hearse carrying the remains of Peru's former President Alan Garcia, who killed himself this week, arrives at the Mapfre Cemetery, in Lima, Peru April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Janine Costa

LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian ex-president Alan Garcia wrote in an alleged suicide note read by family members at a wake on Friday that he had killed himself in order to avoid humiliation at the hands of his political enemies.

Garcia shot himself in the head earlier this week as police arrived at his door to arrest him in connection with alleged bribes from Brazilian builder Odebrecht, in the most dramatic turn yet in Latin America's largest graft scandal. Before his suicide, Garcia had repeatedly brushed off allegations of corruption as a political hit.