The POW Who Was Shot Nine Times and Still Survived

Can we cheat death?

Probably not. But one man came close. His name is Wenceslao Moguel. Moguel was tried and sentenced to death after being accused of being a rebel during the Mexican revolution.

There was no trial, and the poor man didn't have a chance to appeal his sentence. His death would have put him among the many people who have died undeserved deaths in wars.

But lady luck and death made a deal. A firing squad shot Moguel eight to nine times, yet he survived!

Let's find out about this man who was able to escape death and live for an incredible sixty-one more years!

Moguel's arrest during the Mexican Revolution.

Not much is known about Moguel's early life. He was born in Yucatan, Northern Mexico in 1890.

During the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920), anarchy and mayhem reigned supreme. Pancho Villa, the legendary revolutionary, was defeated in 1915 by the Constitutionalists, popularly known as the Federales.

This failure was catastrophic for his followers, who were influential in Northern Mexico. The government hunted them down and often executed people on the most bogus of charges.

Wenceslao Moguel Herrera, a 25-year-old, was accused of being one of Pancho Villa’s faithful followers. On March 18, 1915, government forces arrested him.

On the same day, Col. Ortiz ordered Moguel and other imprisoned rebels to be executed without a trial. They didn't even give the unfortunate man a chance to challenge the judgement or tell his side of the story.

The military lined up Moguel and his comrades. They could have one last cigarette before facing the firing squad.

A miraculous escape from death.

On March 18, 1915, eight Federales troops opened fire on a blindfolded Moguel, firing eight or nine rounds. Col. Ortiz then went over to his corpse and gave the Coup de grâce shot, which is a shot to a crucial organ that ends a person's suffering.

In an astounding turn of events, Moguel survived after being shot at least twelve times! He was in a lot of agony.

Moguel sat back and waited for his executioners to go. They thought they had completed their mission and that all of the prisoners had died.

They had no idea one guy had cheated death.

Moguel then headed to the church of St James Apostle, which was three blocks away, despite the fact that he was peppered with bullets. A member of the parish found him half-dead and took him to safety.

Others say that his fellow revolutionaries found him unconscious the next day in a pile of bodies, and that he was still alive. They recovered his body and gave him medical attention.

While it is unknown how Moguel managed to escape, we do know that he was treated for his injuries and survived.

He remained low-key until the Mexican revolution was over. In 1930, he came to the United States.

His story of survival caught the eye of cartoonist Robert Ripley, who asked him to be on his radio show on July 16, 1937. Moguel's incredible story of escaping the jaws of death became well known.

Moguel earned the moniker "El Fusilado," which translates as "the executed one," due to his celebrity status.

Chumbawamba, an English rock band, composed a song about his extraordinary survival.

Moguel was supposed to die on March 16, 1915, but he lived another 61 years. He returned to Mexico, where he died on July 29, 1976, at the age of 85.

Moguel’s story is surreal. They shot a man ten times from close range and still yet he lived a full life. The human survival instinct is sometimes incredible.

References.

• The Firing Squad”. Mexico Mystic’s Blog — Expat In Tlaxcala.
• Pacheco, Edgar A. Santiago (2020-11-04). "Los libros del fusilado de Halachó". Informe Fracto.
• Man Miraculously Survived Execution By Firing Squad, Lad Bible.