Anti-Corruption Investigator Found Strangled and Beaten in Ecuador on June 8, Initially Ruled Suicide

According to Radio Pichincha, Polish-born anti-corruption investigator Monika Silva Koniuszek, 41, was found dead at her home in Montañita, Ecuador on June 8. Ecuadorian government officials initially claimed she died by suicide, but an autopsy revealed she had been strangled and beaten, contradicting the initial ruling.

Koniuszek had spent months investigating alleged corruption between local political figures in Santa Elena province and criminal cartels. According to the Guardian, fellow anti-corruption campaigners now suggest the violent death may have been orchestrated to silence her. A close friend told Polish media outlet TVP Info that Koniuszek felt "followed and observed" while investigating, saying cartels had reportedly put a price on her head and that she had previously received death threats.