Ex-wife of Argentine prosecutor says he was killed

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The ex-wife of a prosecutor whose mysterious death has rocked Argentina said Thursday that a team of experts she hired had concluded that her former husband was killed and that his body was moved to the bathroom where he was found dead.

Alberto Nisman "was a victim of homicide, without any doubt," said Sandra Arroyo Salgado, Nisman's ex-wife who had two daughters who are still minors with the late prosecutor.

Authorities have said they are investigating the possibility of suicide or homicide.

Nisman was found dead with a bullet in his head in his bathroom on Jan. 18. It was a day before he was to elaborate to lawmakers on his accusations that President Cristina Fernandez orchestrated a secret deal with Iran to hide the role of officials allegedly responsible for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center. Fernandez and Iran have denied the allegations.

Under Argentine law, the families of victims have access to the official investigation and are allowed to do their own forensic tests at the crime scene.

Arroyo Salgado, a federal judge, has repeatedly cast doubt on the investigation, and announced soon after Nisman's death that she was hiring her own investigative team.

Arroyo Salgado said the analysis she commissioned found that there had not been any spasms in Nisman's right hand, which she said was the opposite of the official autopsy, which has not been released.

Arroyo Salgado said the lack of spasms meant that Nisman did not shoot himself.

She also said that her team concluded that Nisman's body had been moved to the bathroom after he was shot, though she didn't elaborate on where he might have been killed.

After Arroyo Salgado's press conference, Viviana Fein, the lead investigator, told Radio Nacional that she would consider the results of her investigation. By law, the results of any investigation commissioned by the families of the victims can added to the official probe.

"To this day, nothing allows me to definitively say that it was homicide or suicide. Nothing," said Fein.

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Associated Press writer Almudena Calatrava contributed to this report.

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