Zacarias de la Cruz, who was Rafael Leónidas Trujillo’s chauffeur for 18 years up until the time of his assassination in 1961, died over the weekend of a heart attack. He was 93 years old. He was with Trujillo at the time of the later’s death. Trujillo was shot to death on the Malecón on his way to his Hacienda Fundación home in San Cristóbal. The driver survived the assault because one of the bullets he received, of seven, knocked him unconscious. He later recovered to request to be taken to the military hospital by taxi. A former Captain of the Army, he had Trujillo’s trust and took with him all the secrets he knew of Trujillo’s private life. He refused interviews or writing his memoirs.
