--- alias: - Jonathan Moyle (journalist) category: Authors & Journalists created: 2026-09-21 died: 1990-03-31 location: Santiago, Chile summary: Editor of Defence Helicopter World found hanged in a Santiago hotel in March 1990 while reporting on a helicopter Carlos Cardoen was converting for Iraq, and afterward described by British officials as a sexual deviant. tags: - Person - JonathanMoyle - CarlosCardoen - ArmsToIraq - Chile - SuspiciousDeath - MI5 updated: 2026-09-21 --- Jonathan Moyle, 28, of Devon, edited the trade magazine Defence Helicopter World. He went to [Santiago](/places/santiago/) in March 1990 for the Chilean Air Force's air and space fair, where he was interested in a Bell helicopter that Industrias Cardoen was converting to multiple uses. He was to go on to [Bolivia](/places/bolivia/) to report on military operations against the drug trade. On March 31 he was found dead in the cupboard of his room in the Hotel Carrera, hanging by his shirt from a rail. The Chilean police called it suicide.[^1] ### The Evidence A motion put down in the House of Commons in June 1990 stated that he had been "hanged by his own shirt from a bar 5ft 4 inches from the ground although he was 5ft 8 inches tall, with his shins bruised, traces of sedatives in his stomach and blood stains on his sheets," that he had been "investigating the Chilean arms industry," and that he "was in touch with the British defence attache in Santiago." He had no history of depression and was about to be married. Letters found with him spoke of his honeymoon plans, the trees he was planting, and a visit to his future in-laws in [Germany](/places/germany/).[^1][^2] His father, Anthony Moyle, said: "Before he died, he talked to Mr [Cardoen](/people/carlos-cardoen/) himself. The judge has detailed drawings of weapons which the Cardoen people were going to fit on to the helicopter and export to [Iraq](/places/iraq/). My son would probably have printed that this would have made it potentially an attack helicopter."[^1] ### The Smear As the Chilean investigating judge began to doubt the police account, British officials in [Chile](/places/chile/) and, it was understood, members of [MI5](/organizations/mi5/) in [London](/places/london/) put it about that Moyle "was a sexual deviant who hanged himself while attempting to obtain pleasure." The Guardian reported on June 2, 1990, that "no evidence has been provided to support the claims." His father called them "just foul." The Commons motion deplored "the foul attempts to smear Mr Moyle being made by British security 'sources'" and the attitude of the embassy in Santiago toward the death and the family.[^1][^2] ### Later Proceedings A second motion, in November 1992, described the death as "subsequently held to be murder," recorded the family's belief that he was killed "because of his investigations into the supply to Iraq of the Helios weapons guidance system and the Stonefish mine by Chilean arms dealers Cardoen Industries," noted "the links between Cardoen and [Matrix Churchill](/organizations/matrix-churchill/) and the Iraqi regime," and asked Lord Justice Scott to take the case into his inquiry. Cardoen has denied any part in the death.[^3] [^1]: Coad, Malcolm, and David Pallister. "Dead journalist sex smear 'foul,'" *The Guardian,* June 2, 1990, p. 3. [^2]: House of Commons, Early Day Motion 651, "Death in Chile of Jonathan Moyle," session 1989-90. https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/651 [^3]: House of Commons, Early Day Motion 6983, "Murder of British Journalist, Jonathan Moyle," session 1992-93, November 1992.