Chester Allen "Chet" Bitterman III (November 30, 1952 – March 1981) was an American linguist and Christian missionary who was kidnapped and killed by members of the 19th of April Movement (M-19) in Colombia in 1981.
Originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Bitterman attended Columbia Bible College in South Carolina, where he first heard of the Christian mission organization Wycliffe Bible Translators. After graduation, he received linguistics training from the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) in North Dakota, and married Brenda Gardner, a fellow alumna of SIL's training program. Together, they traveled to Colombia to begin mission work with Wycliffe in 1979.
As an inexperienced missionary, Bitterman was not immediately assigned to an indigenous people where he could begin to translate the Bible into a new language as many Wycliffe missionaries do. Instead, he worked primarily at Wycliffe's base in Lomalinda, first working in the radio tower and later serving as security coordinator. Their time at Lomalinda was broken up by a six-month service trip in Bogotá where Bitterman and his wife assisted a more experienced translator couple. However, by 1981, plans began to fall into place for Bitterman and his wife to attempt to reach the Carijona people in the Colombian jungle.
Kidnapping and Assassination The kidnapping and assassination of the American missionary Chester Bitterman in Colombia was a major terrorist event which dominated worldwide media for nearly seven weeks in early 1981.“Colombian Kidnapers Set Terms”, Washington Post, Washington, 1981-01-22, archived and available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/national/1981/01/22/colombia-kidnapers-set-terms/5ce0160b-bbb1-4e92-a322-f8b016f6334c/. Retrieved 2026-01-29.Martin McReynolds, “Leftist guerrillas holding American Bible Translator Chestere Bitterman”, United Press International, 1981-02-16, archived and available at https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/02/16/Leftist-guerrillas-holding-American-Bible-translator-Chester-Bitterman-have/2073351147600/. Retrieved 2026-01-29.“Bitterman is found; Dead in Colombia”, The New York Times, New York, 1981-03-08, archived and available at https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/08/weekinreview/the-world-bitterman-is-found-dead-in-colombia.html. Retrieved 2026-01-29.“Missionary Murdered in Colombia Hailed as Martyr at Home Church”, The New York Times, New York, 1981-03-09, archived and available at https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/09/world/missionary-murdered-in-colombia-hailed-as-martyr-at-home-church.html. Retrieved 2026-01-29.“Asesinan lingüista de los E.U. en Colombia”, [U.S. linguist murdered in Colombia]. La Prensa Grafica (in Spanish). San Salvador, El Salvador, 1981-03-09, archived and available at https://biblioteca.utec.edu.sv/hemeroteca/svdca/1981/LPG19810309-004.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29.Bill Wallace, “Onward Wycliffe Soldiers: Missionaries with a Mission?”, The Nation, New York, 1981-05-30, archived and available at https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP90-00552R000605830018-2.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29. It was a major test for the newly elected Reagan Administration and an unprecedented challenge for Colombia, which was, at that time, experiencing guerrilla attacks on a daily basis.
By January 1981 Bitterman, 28, had spent fifteen months in Colombia as a member of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), associates of Wycliffe Bible Translators. He, along with his wife Brenda Gardner and two small girls, were planning to translate the Bible into the language of the pre-literate Carijona Indians. The Bittermans were based at the SIL center of Loma Linda (in the Colombian province of Meta) but Chet had been suffering from biliary colic and had come to Bogotá for a gall bladder operation.Humberto Diez, “El M-19 secuestro a un economista del Instituto Linguistico”, [M-19 kidnaps economist from Linguistic Institute]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogota, 1981-01-20, Archived BC0707, Microficha 1, D6, available at https://biblioarchivo.bogota.gov.co/opac-tmpl/IMG_CINEP1/BC0707-1981-1T-1.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29.
Bitterman's kidnapping lasted for a total of 47 days. It began at dawn on January 19, 1981, when six armed men and a woman entered the guest house of the SIL in a northern suburb of Bogotá claiming to be police. Once inside they captured him in the presence of his wife, girls and other SIL personnel. The captors had first asked for the SIL director, Albert Wheeler, but, not finding him, took Bitterman instead.“Cronología de un crimen”. [Chronology of a crime]. El Liberal (in Spanish). Bucaramanga. Compiled by the Agencia Nacional de Noticias Colpresa. Archived from the original on 1981-03-08, Code BC0707, Microficha 5, F7. available at https://biblioarchivo.bogota.gov.co/opac-tmpl/IMG_CINEP1/BC0707-1981-1T-5.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29. The gunmen searched the house, and SIL documents and electronic equipment were also taken.
Three days later, on January 22, the kidnappers released a statement. They identified themselves as the M-19, a Colombian guerrilla movement, and claimed the SIL was a front for the CIA and had installed American missiles in a lake at its Loma Linda center.“M-19 acusa al ILV de ‘tener misiles’”. [M-19 accuses SIL of 'having missiles']. El Colombiano (in Spanish). Medellin. Archived from the original on 1981-01-28, Code BC0707, Microficha 2, A8, available at https://biblioarchivo.bogota.gov.co/opac-tmpl/IMG_CINEP1/BC0707-1981-1T-2.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29. They communicated their two demands in a letter to American President Ronald Reagan: that SIL leave Colombia immediately and that their manifesto be published in The New York Times and the Washington Post.Humberto Diez, “Ultimátum del M-19”, [M-19 Ultimatum]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogotá, 1981-01-23, Archived BC0707, Microficha 1, E10, available at https://biblioarchivo.bogota.gov.co/opac-tmpl/IMG_CINEP1/BC0707-1981-1T-1.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29. They also stated that if both demands were not met in one month’s time, Bitterman would be killed.“Secuestradores piden expulsión de Instituto Lingüístico”, [Kidnappers request expulsion of Linguistic Institute]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogotá, 1981-01-21, Archived BC0707, Microficha 1, D14, available at https://biblioarchivo.bogota.gov.co/opac-tmpl/IMG_CINEP1/BC0707-1981-1T-1.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29.
In the following days both the ColombianGiraldo Gaitán O., “’El gobierno no transigirá con la subversión’ dice Zea Hernández”, [Government will not compromise with subversion' says Zea Hernandez]. El Colombiano (in Spanish). Medellin, 1981-01-24, Archived BC0707, Microficha 1, F3, available at https://biblioarchivo.bogota.gov.co/opac-tmpl/IMG_CINEP1/BC0707-1981-1T-1.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29. and American“Declaración de la embajada: El gobierno de EE.UU. no pacta con los terroristas”. [Embassy Statement: The U.S. government does not negotiate with terrorists]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogota. Archived from the original on 1981-01-28, Code BC0707, Microficha 2, A6, available at https://biblioarchivo.bogota.gov.co/opac-tmpl/IMG_CINEP1/BC0707-1981-1T-2.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29. governments defended SIL's presence in the country, denied its involvement with the CIA and insisted they would not negotiate with terrorists. On January 24, the SIL stated formally that it would not leave Colombia and urged Bitterman's capturers not to shed innocent blood.
On January 26 Colombian television was interrupted (a communication tactic used at the time by M-19) with a broadcast claim that M-19 did not have Bitterman in their possession. They claimed the Colombian government had captured him ‘to discredit their movement’. The same claim was made the next day by M-19 prisoners in the ‘La Picota’ prison. The Colombian Ministry of Defense immediately qualified these claims as ‘absurd’. On January 28 a communiqué bearing the M-19 logo was sent to the news media threatening to kill Bitterman on February 19 (one month after his capture) if SIL did not leave Colombia. On January 29 photos of masked armed men surrounding Bitterman were sent to the media. Behind them was the M-19 flag. Based on these conflicting claims, the media and some military officials began to speculate that the kidnappers were a dissident M-19 faction.“Piden liberación del ingeniero Chester Bitterman”. [Call for release of engineer Chester Bitterman]. El Pais (in Spanish). Cali. Archived from the original on 1981-01-31 Code BC0707, Microficha 2, B14, available at https://biblioarchivo.bogota.gov.co/opac-tmpl/IMG_CINEP1/BC0707-1981-1T-2.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29.“División en el M-19: Piden expulsión de Bateman y se desautoriza secuestro de Bitterman”. [Division in the M-19: Bateman's expulsion requested and Bitterman's kidnapping disavowed]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogota. Archived from the original on 1981-02-01, Code BC0707, Microficha 2, C4, available at https://biblioarchivo.bogota.gov.co/opac-tmpl/IMG_CINEP1/BC0707-1981-1T-2.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29.
On January 30, 11 days into the kidnapping, two contradictory circulars both signed by the M-19 were made public. One, originating in Cali, Colombia and signed ‘Comando Superior Provisional del M-19’, strongly criticized the M-19 commander, Jaime Bateman Cayón, for compromising with the enemy by running for election.Javier Baena, “Secuestradores de Bitterman han usurpado nombre del M-19”, [Bitterman kidnappers have usurped the M-19 name]. El Heraldo (in Spanish). Barranquilla, 1981-02-01, archived BC0707, Microficha 2, C9, available at https://biblioarchivo.bogota.gov.co/opac-tmpl/IMG_CINEP1/BC0707-1981-1T-2.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29. It called him a ‘clown’ and expelled him from the movement. It blamed the CIA for Bitterman's abduction. “División en el M-19: Piden expulsión de Bateman y se desautoriza secuestro de Bitterman”. [Division in the M-19: Bateman's expulsion requested and Bitterman's kidnapping disavowed]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogota. Archived from the original on 1981-02-01, Code BC0707, Microficha 2, C4, available at https://biblioarchivo.bogota.gov.co/opac-tmpl/IMG_CINEP1/BC0707-1981-1T-2.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29. The other circular, originating in Medellin, Colombia and signed by the ‘Comando Superior’ (with signatures from Bateman Cayón, Ivan Marino Ospina and Carlos Toledo Plata—the acknowledged leaders of M-19), accused unnamed ‘inferior commanders’ within M-19 of usurping their authority by kidnapping Bitterman.“Captores de Bitterman no son del M19”, [Bitterman captors are not from M19]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogota, 1981-02-01, archived BC0707, Microficha 2, C6, available at https://biblioarchivo.bogota.gov.co/opac-tmpl/IMG_CINEP1/BC0707-1981-1T-2.pdf. Retrieved 2026-01-29.