Argentina’s former spy chief, who recently took up a post as a provincial governor, was killed in a New Year’s Day shooting at his country house in Patagonia, authorities said Sunday.

Carlos Soria, 61, was just weeks into his job in the key oil-producing southern province of Rio Negro when he was shot after a family argument at his farmhouse near the town of General Roca at around 5:00 am, officials said.

He was taken to a local hospital where he later died.