Case File 304-2023: Death of Carlos José Leonardo López Tapia and Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda.

b) Authentic copy of the Service Record for the period of August 1, 1977, to July 31, 1978, corresponding to Captain Manuel Jorge Provis Carrasco, from page 5,128, which shows that his direct supervisor was Colonel Hernán Brantes Martínez, Commander of Units of the Central Nacional de Informaciones (CNI), and that on July 31, 1978, the following entry was recorded: “Planned and executed the transfer of his Unit to a new

Source: Judiciary, March 20, 2004

Retired Army officer sentenced for the 1973 homicide of radio broadcaster Archibaldo Morales

Eduardo Arriagada Rehren received a seven-year sentence.

Visiting Judge Mario Carroza sentenced retired Army officer Eduardo Arriagada Rehren to 7 years in prison. The reason is his responsibility in the homicide of radio broadcaster Archibaldo Morales Villanueva at the “Colchagua” Regiment in San Fernando in October 1973.

The magistrate sentenced the brigadier for the murder of the man, who was also the owner of a local newspaper and had been detained in Santiago in September of that year, days after the military coup. The communicator was taken to San Fernando, where he remained held incommunicado and subjected to torture.

Detention of Archibaldo Morales in 1973 “On September 26, 1973, Archibaldo Morales Villanueva, a broadcaster for Radio San Fernando, was detained along with his friend Eva Valiente Espinoza at her residence, located at Calle Curicó No. 33, second floor, apartment A, in the city of Santiago, by the Mobile Prefecture of Special Services of the Investigative Police,” following an order from Colonel Hernán Brantes Martínez—now deceased—who was in command of the No. 19 “Colchagua” Regiment.

The ruling explains that Morales and Valiente were held at the Investigative Police Headquarters in Santiago. This continued until they were transferred to the city of San Fernando on September 29. “The detainee Archibaldo Morales, known in the area as ‘Chito Morales,’ was transferred to the San Fernando Public Jail after being interrogated, where he remained incommunicado for about 43 days, suffering duress, torture, and interrogations at the Military Prosecutor’s Office in the meantime,” it states.

A month of torture The text specifies that Archibaldo’s death occurred in October, when they attempted to add him to a line alongside a group of detainees who were waiting to be interrogated by Prosecutor Ramírez.

The victim, showing evident signs of torture, fainted at that moment and was taken to the military facility’s infirmary, where he was attended to by the Regiment’s doctor, health officer and member of the CIE, Eduardo Adolfo Arriagada Rehren.

After examining him, the physician decided to inject him with a medication composed of dipyridamole, with the intention of inducing a myocardial infarction. Morales Villanueva’s condition worsened, and he died moments later while being transported to the San Fernando Hospital, as maintained by the forensic medical expert report.

Cause of death “Considering the result of the toxicological examination that established the presence of barbiturates and persantin (dipyridamole) in the bone samples of Archibaldo Morales Villanueva, the participation of third parties in the events that determined the victim’s death cannot be ruled out, given that the affected party was inside a penitentiary facility for at least 43 days prior to his death.

The death of Archibaldo Morales Villanueva occurred while he was in the status of a detainee and under the custody of State agents; therefore, his passing must be classified—from a forensic medical point of view—as a death in custody.” The death certificate indicates the cause of death as Cardiac Arrest and Myocardial Infarction on November 12, 1973, at 1:10 PM,” the report details.

Furthermore, the convicted individual and the State Treasury were sentenced to pay a total indemnity of $192 million to the victims' families.

Source: publimetro.cl, September 23, 2019