The visiting judge for human rights violation cases at the Temuco Court of Appeals, Alvaro Mesa Latorre, ordered the indictment and pretrial detention of: Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, Juan Bautista Labraña Luvecce, Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao, Juan Carlos Concha Belmar, Manuel Reinaldo Canales Valdés, Manuel Rafael Campos Ceballos, and Gabriel Alfonso Dittus Marín, as perpetrators of the crime of qualified homicide against ARTURO ALEJANDRO NAVARRETE LEIVA, committed in the commune of Temuco on October 11, 1973.

According to the evidence gathered during the investigation, the investigating judge Alvaro Mesa was able to establish, at this procedural stage, the participation of the former Army officials in the homicide of the young man, who worked as a laborer: A.- That immediately following the events of September 11, 1973, the armed forces and security forces took control of the city of Temuco, with Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse, Commander of the No. 8 ‘Tucapel’ Infantry Regiment of this city, establishing himself as Governor of Temuco, and also remaining as Chief of the Temuco Garrison.

B.- Within the aforementioned military unit, a special group called the ‘Patrulla Brava’ or ‘Patrulla Chacal’ was formed, composed of enlisted soldiers and conscripts from the Second Hunters Company, under the orders of Second Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce, who in turn received orders from the Lieutenant in command of the Company.

This group was responsible, among other duties, for conducting patrols within the city of Temuco and guarding detainees held at the ‘Tucapel’ regiment facilities in Temuco. C.- That Arturo Alejandro Navarrete Leiva, single, 21 years old at the time of his detention, a railway worker, was detained on October 11, 1973, around 8:45 PM, on Calle Basilio Urrutia, in the Railway Station sector, in front of the ‘Diana’ soda fountain in the city of Temuco.

His detention was witnessed by numerous people who saw the military personnel force him, along with another person, into the vehicle they were using. He was taken to the banks of the Cautín River in the Población Amanecer sector of the city of Temuco, where the group of soldiers, in a firing squad formation, under the command and by order of Second Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce, proceeded to shoot and kill him, subsequently throwing his body into the waters of the aforementioned Cautín River.

D.- The day after the events, his mother, Magdalena Leiva Fritis, informed by one of the witnesses to his detention, went to the Tucapel Regiment, the FACH Air Base in Temuco, and the city’s public jail, being informed at all these locations that her son was not in the detainee records.

All subsequent efforts made by his family to learn the fate of Arturo Navarrete Leiva yielded no results, the indictment maintains. Judge Alvaro Mesa Latorre was appointed as the investigator for human rights cases in place of Judge Fernando Carreño starting in September 2011.

Upon assuming the position, he received 41 cases in the summary stage. He is currently overseeing 110 cases comprising a total of 217 volumes, of which 4 are in the plenary stage; 3 have been ruled upon, and 4 have been dismissed.

In total, he has registered 56 indictments to date, with 133 individuals under indictment. In his investigative work, the investigating judge of the Temuco Court of Appeals is assisted by three judicial clerks and five detectives from the Human Rights Crimes Investigation Brigade of the Chilean Investigative Police.

Source: araucaniacuenta.cl, June 30, 2015

Six former army members convicted in Temuco for the 1973 crime against a railway worker

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases at the Temuco Court of Appeals, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, in a ruling issued this month, sentenced former army officials Manuel Rafael Campos Ceballos, Manuel Reinaldo Canales Valdés, Juan Carlos Concha Belmar, Gabriel Alfonso Dittus Marín, Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, and Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao to 13 years in prison as perpetrators of the qualified homicide of Arturo Alejandro Navarrete Leiva, committed in the regional capital of La Araucanía on October 11, 1973.

Judge Mesa definitively dismissed the charges brought against Juan Bautista Labraña Luvecce for this same crime. In the investigation, Judge Álvaro Mesa established: "A.- That immediately following the events of September 11, 1973, the armed forces and security forces took control of the city of Temuco, with Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse, Commander of the No. 8 "Tucapel" Infantry Regiment of this city, establishing himself as Governor of Temuco, and also remaining as Chief of the Temuco Garrison.

B.- Within the aforementioned military unit, a special group called the "Patrulla Brava" or "Patrulla Chacal" was formed, composed of enlisted soldiers and conscripts from the Second Hunters Company, under the orders of Second Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce, who in turn received orders from the Lieutenant in command of the Company.

This group was responsible, among other duties, for conducting patrols within the city of Temuco and guarding detainees held at the "Tucapel" regiment facilities in Temuco. C.- That Arturo Alejandro Navarrete Leiva, single, 21 years old at the time of his detention, a railway worker, was detained on October 11, 1973, around 8:45 PM, on Calle Basilio Urrutia, in the Railway Station sector, in front of the "Diana" soda fountain in the city of Temuco.

His detention was witnessed by numerous people who saw the military personnel force him, along with another person, into the vehicle they were using. He was taken to the banks of the Cautín River in the Población Amanecer sector of the city of Temuco, where the group of soldiers, in a firing squad formation, under the command and by order of Second Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce, proceeded to shoot and kill him, subsequently throwing his body into the waters of the aforementioned Cautín River.

D.- The day after the events, his mother, Magdalena Leiva Fritis, informed by one of the witnesses to his detention, went to the Tucapel Regiment, the FACH Air Base in Temuco, and the city’s public jail, being informed at all these locations that her son was not in the detainee records. All subsequent efforts made by his family to learn the fate of Arturo Navarrete Leiva yielded no results."

Source: resumen.cl, February 23, 2017

Supreme Court convicts six retired Army members for the homicide of a railway worker in Temuco

The highest Court sentenced Manuel Campos Cabello, Manuel Canales Valdés, Juan Cancino Belmar, Gabriel Dittus Marín, Sergio Vallejos Garcés, and Héctor Villablanca Huenulao to 5-year prison terms, with the benefit of supervised release, as perpetrators of the crime.

In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court convicted six retired Army members for their responsibility in the crime of qualified homicide of ARTURO ALEJANDRO NAVARRETE LEIVA, an illicit act committed on October 11, 1973, in the city of Temuco.

The highest Court sentenced Manuel Campos Cabello, Manuel Canales Valdés, Juan Cancino Belmar, Gabriel Dittus Marín, Sergio Vallejos Garcés, and Héctor Villablanca Huenulao to 5-year prison terms, with the benefit of supervised release, as perpetrators of the crime.

During the investigation stage of the case, the extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, was able to establish the following facts:

A.-

That immediately following the events of September 11, 1973, the armed forces and security forces took control of the city of Temuco, with Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse, Commander of the No. 8 "Tucapel" Infantry Regiment of this city, establishing himself as Governor of Temuco, and also remaining as Chief of the Temuco Garrison.

B.-

Within the aforementioned military unit, a special group called the "Patrulla Brava" or "Patrulla Chacal" was formed, composed of enlisted soldiers and conscripts from the Second Hunters Company, under the orders of Second Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce, who in turn received orders from the lieutenant in command of the Company.

This group was responsible, among other duties, for conducting patrols within the city of Temuco and guarding detainees held at the "Tucapel" regiment facilities in Temuco.

C.-

That Arturo Alejandro Navarrete Leiva, single, 21 years old at the time of his detention, a railway worker, was detained on October 11, 1973, around 8:45 PM, on Calle Basilio Urrutia, in the Railway Station sector, in front of the "Diana" soda fountain in the city of Temuco.

His detention was witnessed by numerous people who saw the military personnel force him, along with another person, into the vehicle they were using. He was taken to the banks of the Cautín River in the Población Amanecer sector of the city of Temuco, where the group of soldiers, in a firing squad formation, under the command and by order of Second Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce, proceeded to shoot and kill him, subsequently throwing his body into the waters of the aforementioned Cautín River.

D.-

The day after the events, his mother, Magdalena Leiva Fritis, informed by one of the witnesses to his detention, went to the Tucapel Regiment, the FACH Air Base in Temuco, and the city’s public jail, being informed at all these locations that her son was not in the detainee records.

All subsequent efforts made by his family to learn the fate of Arturo Navarrete Leiva yielded no results. Regarding civil liability, the State of Chile was ordered to pay $150,000,000 in compensation to the victim's family members.

Source: diarioconstitucional.cl, August 9, 2018