Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras, single, a student at the Universidad de Chile, Temuco Campus, and a Chemistry teacher at the Liceo de Nueva Toltén, with no known political affiliation, was detained on the night of September 20, 1973, at the boarding house where he lived on Calle Los Copihues in the town of Toltén, by Carabineros officers under the command of Sub-officer Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes.

Following his apprehension, he was taken to the local Carabineros station, from which point all trace of him was lost.

The testimonies of the residents of the house where the event occurred and the statement of Sub-officer Verdugo himself confirm the fact of his detention. These statements are contained in the respective judicial proceeding initiated regarding his disappearance.

Mrs. Teresa Rodríguez Rodríguez, owner of the boarding house on Calle Los Copihues, stated that in September 1973, Daniel Sepúlveda Contreras—who had arrived from Santiago that same day—was detained at her home by Carabineros from Toltén under the command of Sub-officer Verdugo.

The witness added in her judicial testimony that hours after the arrest, around 11:00 PM, several Carabineros officers returned to her house to request the victim's belongings, which were handed over by her daughter, Gladys Erices.

The following day, one of her grandsons went to the police station to ask if he could bring food to the teacher, and was informed that he had been transferred to the town of Pitrufquén in the early hours of the morning.

Mr. Jorge Lito Peña Erices stated in his declaration that he did indeed go to the Carabineros barracks to ask about the victim, and was informed that he had been transferred to Pitrufquén in the early hours of the morning.

The witness added in his testimony that it was Sub-officer Verdugo himself who returned to the house to collect the belongings of the teacher, Sepúlveda. Mr. Nelson Isidro Araneda Brun, a farmer, stated in his declaration that as of September 11, 1973, he was responsible for the administration of the Liceo de Nueva Toltén and resided in the same boarding house where Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda stayed.

On the day of the events, he was sharing a meal with the victim when Carabineros burst into the kitchen-dining room through both access doors. He added in his testimony that he did not know the identities of the captors, and in response to a question from the Court, indicated that he did not denounce Daniel Sepúlveda and that the police acted on their own initiative.

For his part, Mr. Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes, a retired Carabineros Sub-officer, stated in his judicial declaration that in September 1973, he was in command of the Carabineros detachment in Nueva Toltén.

He clearly recalled how and why he proceeded with the detention of a young man who was not from Toltén, who worked at the local Liceo directed by Nelson Araneda. Araneda had told him that in a conversation with Daniel Sepúlveda, the latter had mentioned participating in the takeover of the "Fundo Caupolicán," which was owned by Nelson Araneda himself.

He mentioned this one day in September, around 4:00 PM, assuring him that he would be dining with Sepúlveda that same day at the boarding house of Mrs. Teresa Rodríguez, where both were boarders. The officer stated that that night, at the agreed-upon time, they went to carry out the detention of Sepúlveda Contreras, accompanied by Sergeant Haroldo Hernández, and found Daniel Mauricio dining with Araneda; they proceeded with the arrest without any major issues as there was no resistance on his part.

He transferred the detainee to the station where he interrogated him, and at 7:00 AM the following day, he transferred him to Pitrufquén by express order of the Commissar of that station, Captain Ramón Sergio Callís Soto.

After handing over the detainee, Captain Callís ordered him to return immediately, which he did, and he never received further news of the detained teacher. Responding to a question from the Court, he denied having removed items from the boarding house where the detention took place.

It should be noted that Carabineros Ramón Callís Soto and Haroldo Hernández Reyes are deceased. Furthermore, in the judicial confrontation held between Sub-officer Verdugo and Nelson Araneda, both maintained their respective accounts.

The judicial file also contains statements from former workers of the Municipality of Toltén, who indicated that in the first days after September 11, 1973, they received orders to build a coffin and bury a person in the local cemetery who was at the Morgue of the Hospital de Nueva Toltén, whose characteristics could correspond to those of the victim.

Daniel Sepúlveda's mother, Mrs. Hilda María Contreras Lara, who resided in Santiago at the time of the events, traveled to the town of Toltén in early October 1973 to make inquiries about her son's whereabouts.

While she was at the boarding house on Calle Los Copihues, she was detained by two Carabineros and taken to the local station. There, she spoke with an officer who had apparently arrived in the area only a few days prior, who told her he was unaware of what had happened before his arrival.

He showed her the logbook of detainees, confirming that there was indeed a record of his entry into the facility, but not of his departure or transfer. She was subsequently released. Mrs. Hilda Contreras still does not know the fate of her son at the hands of the Carabineros who apprehended him.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On November 14, 1990, Mrs. Hilda Contreras Lara filed a complaint for the presumed misfortune of her son before the Criminal Court of Pitrufquén, case file 19.675, in which she detailed the circumstances under which Daniel Sepúlveda was detained and his subsequent disappearance from the Carabineros station in Nueva Toltén.

The processing of the case includes the statements of Nelson Isidro Araneda Brun, Teresa Rodríguez Rodríguez, Jorge Lito Peña Erices, and Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes, whose accounts have already been presented.

Likewise, Mr. Manuel Vielma García, former gravedigger of the Nueva Toltén Cemetery, and Mr. Jorge René Cortes Cruces and Mr. José Belisario Valdebenito Bravo, both workers for the local Municipality, appeared before the Court.

They stated that days after September 11, 1973, they had to build a coffin and then bury a person by order of the authorities. The body was in the Morgue of the Hospital de Nueva Toltén and was listed as N.N.

Regarding this situation, Sub-officer Verdugo told the investigating judge that it was a detainee who subsequently died. He indicated that he had gone out to patrol the town, and when he returned, officer Hernández told him that a detainee had tried to flee, so he had to shoot him; they transported the wounded man to the Hospital, where he died.

The Sub-officer claimed not to know the identity of this person, limiting himself to stating that he was from the town of Cunco.

The 5th Carabineros Commissariat of Pitrufquén informed the Court that the records corresponding to the year 1973 had been incinerated in accordance with the institution's regulations. The Carabineros station of Toltén reported the same.

In the respective investigation order carried out by the Investigative Police, the complainant, the witnesses to the victim's detention, and Sub-officer Manuel Verdugo Reyes were interviewed, all of whom confirmed their previous statements.

The Municipal administrator of the Nueva Toltén Cemetery was also interviewed, who pointed out that in the burial records for the year 1973, no N.N. is registered.

Case 19.675 remains in progress as of the issuance of this report.

Source: Vicariate of Solidarity

136 teachers were murdered by the State Terrorism that began on September 11, 1973. Thousands more were dismissed, exiled, persecuted, and tortured. The professional and union organization of education workers was suppressed nationwide; the Normal Schools that had trained teachers for over a century were closed forever; and a few years later, the "Historical Debt" was created, which continues to harm thousands of educators to this day as a permanent legacy of the Dictatorship.

Such was the strength of the impact of the Coup d'État on the teaching profession.

For this reason, in a new commemoration of that fateful date, the College of Teachers pays tribute to the martyrs of the teaching struggle and vindicates their legacy, also remembering that this very organization was created by the Dictatorship in 1974 but was taken over a few years later by the teaching profession, which democratized it and turned it into a useful tool for the struggle for Education.

The same entity that the regime created to erase the history of unity and action of education workers is today a platform for articulation to build a new education without forgetting the legacy of those who preceded us. Memory is, indeed, charged with the future.

Source: colegiodeprofesores.cl, September 11, 2020 Date: 09-11-2020

Minister Álvaro Mesa issues indictment against retired Carabineros for the homicide of a chemistry teacher

The minister visiting for human rights violation cases for the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, issued an indictment against Carlos Hernán Moreno Mena and Reinaldo Alberto Lukowiak Luppy as authors of the crime of qualified homicide of Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras. The crime was perpetrated in Pitrufquén in September 1973.

In the resolution, the investigating minister also indicted Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce as the author of the crime of illegal detention of Sepúlveda Contreras, a crime perpetrated in Toltén in September 1973.

During the investigation phase of the case, Minister Mesa Latorre was able to establish the following facts:

A.- That after September 11, 1973, as a result of an order issued nationwide, the armed and law enforcement institutions, including the Carabineros station of Toltén, increased their staff as smaller units retreated into them, beginning to report to the 5th Carabineros Commissariat of Pitrufquén.

As a consequence of this, there was a separation of functions in both police units; those under the command of their respective officers, along with their trusted personnel, carried out various ground operations in which they proceeded to detain and interrogate people who had political or social relevance, as well as those who were classified as extremists and denounced to local authorities; these individuals were detained and finally taken to a facility specially equipped for political prisoners inside the 5th Carabineros Commissariat of Pitrufquén, as will be detailed in point C of this presentation.

B.- That regarding the unity of command, the Carabineros station of Toltén was composed of its chief, 1st Sergeant Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes, who until that date served as chief of the Queule detachment, and other police officers, among whom were Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce, the unit's driver, and 1st Sergeant Haroldo Hernández Reyes (deceased); the former, in the company of the latter and/or Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes, among others, proceeded to detain and transport political prisoners to the unit's facilities, to subsequently take them to the facility detailed in the previous paragraph, inside the 5th Carabineros Commissariat of Pitrufquén. All of this was by order of Captain Ramón Sergio Callis Soto (deceased) of the 5th Carabineros Commissariat of Pitrufquén.

C.- That in turn, Ramón Sergio Callis Soto, in command of said police unit and its subordinate units, organized and coordinated a special group of Carabineros within that commissariat composed of unit personnel, including Lieutenant Carlos Hernán Moreno and Senior Sub-officer Reinaldo Alberto Lukowiak Luppy, who, under the orders of the aforementioned officer, proceeded to detain, without an apparent judicial order, people considered opponents of the Military Regime; they were apprehended solely for their political affiliation and taken to the second floor of the stables of the 5th Carabineros Commissariat of Pitrufquén, a place where many of these detainees were physically tortured and which only members of this special group could enter. The whereabouts of many of those detainees remain unknown to this day.

D.- That in the month of September 1973, after the 11th of that month, Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras, 23, a student at the Universidad de Chile and a Chemistry teacher at the Liceo Nueva Toltén, with no known political affiliation, was detained at night by personnel from the Carabineros station of the same commune.

The detention took place at the boarding house where he resided, located at Calle Los Copihues s/n in said commune, in the presence of the landlady, Mrs. Teresa Rodríguez, and the inspector of the establishment where he worked, named Nelson Araneda, who also paid for room and board at that location.

Among his captors was 1st Sergeant Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes, who, as stated, was in charge of the Toltén station at that time; 1st Sergeant Haroldo Hernández Reyes; and Carabinero Juan Nolberto Caamaño Toledo, of the same police unit.

The aforementioned detention is confirmed by an informal complaint made to the Carabineros of Toltén by the aforementioned inspector regarding alleged political ties of Sepúlveda Contreras.

E.- That after a few hours, Carabineros officials from Toltén went again to the property where Sepúlveda Contreras paid for room and board, with the purpose of removing all of his belongings. These were handed over by the daughter of the boarding house owner to the officials of the aforementioned station, in the presence of a minor, Mrs. Rodríguez's grandson, named Jorge Lito Peña Erices.

F.- That after interrogating him and accusing him of a plan to assassinate the Carabineros of Toltén, Sepúlveda Contreras was transported in a pickup truck—which at that time had been seized from a public service for the work of the uniformed officers—by the only Carabinero who knew how to drive in that police unit, Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce, who was also officially designated for those tasks, and by 1st Sergeant Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes, chief of the Toltén station, who transported the victim to the 5th Carabineros Commissariat of Pitrufquén.

G.- That Daniel Sepúlveda was admitted to the 5th Commissariat of Pitrufquén and taken to the second floor of the stables of said unit, a place where, as stated, from September 11, 1973, they held all persons brought in for political reasons as detainees.

In this place, Sepúlveda Contreras was seen by other detainees, among them an English teacher named Óscar Seguel Jofré, who at the time of the events served as director of School No. 34 “Villa Donguil” and was a government delegate in that sector, reasons for which he knew Daniel Sepúlveda.

Even in those moments when both were held as detainees, he was able to observe the poor physical state of the student and hear his complaints resulting from it; furthermore, the young man managed to tell him that he was doing his teaching internship in Toltén.

However, a few minutes later, Daniel Sepúlveda Contreras stopped complaining, and he was able to observe that the young man had died beside him. After which, the Carabineros who were there wrapped him in a blanket, taking him out of the facility half an hour later, and he did not return to the place.

H.- That as a result of the above, Sepúlveda Contreras's mother, Mrs. Hilda Contreras Lara, traveled from Santiago to the commune of Toltén in order to find out what had happened to her son. In said commune, she went to the Carabineros station of Toltén, where they told her that her son had been transferred to the Pitrufquén Commissariat.

She subsequently went to that place, where she was shown the detainee logbook of the time, verifying that he had indeed remained detained there, with no record of an order for his release or a supposed transfer to another police unit. Despite the above, she made inquiries at the various Carabineros units in the region, not obtaining a clear answer about what had happened to her son.

I.- That after the episodes described above, Daniel Sepúlveda Contreras's mother never again had news about his fate, with only the account existing in the Museum of Memory and Human Rights remaining today, which gives an account of the disappearance after the aforementioned detention; it being possible to prove until now, as has been said, that Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras died in the presence of Mr.

Óscar Manuel Seguel Jofré.

J.- Finally, to date, no public official of the Carabineros of the 5th Commissariat of Pitrufquén who served at the time of the events has provided any information to the respective authority regarding what happened to Daniel Sepúlveda Contreras's body, maintaining to this day the concealment of all types of information regarding his death.

Source: temucotelevision.cl, 03/25/2019 Date: 03-25-2019

U. de Chile to award posthumous degrees to former students murdered during the dictatorship

The symbolic recognition will be in memory of its students who lost their lives during the military regime.

The Universidad de Chile was authorized by the Comptroller General of the Republic to deliver posthumous and symbolic degrees to former students who were political executions, as well as those who became forcibly disappeared during the military dictatorship.

The ceremony will take place next Monday the 11th at 12:30 at the Casa Central and will be led by the university rector, Ennio Vivaldi.

The list consists of 104 former students of the university who were murdered between 1973 and 1989. Among the victims is Jécar Nehgme, who is known for being the last person murdered by the dictatorship and who appeared dead on September 4, 1989, on Calle General Bulnes. (Here is the complete list of decorated former students:) extract

Decorated student: DANIEL MAURICIO SEPULVEDA CONTRERAS

Source: t13.cl, 9/09/2017 Date: 09-09-2017

Temuco Court of Appeals revoked indictment issued against former Carabinero in kidnapping case perpetrated in Toltén in September

The appellate court revoked the indictment issued against Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce as the author of the crime of qualified kidnapping of the teacher Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras, which occurred in the year 1973 in the commune of Toltén, La Araucanía region.

According to case file 29.883 of the criminal docket of the Pitrufquén Court of Letters: “Given the merit of the background information, what was stated in the hearing, and taking into special consideration that for now, the current merit of the investigation regarding the accused Prado Ponce does not meet the requirement of No. 2 of Article 274 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as there are no well-founded presumptions to estimate that the accused has had participation in the crime as an author, accomplice, or accessory after the fact, therefore the appealed resolution dated July 11, 2014, written on page 520 and following, is REVOKED, insofar as it subjects Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce to prosecution, rendering said charge null and void and declaring that he is neither a defendant nor prosecuted in the present case.” This action by the Court of Appeals releases Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce from responsibilities only in the case of the qualified kidnapping of the Toltén Liceo teacher Daniel Sepúlveda Contreras, since in the case of the crime of qualified homicide of Guillermo Hernández Elgueta, perpetrated in the commune of Toltén in October 1973, the former Carabineros official remains subject to prosecution in a case being investigated by the extraordinary visiting minister Álvaro Mesa Latorre.

Source: tiempo21.cl, 2/10/2014 Date: 10-02-2014

Retired Carabinero accused of kidnapping a teacher in Toltén in 1973 remains in preventive detention

The visiting minister of the Temuco Court of Appeals, Álvaro Mesa, prosecuted the former uniformed officer identified as Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes for the crime of qualified kidnapping of the teacher Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Reyes.

The visiting minister of the Temuco Court of Appeals, Álvaro Mesa, issued an indictment in the investigation into the qualified kidnapping of Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Reyes, which occurred in September 1973 in the commune of Toltén.

In the case, the magistrate subjected Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes to prosecution as responsible for the crime, decreeing the measure of preventive detention against him, which he must serve at his home.

According to the resolution, in the month of September 1973, after the 11th of that month, the teacher from the Liceo de Toltén, Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras, was detained at night by personnel from the Carabineros station of the same commune.

A few hours later, Carabineros officials from Toltén went again to the house where Sepúlveda Contreras paid for room and board in order to take all of his belongings.

The investigation adds that "after interrogating him and accusing him of a plan to assassinate the Carabineros of Toltén, Sepúlveda Contreras was supposedly transported in a vehicle—which at that time had been seized from a public service for the work of the uniformed officers—by the only Carabinero who knew how to drive in the police unit and the sergeant who was in charge of that station, to the Carabineros commissariat of Pitrufquén.”

As a result of this, the teacher's mother traveled from Santiago to Toltén to find out her son's whereabouts, finding no details of the transfer to which the teacher had supposedly been subjected.

Given the health status of the accused, the former uniformed officer must remain at his home under the custody of the Carabineros of Queule.

Source: soychile.cl, 04/04/2014 Date: 04-04-2014

Two retired Carabineros convicted for the death of a university student in September 1973

At the time he was murdered, the young man was completing his professional internship (he was in his final year of Pedagogy at the Universidad de Chile) as a Chemistry teacher at a Liceo in Pitrufquén, La Araucanía region.

The minister visiting for human rights violation cases during the dictatorship, Álvaro Mesa, convicted two retired Carabineros for the crime against the university student, Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras (23), in September 1973.

At the time he was murdered, the young man was completing his professional internship (he was in his final year of Pedagogy at the Universidad de Chile) as a Chemistry teacher at a Liceo in Pitrufquén, La Araucanía region.

In that context, Sepúlveda was at a boarding house in Toltén when he was detained by Carabineros Carlos Hernán Moreno Mena and Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce, who transported him to the stables of the Fifth Commissariat of Pitrufquén, where he was beaten, tortured, and murdered.

Conviction The visiting minister sentenced the former lieutenant and current retired Carabineros commander, Carlos Hernán Moreno Mena (75), to a penalty of 13 years in prison for being the author of qualified homicide.

Meanwhile, the retired 1st Sergeant Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce (79) was sentenced to three years in prison for the crime of illegal detention.

Likewise, the state was ordered to pay an indemnity of 200 million pesos for moral damages to the victim's siblings.

Source: elmostrador.cl, December 3, 2022

Justice convicts two retired Carabineros for murdering a young university student in 1973

Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras was 23 years old and studied Pedagogy at the Universidad de Chile. He was working on his internship as a Chemistry teacher at a liceo in Pitrufquén when he was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered after the 1973 coup d'état.

The Justice system convicted two retired Carabineros for the crime committed against Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras (23), a young university student murdered in September 1973.

This is a sentence issued by the minister visiting for human rights violation cases during the dictatorship, Álvaro Mesa.

In the first place, a penalty of 13 years in prison was decreed against Carlos Hernán Moreno Mena (75), a former lieutenant and current retired Carabineros commander, as the author of qualified homicide.

Meanwhile, Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce (79), a retired 1st Sergeant, was sentenced to three years in prison for the crime of illegal detention.

Young man was doing his internship as a teacher

Daniel Sepúlveda was studying his final year of Pedagogy at the Universidad de Chile. In that context, he was doing his internship as a Chemistry teacher at a Liceo in Pitrufquén, in the Araucanía region.

The young man was at the boarding house where he resided in Toltén when he was detained by the convicted men, who transported him to the stables of the Fifth Carabineros Commissariat of Pitrufquén.

There, he was beaten, tortured, and subsequently murdered.

In the ruling, the state was also ordered to pay an indemnity of 200 million pesos for moral damages to the victim's siblings.

Source: biobiochile.cl, 12/03/2022