Horman Case: Colonel (ret.) testifies before Judge Guzmán

Just as he has been doing since May 14, Judge Juan Guzmán continued today with the proceedings regarding the death of U.S. citizen Charles Horman. This time, the presiding judge interrogated the commander in charge of the Estadio Nacional, Colonel (ret.) Jorge Espinoza Ulloa, and the former U.S. consul in Chile, Frederick Purdy.

Guzmán took the statement from the retired military officer to verify and gather further information regarding the treatment of prisoners held at the sports center and the political executions that occurred at this facility.

In charge of the prisoners: Upon leaving the judge's office, Ulloa refused to comment on what was discussed, stating that it is "in the hands of the magistrate." Regarding the existence of executions at the national stadium, the former Army officer refused to make any statements.

However, he admitted to having met with Horman's father and the U.S. consul when he was in charge of the prisoners at the Nacional, but he would not confirm whether Charles Horman was there on that date.

Source: La Tercera, Friday, May 24, 2002.

The secrets Espinoza took with him

Colonel (ret.) Jorge Espinoza Ulloa took valuable secrets to his grave. The former head of the Estadio Nacional during the first months after the military coup, when the facility served as a prison camp, died of heart failure.

His last public appearance took place on Friday, May 24, 2002, when he was interrogated by Judge Juan Guzmán. It was the first time Espinoza had been investigated by a judge since September 11, 1973. His death occurred on December 26, 2002, in Concepción and went practically unnoticed.

From the leadership of the Nacional, Espinoza went on to occupy the directorship of the National Secretariat for Detainees (Sendet). In that capacity, he traveled to all the public facilities in the country where detainees were being held.

With Espinoza's death, the possibility of learning an important part of the final fate of a group of people who remained detained at the Nacional under his command fades. From there, some of them were taken out and their bodies appeared riddled with bullets on the streets of Santiago, entering the Legal Medical Service (SML) mostly as NN (unidentified).

Some of these bodies were cremated "by superior orders," as was reported at the time to La Nación by that service, and as is recorded in the files. Among these are U.S. citizens Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi.

After being held at the sports field, their bodies appeared shot on the streets of the capital on September 18, 1973, and the 22nd of the same month, respectively. Both bodies were returned to their families.

The Horman case inspired the film "Missing." With his health already failing on the day of his interrogation, Espinoza Ulloa denied any connection between the detention of the prisoners and their subsequent deaths, although he provided a list of those who were his subordinate officers at the Estadio Nacional.

Confusion of names

Not infrequently, Jorge Espinoza Ulloa was confused with the former second-in-command of the DINA, Pedro Espinoza Bravo. This error is even noted in documents regarding Chile declassified by the U.S. government.

It was presumed that the Colonel (ret.) might begin to "open up" to tell details about the fate of the detainees once they were taken from the site by military personnel under orders "from the Ministry of the Interior," as Espinoza declared before Judge Guzmán.

Although it is not proven that detainees were executed inside the stadium, there is evidence that some of them were murdered in areas surrounding the sports field.

Source: La Nación, July 9, 2003.