The Supreme Court took only hours to reject the parole requested by retired Carabineros Colonel Guillermo González Betancourt, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of José Manuel Parada, Manuel Guerrero, and Santiago Nattino, who were slit-throated (degollados) in March 1985.

The ruling refers to a psychological report from the Gendarmerie regarding González: “he has not acquired an adequate awareness of the crime committed, of the damage and the harm caused…”. In his argument, lawyer Luciano Fouillioux stated that those convicted of crimes against humanity cannot be granted benefits that correspond to common crimes, and citing Fito Páez’s song "Vengo a ofrecer mi corazón" (I come to offer my heart), he explained why the former employees of the Vicaría de la Solidaridad were present.

The corvo (curved knife) used to slit their throats weighed 410 grams and measured 19 centimeters long by 3.6 centimeters wide. It belonged to Miguel Estay Reyno, known as “El Fanta.” It had been given to him the previous year by one of the dictatorship’s most feared torturers, Roberto Fuentes Morrison, known as “El Wally.” On that March 30, 1985, in Quilicura, the first to use the weapon was Second Sergeant José Fuentes, who grabbed Manuel Guerrero from behind and plunged the knife into his neck.

The corvo then passed into the hands of Corporal Alejandro Sáez Mardones, who repeated the procedure with Santiago Nattino. Then, Corporal Claudio Salazar grabbed the weapon and made a deep cut in the abdomen of José Manuel Parada, who fell to the floor in pain seconds before another agent took the weapon again and slit his throat as well.

The person who commanded the throat-slitting of the three communist professionals—one of the bloodiest and most shocking operations of the dictatorship—was the then-Colonel Guillermo González Betancourt, operational chief of the Department of Internal and External Affairs of Dicomcar, the Carabineros Directorate of Communications.

This Monday the 21st, the five ministers of the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court—composed of Carlos Künsemüller, Haroldo Brito, Lamberto Cisternas, and acting lawyers Jean Pierre Matus and Jaime Rodríguez—unanimously rejected the recurso de amparo (habeas corpus petition) with which González Betancourt sought to access parole and reverse the contrary decision of the Parole Commission of the Santiago Court of Appeals (see ruling).

González Betancourt is serving a life sentence as the perpetrator of the kidnapping and homicide of Parada, Guerrero, and Nattino, as well as the kidnapping of Ramón Arriagada Escalante and the leaders of the Association of Educators of Chile (Agech): Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas.

Added to his sentence is another term of 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of illicit association, and another of 5 years and one day for the robbery with intimidation of the car belonging to Traverso, one of the surviving kidnap victims.

Furthermore, he was given the accessory penalties of absolute and perpetual disqualification from public office and political rights for the duration of his life, and subjection to the surveillance of the authority for the maximum period established by the Penal Code.

In May 2012, González Betancourt completed 20 years of his sentence at the Punta Peuco prison, and in September, he began to receive a series of controversial prison benefits. That month, the Gendarmerie’s Technical Council granted him Sunday leave.

Then, in January 2013, he managed to leave the prison for the entire weekend, and on June 24 of the same year, he obtained the benefit of “controlled free exit,” thanks to which he could leave Punta Peuco every day for up to 15 hours.

Now, González Betancourt sought parole, but the ministers of the high court who denied him the benefit based their decision on the latest psychological report provided by the Gendarmerie, which notes that the retired Carabineros officer “has not acquired an adequate awareness of the crime committed, of the damage and the harm caused by it, and has not demonstrated a real disposition for change.”

The ruling considers that, according to Chilean law, parole must be “a means of proof” of the convict’s rehabilitation, which in this case would not be met.

The resolution of the Second Chamber includes a caveat from Minister Lamberto Cisternas, who estimated that González Betancourt did not meet the requirements to qualify for parole because his accumulated sentences would require him to serve 25 years in prison, not 20.

Furthermore, Cisternas pointed out that the convict’s defense did not refute the accusation that his prison conduct cannot be considered impeccable, as would be recorded in his Gendarmerie service file.

“I COME TO OFFER MY HEART”

Lawyer Luciano Fouillioux was the one who assumed the argument representing one of the victims of the command led by González Betancourt. Upon beginning his remarks, he described him as a “criminal who also has human rights,” which will never be denied to them in a Rule of Law, but from a different legal standing than that proposed by his defense.

He substantiated his statements by saying that by rejecting his parole, there is no violation of the guarantee of personal liberty and individual security of the kind that allows for the invocation of a recurso de amparo (Article 21 of the Constitution); and that his petition was poorly founded because it invokes constitutional rights as being violated that cannot be remedied through a recurso de amparo.

The state of confusion of his defense is such, he stated, that it led “the petitioner to confuse a recurso de protección with a recurso de amparo.”

Then, Fouillioux recalled the enormous commotion caused in March 1985 by the murder of the three professionals, which even caused the fall of the then-chief of Carabineros and member of the Military Junta, General César Mendoza Durán. He also made mention of the obstacles that the judges in charge of the triple homicide investigation had to face, from Cánovas Robles to Milton Juica.

In front of the victims’ relatives and numerous former colleagues of José Manuel Parada at the Vicaría de la Solidaridad, lawyer Fouillioux drew a profile of the sociologist, recounting his characteristics as a father, husband, and a sensitive and committed young man who, when he saw in 1974—citing Fito Páez’s song “Vengo a ofrecer mi corazón”—“how much blood the river carried, he ran and enrolled in the Pro-Peace Committee and then continued his work at the Vicaría de la Solidaridad, a place where he worked until he was detained and had his throat slit, while for more than a decade he protected, sheltered, and accompanied the persecuted.”

Regarding the underlying criminal issue, Fouillioux posed to the ministers of the Second Chamber that what was under discussion was of “singular relevance, since the matter is whether or not a person sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, who does not demonstrate repentance, as stated in the Gendarmerie’s own reports, and who even so asks for a benefit to be applied to him as a perpetrator of a common crime, has the right to prison benefits.”

Fouillioux also stated that the recurso de amparo was poorly formulated both in form and substance: it was inadmissible due to the subject matter it concerned, as well as the undoubtedly improper search for a forcing or invention of a procedure to reach the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court, which hears criminal matters.

If the petition is accepted—he stated—it seeks to generate a path for future releases for those convicted of crimes against humanity, bringing almost to zero all jurisdictional progress in these matters.

“And that is something no one can tolerate, neither the victims nor the Armed Forces themselves, and even less the Judiciary, which has been adjusting its actions since the deficiencies of the past. Therefore, the Supreme Court cannot be asked to erase with its elbow everything it has written with its hand, since no one would understand that having repeatedly convicted for crimes against humanity, understanding the non-statute of limitations for criminal and now civil matters—as with the recent ruling on the Isla Dawson political prisoners—one can also grant prison benefits for crimes that are claimed as ‘common’ by the petitioner,” added the lawyer.

Upon finishing, Luciano Fouillioux demanded coherence in the Supreme Court’s rulings and said before the Court’s ministers that regarding this type of crime, everything had already been said and known:

“This is how they planned the crime, this is how they kidnapped them, this is how they murdered them, this is how after due process they convicted them, this is how after 23 years of the sentence and 30 years since the events, he shows no repentance… We are facing an unalterable situation, which joins two ends of the same bond, the man who offers his heart, just as Fito Páez sang, and which generated the enlistment of those of us who have wanted to protect the indemnity of the victims and their families.

This forced a group of José Manuel Parada’s former colleagues at the Vicaría de la Solidaridad (and he read a long list headed by María Luisa Sepúlveda and Roberto Garretón) to become a party to this petition to defend the position of the companion whose throat was slit by these henchmen of evil.

With things closed in this way and the time elapsed and acted upon, they make us say: honorable ministers, you may have seen us cry many times but never on our knees, that is why we are here to invoke our position.”

THE CRIMES

Other convicts in the Caso Degollados (Slit-Throated Case) have had better luck than González Betancourt. On August 12 of this year, the Supreme Court ratified the ruling of the Court of Appeals that one month earlier approved the parole of Alejandro Sáez Mardones.

That time, the judicial efforts of the victims’ families and the government’s decision to become a party to the appeal through the Human Rights Program of the Ministry of the Interior were of no use. Sáez Mardones is walking free on the streets today (see box).

Guillermo Washington González Betancourt, also known as “Bototo,” was born in Curicó in 1943. At age 20, he entered the Carabineros School as an officer candidate. His rise was rapid: the following year he was already a sub-lieutenant at the Seventh Precinct of the Santiago North Prefecture, and in 1966 he was promoted to lieutenant in Graneros.

In 1968 he returned to Santiago, to the Sixth Precinct, and in 1970 he joined the Mobile Group at the First Special Services Precinct. After the Military Coup, he moved to the Department of Order and Security of the Carabineros General Directorate and was promoted to captain.

Between 1974 and 1979, he was part of the Special Forces in several Santiago precincts, until in March 1980 he was promoted to major. In August of that year, in an obscure episode, he suffered an accident with explosives that caused the traumatic amputation of his right hand.

The episode did not inhibit him from continuing to carry out operations with explosives to hide his crimes. In 1985, after the kidnapping of the Agech teacher Alejandro Traverso, they hid his Fiat 600 in the courtyard of the Dicomcar barracks on Calle Dieciocho, in the very place where the newspaper Clarín operated until September 1973.

In his statement before Juica, Sub-officer Luis Huaiquimilla said that some time after the murders and kidnappings, González Betancourt ordered the destruction of Traverso’s car. González himself drove his red Chevette with a load of explosives in the passenger seat on the way to Quinta Normal.

He was followed by the Fiat 600, driven by another agent. When they reached a lonely area, they loaded the explosives into Traverso’s car and blew it up.

González uses a prosthesis and was sent on several occasions on official duty to Germany to receive medical treatment at the Hamburg Military Hospital. He was there replacing his prosthesis a few days before ordering the murder of the three communist professionals, which allowed him to personally drive the Chevy Chevette vehicle—along with “El Fanta” and another Dicomcar agent—to the site in Quilicura where their throats were slit.

The events that triggered the murder of Guerrero, Parada, and Nattino began to take shape in 1984. In August of that year, anguished by guilt, the former member of the Comando Conjunto, Andrés Valenzuela, alias “Papudo,” deserted.

The Comando Conjunto was one of the most sinister and secret organizations of the dictatorship, in which the intelligence services of the Air Force, Navy, and Carabineros participated (at first, the Army also participated).

The group competed in the hunting of political dissidents with the DINA, led by Manuel Contreras, even disputing prisoners on the streets. Some civilians from the former Patria y Libertad (such as the group that murdered Salvador Allende’s naval aide, Arturo Araya Peters, in July 1973) and later former prisoners who, after being brutally tortured, became agents, also joined the Comando Conjunto.

Among the latter is Miguel Estay Reyno, “El Fanta,” a former communist militant who became a collaborator and years later a murderer of his own former comrades. Guillermo González Betancourt also participated in the activities of the Comando Conjunto, acting under the orders of Captain Germán Esquivel, head of Carabineros Counterintelligence.

The existence of the Comando Conjunto was kept in absolute secrecy until August 1984, when Andrés Valenzuela approached the offices of the magazine Cauce to recount the crimes he had witnessed to journalist Mónica González, now director of CIPER (see interview). He then testified before officials of the Vicaría de la Solidaridad and was taken out of the country.

As narrated in “Los Casos de la Vicaría,” the accounts of the dictatorship’s crimes compiled by Andrea Insunza and Javier Ortega that inspired the series “Los Archivos del Cardenal,” two months after Valenzuela’s desertion, dictatorship intelligence agents raided the headquarters of the Popular Democratic Movement (MDP).

Among other documents, they took a notebook with notes and phone numbers that belonged to the architect Ramón Arriagada Escalante, a communist militant nicknamed “Vincenzo.” That notebook contained information on meetings of several militants and leaders, including the three murdered professionals.

In February 1985, Arriagada was kidnapped under the orders of González Betancourt, and in the following weeks, several Agech teachers were also kidnapped. Under torture, Arriagada was interrogated about the activities of Manuel Guerrero and José Manuel Parada, who in recent months had been working to confirm the data provided by Valenzuela about the Comando Conjunto.

The entire story is detailed in the book “Los Secretos del Comando Conjunto,” by Mónica González and Héctor Contreras, published in 1991 by Ediciones del Ornitorrinco.

CONVICTED

It did not take long for Judge José Cánovas Robles, appointed as a visiting minister to investigate the murders of Guerrero, Parada, and Nattino, to reach the conclusion that the crime had been ordered from the Department of External and Internal Affairs of Dicomcar, led by Guillermo González Betancourt, whom he declared a defendant.

But the judge’s decision was quickly annulled by the Court of Appeals, at that time subordinate to the orders emanating from the regime’s Ministry of the Interior. Judge Cánovas discovered that González Betancourt had left his place of detention without permission and that he had also housed “El Fanta” in his house on the coast to help him evade justice.

Despite the public commotion caused by the triple murder and the thorough investigation carried out by the then-minister of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Carlos Cerda (today a Supreme Court minister), who was ordered to close the process on the Comando Conjunto and was punished for ordering the detention of some of its members, the trial stopped there.

There would be no justice. Until in 1992, a new visiting minister, Milton Juica, declared González Betancourt and 15 other Carabineros defendants as perpetrators of illicit association.

Six months before being prosecuted, González Betancourt experienced a family tragedy. On October 3, 1991, his daughter Estrella González Jepsen was shot to death by her partner, Carabineros Lieutenant Félix Sazo.

They were parents of a child who at that time was 9 months old. According to police reports of the time, that day the 24-year-old young woman was at her job at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, in downtown Santiago.

Around 10 in the morning, Sazo arrived at the office dressed in his uniform, and Estrella went out with him to talk outside, in front of the Monument to the Martyrs of Carabineros, where they argued violently.

Estrella returned to her office very nervous. Minutes later, the officer entered again, approached the counter, shouted his girlfriend’s name, and fired four shots: two in the chest, one in the head, and another in the back. Seconds later, the uniformed officer fired two shots into his own temple (see chronicle of La Cuarta).

DISTANCE FROM EL FANTA

As the book “Los Secretos del Comando Conjunto” narrates, Miguel Estay Reyno had joined the Communist Youth in 1969, while a student at the Liceo Gabriela Mistral. He became known among the youth of the “Jota” as a member of the Ramona Parra Brigades and was nicknamed Fanta, after “Fantomas,” a character from the comic magazine “La Chiva,” which circulated at that time.

When he was detained by members of the Comando Conjunto, they threatened to murder his brother Jaime and his brother’s girlfriend (who later became his wife), and “El Fanta” opened up to collaborate. This is how he explained his decision to Minister Carlos Cerda, the judge who investigated the Comando Conjunto:

-I offered in exchange for the freedom of both to compile a complete curriculum of my activity in the youth and in the PC intelligence apparatus, in which I would provide all the background on the communist militants I have known. I prepared that document in my cell.

“El Fanta” not only turned in his comrades but became an active collaborator in the dictatorship’s crimes. “I chose, and the truth is that I have paid dearly for my decision,” said Estay in an interview with CIPER in 2007. And he added:

-Along the way, I started meeting other people, with other ideas, and I started to assume them. The truth is that like an important part of Chileans, I believed in the stamp that the military government managed to impose, fundamentally in economic terms.

And since I also had a certain degree of specialization in the intelligence area, a relatively natural link was formed with people from the services, due to the interest they might have in that knowledge. I must admit that by 1984 or 1985, when I got into this section (Dicomcar), I had a significant degree of affinity with the vision of the military government.

“El Fanta” was a trusted man of González Betancourt. They shared an office at the Dicomcar barracks on Calle Dieciocho, the same one they adorned with the corvo with which they would slit the throats of Guerrero, Parada, and Nattino.

But the relationship between them was never the same after Estay accused his boss of being responsible for the kidnappings and murders. González took revenge on Estay Reyno by declaring that the decision to kill had been his own, saying that he had claimed more power than he actually had within the organization.

Disappointed in the man who had been his trusted agent, González Betancourt said: “If he was capable of betraying his communist comrades, why couldn’t he do it to me now,” as narrated in the book “La Noche de los Corvos,” by Nelson Caucoto and Héctor Salazar.

González Betancourt, imperturbable, did not recognize any of his crimes, accusing his subordinates of operating without his knowledge. Before Juica, he declared:

“The fact is that the next day, the most surprised were (Patricio) Zamora and I when we learned of the death of these detainees.”

By then, Minister Juica had already proven his role in the triple homicide, and the conviction was inevitable.

Crimes, sentences, and benefits of those involved in the Caso Degollados

Guillermo Washington González Betancourt, retired Carabineros colonel, was sentenced to life imprisonment as the perpetrator of the kidnapping of Ramón Arriagada Escalante, Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas; and the kidnapping and homicide of José Manuel Parada.

Maluenda, Santiago Nattino Allende, and Manuel Guerrero Ceballos; and to 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of illicit association, and 5 years and one day for the robbery with intimidation of Alejandro Traverso's car.

In May 2012, González Betancourt completed 20 years of his sentence at Punta Peuco and, in September of the same year, was granted the benefit of Sunday release. Later, in January 2013, he managed to leave the prison for the entire weekend, and on June 24 of the same year, he obtained the benefit of "controlled free release," thanks to which he could leave Punta Peuco every day for up to 15 hours a day.

Miguel Arturo Estay Reyno (El Fanta), a former PC militant who later became an informant and torturer, was sentenced to life imprisonment as the perpetrator of the kidnappings of Ramón Arriagada Escalante, Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas; and for the kidnapping and homicide of Santiago Nattino Allende, José Manuel Parada, and Manuel Guerrero Ceballos.

He was also sentenced in the same case to 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of illicit association and to two 541-day sentences as the perpetrator of the repeated crimes of usurpation of name and malicious use of a false passport. He is currently incarcerated at Punta Peuco.

José Florentino Fuentes Castro, a retired First Sergeant of the Carabineros, was sentenced to life imprisonment as the perpetrator of the kidnappings of Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas; and for the kidnapping and homicide of José Manuel Parada Maluenda, Santiago Nattino Allende, and Manuel Guerrero Ceballos.

He was also sentenced to 541 days as the perpetrator of illicit association. In May 2012, Fuentes Castro completed 20 years of his sentence at Punta Peuco and, in September of the same year, was granted the benefit of Sunday release.

Later, in January 2013, he managed to leave the prison for the entire weekend, and on June 24 of the same year, he obtained the benefit of "controlled free release," thanks to which he could leave Punta Peuco every day for up to 15 hours a day.

Alejandro Segundo Sáez Mardones, a retired First Corporal of the Carabineros, was sentenced to life imprisonment as the perpetrator of the kidnappings of Ramón Arriagada Escalante, Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas, and for the kidnapping and murder of José Manuel Parada Maluenda, Santiago Nattino Allende, and Manuel Guerrero Ceballos.

He was also sentenced to 541 days as the perpetrator of illicit association, and to 3 years and one day as the perpetrator of the homicide of Carlos Contreras Maluje in 1976. He served his sentence at Punta Peuco until August 12 of this year, when he was granted the benefit of parole.

Claudio Alberto Salazar Fuentes, a retired Corporal of the Carabineros, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the kidnapping of Ramón Arriagada Escalante, Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas, and for the kidnapping and murder of José Manuel Parada Maluenda, Santiago Nattino Allende, and Manuel Guerrero Ceballos.

He was sentenced in the same case to 541 days as the perpetrator of the crime of illicit association. He is serving his sentence at Punta Peuco.

Patricio Augusto Zamora Rodríguez, a retired Captain of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 15 years and one day for the kidnapping of Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, Mario Toloza Jara, Eduardo Osorio Venegas, Manuel Guerrero Ceballos, Santiago Nattino Allende, and José Manuel Parada Maluenda, and as an accomplice to the murder of the latter three.

He also has three other sentences of 5 years and one day for unnecessary violence resulting in the death of Percy Arana; 541 days for illicit association; and 541 days for causing bodily harm. In 2012, his sentence was reduced by 13 months, and he is free.

Luis Alfredo Canto Arriagada, a retired Second Sergeant of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 541 days in prison as an accomplice to the kidnapping of five members of the AGECh and for the homicides of Parada, Guerrero, and Nattino. He is free.

Juan Luis Huaiquimilla Coñoepan, a retired non-commissioned officer of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of the crimes of kidnapping Ramón Arriagada Escalante, Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas; as the perpetrator of the crime of terrorist illicit association; for the crime of property damage against Alejandro Traverso; and as an accomplice to the kidnapping of Santiago Nattino Allende.

He completed his sentence and is free today.

Julio Enzo Hurtado Lazcano, a retired Corporal of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 41 days in prison as an accomplice to the kidnapping of Ramón Arriagada Escalante. He completed his sentence and is free today. He worked intermittently between 2011 and 2013 as an administrative clerk at the General Cemetery.

Luis Ernesto Jofré Herrera, a retired Corporal of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of the kidnapping of Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, Eduardo Osorio Venegas, Santiago Nattino Allende, José Manuel Parada, and Manuel Guerrero Ceballos, and as the perpetrator of illicit association.

Additionally, he was sentenced to 541 days in prison as the perpetrator of the crime of causing bodily harm to Leopoldo Muñoz de la Parra. He has already completed his sentence and is free today.

Julio Luis Omar Michea Muñoz, a retired Colonel of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of the kidnapping of Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas, and for terrorist illicit association. He completed his sentence and is free today.

Manuel Agustín Muñoz Gamboa, a retired Major of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of the crime of terrorist illicit association. In 2014, he was sentenced to 5 years and one day for the aggravated kidnapping of Alfredo Salinas Vásquez, José Sagredo Pacheco, and Juan Gianelli Company, in addition to illicit association.

He is serving his sentence at Punta Peuco.

Santiago Segundo San Martín Riquelme, in May 1992, was the first to confess before Milton Juica. The retired corporal was later sentenced to 61 days in prison as the perpetrator of the kidnapping of Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas. He is free today.

Sergio Enrique Saravia Henríquez, a retired Colonel of the Carabineros, was sentenced to two 41-day prison terms as an accomplice in the kidnapping of Ramón Arriagada Escalante, Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, Mario Toloza Jara, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas.

In 2002, it became known that after completing his sentence, he remained active and was serving as sub-prefect of the eastern area of Santiago. He retired after his active-duty status was made public.

Óscar Ramón Valdebenito Valdebenito, a retired Second Sergeant, was sentenced to 41 days in prison as an accomplice to the kidnapping of Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, Mario Toloza Jara, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas. He completed his sentence and is free today.

Ramón Eduardo Valenzuela Cuevas, sentenced to 541 days in prison as an accomplice to the robbery with intimidation and kidnapping of Alejandro Traverso Carvajal. He completed his sentence and is free.

Source: “La noche de los corvos: El caso degollados o un verde mando de impunidad” [The Night of the Corvos: The Degollados Case or a Green Command of Impunity], by Nelson Caucoto and Héctor Salazar, updated with press information.

Source: ciper.cl, September 21, 2015

36 years after the Degollados case: the three crimes that shook Chile, an assassination that led to the resignation of the Director of Carabineros

The professionals Santiago Esteban Nattino Allende, a painter and member of the Association of Educators of Chile (AGECH); Manuel Leonidas Guerrero Ceballos, a teacher and leader of the AGECH; and José Manuel Parada Maluenda, a sociologist and official at the Vicariate of Solidarity of the Catholic Church, were kidnapped in late March 1985 by agents of the Carabineros' Directorate of Communications (DICOMCAR).

On March 30, all three were murdered by a group of Carabineros, in one of the cruelest and most chilling crimes committed by agents of the dictatorship.

Nattino was intercepted on March 28 at the corner of Apoquindo and Badajoz streets in Las Condes, while Guerrero and Parada were kidnapped on the 29th from the gates of the Colegio Latinoamericano, at the intersection of Avenida Los Leones and El Vergel in Providencia, while they were dropping off their children. The criminal kidnapping operation even had the support of a Carabineros helicopter.

They are slit-throated in Quilicura: The chilling crime

After their kidnapping, the three professionals were taken to a secret barracks on Calle Dieciocho, next to where the newspaper El Clarín used to be, in downtown Santiago—the same location used by the Joint Command in the mid-70s, known as "La Firma." The three were handcuffed, blindfolded, and tortured throughout the day on March 29.

It was established that between the night of Friday the 29th and the early hours of Saturday the 30th, the three kidnapped men were loaded into a Chevrolet Opala, two lying in the trunk and one in the backseat.

At the wheel was Corporal Claudio Salazar, with First Corporal Alejandro Sáez in the passenger seat and Second Sergeant José Fuentes in the back. A second car, a Chevy Chevette, was driven by Colonel Guillermo González Betancourt (pictured below), known as "Bototo" among the Carabineros officer corps, who led the group of criminals who used the tools and weapons provided by the Chilean people to murder other Chileans.

In the passenger seat was Miguel Estay, "El Fanta," a civilian who had been on the left and switched to the side of the criminals, while one of the back seats was occupied by Captain Patricio Zamora.

All were members of the Carabineros

The cars traveled to an area of Quilicura near the airport. They parked on the shoulder, near the El Retiro estate. "El Fanta," Zamora, and González Betancourt remained in their vehicle.

Guerrero was the first to be taken out. On his knees, handcuffed and blindfolded in a small depression next to the road, Sergeant Fuentes ("El Pegaso") grabbed his head from behind and slit his throat with a corvo (a curved military knife).

The vehicle moved about 30 meters to the north. They took out Nattino, also handcuffed and blindfolded. Using the same weapon, Corporal Sáez repeated the execution. The car moved forward a few more meters, where Parada was taken out.

Lying on his back, handcuffed and blindfolded, Corporal Salazar took the corvo and made a deep cut in his abdomen. The victim resisted and screamed in pain, which terrified his executioner. A third agent got out of the car and slit his throat.

The blindfolds and handcuffs were removed from the three bodies. Once the crimes were committed, the group of Carabineros returned to their barracks on Calle Dieciocho. There, they drank whiskey, ate, and laughed.

Exemplary judge discovers the criminals

The brutal triple homicide, which came to be known as the "Degollados Case," sparked widespread indignation throughout the country and forced the Supreme Court to appoint an elderly judge on the verge of retirement, José Cánovas Robles, as a special investigating minister to probe the crime.

This judge began to unveil the criminal actions of the security agents, setting an example for other judges—many of whom had acted with absolute leniency—to imprison other criminals.

Only four months later, the investigation carried out by Judge Cánovas led to the arrest of two colonels, one commander, two captains, and two Carabineros officers. On August 2, 1985, the case caused the resignation of General César Mendoza, General Director of the Carabineros and a member of the Government Junta since the military coup of September 11, 1973, as well as the dissolution of DICOMCAR.

The dictatorship, especially its then-spokesman and minister Francisco Javier Cuadra (who became an RN militant during the democracy), denied that the crime was committed by government agents, but the infighting between the Carabineros and the Army soldiers of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), Pinochet's political police, led to the discovery of the killers, who belonged to the uniformed police.

The CNI provided the names of the killers to the justice system and the media, in revenge against those Carabineros who had blamed them for other crimes. It was a vendetta between a group of delinquents and criminals.

Ultimately, six members of the uniformed police were prosecuted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders. Three of them still remain in the Punta Peuco prison.

One of the criminals, Claudio Salazar Fuentes, alias "El Pegaso," was released and lives in the commune of La Florida.

Crimes, sentences, and benefits of those involved in the Degollados Case

Guillermo Washington González Betancourt, a retired Colonel of the Carabineros, was sentenced to life imprisonment as the perpetrator of the kidnapping of Ramón Arriagada Escalante, Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas; and for the kidnapping and homicide of José Manuel Parada Maluenda, Santiago Nattino Allende, and Manuel Guerrero Ceballos; and to 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of illicit association, and 5 years and one day for the robbery with intimidation of Alejandro Traverso's car.

In May 2012, González Betancourt completed 20 years of his sentence at Punta Peuco and, in September of the same year, was granted the benefit of Sunday release. Later, in January 2013, he managed to leave the prison for the entire weekend, and on June 24 of the same year, he obtained the benefit of "controlled free release," thanks to which he could leave Punta Peuco every day for up to 15 hours a day.

Miguel Arturo Estay Reyno (El Fanta), a former PC militant who later became an informant and torturer, was sentenced to life imprisonment as the perpetrator of the crimes of kidnapping Ramón Arriagada Escalante, Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas; and for the kidnapping and homicide of Santiago Nattino Allende, José Manuel Parada, and Manuel Guerrero Ceballos.

He was also sentenced in the same case to 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of illicit association and to two 541-day sentences as the perpetrator of the repeated crimes of usurpation of name and malicious use of a false passport. He is currently incarcerated at Punta Peuco.

José Florentino Fuentes Castro, a retired First Sergeant of the Carabineros, was sentenced to life imprisonment as the perpetrator of the kidnappings of Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas; and for the kidnapping and homicide of José Manuel Parada Maluenda, Santiago Nattino Allende, and Manuel Guerrero Ceballos.

He was also sentenced to 541 days as the perpetrator of illicit association. In May 2012, Fuentes Castro completed 20 years of his sentence at Punta Peuco and, in September of the same year, was granted the benefit of Sunday release.

Later, in January 2013, he managed to leave the prison for the entire weekend, and on June 24 of the same year, he obtained the benefit of "controlled free release," thanks to which he could leave Punta Peuco every day for up to 15 hours a day.

Alejandro Segundo Sáez Mardones, a retired First Corporal of the Carabineros, was sentenced to life imprisonment as the perpetrator of the kidnappings of Ramón Arriagada Escalante, Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas, and for the kidnapping and murder of José Manuel Parada Maluenda, Santiago Nattino Allende, and Manuel Guerrero Ceballos.

He was also sentenced to 541 days as the perpetrator of illicit association, and to 3 years and one day as the perpetrator of the homicide of Carlos Contreras Maluje in 1976. He served his sentence at Punta Peuco and was granted the benefit of parole.

Claudio Alberto Salazar Fuentes, a retired Corporal of the Carabineros, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the kidnapping of Ramón Arriagada Escalante, Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas, and for the kidnapping and murder of José Manuel Parada Maluenda, Santiago Nattino Allende, and Manuel Guerrero Ceballos.

He was sentenced in the same case to 541 days as the perpetrator of the crime of illicit association. He is serving his sentence at Punta Peuco.

Patricio Augusto Zamora Rodríguez, a retired Captain of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 15 years and one day for the kidnapping of Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, Mario Toloza Jara, Eduardo Osorio Venegas, Manuel Guerrero Ceballos, Santiago Nattino Allende, and José Manuel Parada Maluenda, and as an accomplice to the murder of the latter three.

He also has three other sentences of 5 years and one day for unnecessary violence resulting in the death of Percy Arana; 541 days for illicit association; and 541 days for causing bodily harm. In 2012, his sentence was reduced by 13 months, and he is free.

Luis Alfredo Canto Arriagada, a retired Second Sergeant of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 541 days in prison as an accomplice to the kidnapping of five members of the AGECh and for the homicides of Parada, Guerrero, and Nattino. He is free.

Juan Luis Huaiquimilla Coñoepan, a retired non-commissioned officer of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of the crimes of kidnapping Ramón Arriagada Escalante, Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas; as the perpetrator of the crime of terrorist illicit association; for the crime of property damage against Alejandro Traverso; and as an accomplice to the kidnapping of Santiago Nattino Allende.

He completed his sentence and is free today.

Julio Enzo Hurtado Lazcano, a retired Corporal of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 41 days in prison as an accomplice to the kidnapping of Ramón Arriagada Escalante. He completed his sentence and is free today. He worked intermittently between 2011 and 2013 as an administrative clerk at the General Cemetery.

Luis Ernesto Jofré Herrera, a retired Corporal of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of the kidnapping of Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, Eduardo Osorio Venegas, Santiago Nattino Allende, José Manuel Parada, and Manuel Guerrero Ceballos, and as the perpetrator of illicit association.

Additionally, he was sentenced to 541 days in prison as the perpetrator of the crime of causing bodily harm to Leopoldo Muñoz de la Parra. He has already completed his sentence and is free today.

Julio Luis Omar Michea Muñoz, a retired Colonel of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of the kidnapping of Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas, and for terrorist illicit association. He completed his sentence and is free today.

Manuel Agustín Muñoz Gamboa, a retired Major of the Carabineros, was sentenced to 5 years and one day as the perpetrator of the crime of terrorist illicit association. In 2014, he was sentenced to 5 years and one day for the aggravated kidnapping of Alfredo Salinas Vásquez, José Sagredo Pacheco, and Juan Gianelli Company, in addition to illicit association.

He is serving his sentence at Punta Peuco.

Santiago Segundo San Martín Riquelme, in May 1992, was the first to confess before Milton Juica. The retired corporal was later sentenced to 61 days in prison as the perpetrator of the kidnapping of Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Mario Toloza Jara, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas. He is free today.

Sergio Enrique Saravia Henríquez, a retired Colonel of the Carabineros, was sentenced to two 41-day prison terms as an accomplice in the kidnapping of Ramón Arriagada Escalante, Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, Mario Toloza Jara, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas.

In 2002, it became known that after completing his sentence, he remained active and was serving as sub-prefect of the eastern area of Santiago. He retired after his active-duty status was made public.

Óscar Ramón Valdebenito Valdebenito, a retired Second Sergeant, was sentenced to 41 days in prison as an accomplice to the kidnapping of Mónica Araya Flores, María Eliana Olivares Sepúlveda, Alejandro Traverso Carvajal, Mario Toloza Jara, and Eduardo Osorio Venegas. He completed his sentence and is free today.

Ramón Eduardo Valenzuela Cuevas, sentenced to 541 days in prison as an accomplice to the robbery with intimidation and kidnapping of Alejandro Traverso Carvajal. He completed his sentence and is free.

Source: cambio21.cl, March 30, 2021