Manuel Jesús Leyton Robles died at 1:25 a.m. that day, as certified by his Death Certificate. According to a report by the Director of the Clínica Centro Médico London, an institution under the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the cause of his death was asphyxiation due to aspiration of vomit, secondary to cardiorespiratory arrest.

On March 24, 1977, Manuel Leyton, a member of the Lautaro Brigade of the DINA, had been arrested at his home along with two other people by officers from the Motor Vehicle Search and Assignment Section of the Carabineros Radio Patrol Prefecture, during an investigation into a stolen car.

At the time of the arrest, the carabineros had confirmed that Manuel Robles was in possession of two vehicles that did not belong to him, one of which appeared in their files registered to the forcibly disappeared person Daniel Palma Robledo.

On March 25, 1977, the Carabineros, noting that Manuel Leyton and another of the detainees were active-duty members of the Ejército and had identified themselves as members of the DINA, informed the Ministry of National Defense that they were holding them in custody for vehicle theft.

The records were sent to the Second Military Court so that the respective investigation could be initiated. Manuel Leyton was immediately summoned to testify, but the Carabineros could not carry out this order because, as they reported in an official letter, they were required by the Director of the DINA to hand over the detainees to DINA officials that same day.

During the morning of March 26, 1977, according to the statement provided by Manuel Leyton's spouse, he arrived at their shared home, where he remained until the following day, when members of the DINA came to get him, this time to admit him to the Clínica Centro Médico London, despite the fact that he was in normal physical condition.

When his spouse went to visit him at the clinic the following day, M. Leyton expressed concern to her about the medical examinations he was being subjected to and the amount of medication he was being administered. In the early hours of March 29, a DINA agent went to her home to inform her of her husband's death.

On the same day, March 29, 1977, as stated in an official letter attached to the Military Court's investigation, the Director of the DINA reported the death of Manuel Leyton. The letter adds that Manuel Leyton had been admitted to the Centro Médico London on March 28, 1977, at 11:00 a.m., with multiple contusions, pleural effusion, and moderate dehydration, and that his health situation had worsened by noon, and that his death had occurred in the early hours of the 29th.

In view of this information, the investigation was dismissed.

In the report of the Comisión Nacional de Verdad y Reconciliación, it is recorded that Daniel Palma Robledo was declared a victim of human rights violations, as it was proven that he was arrested on August 4, 1976, on a public street by DINA agents, and that he disappeared along with his car, which was subsequently found by the Carabineros in the possession of the DINA.

According to a former DINA agent who testified judicially in another case, Manuel Leyton died as a result of the application of Sarin gas, a highly poisonous substance whose effects can be mistaken for a heart attack.

Considering the evidence gathered and the investigation carried out by this Corporation, the Superior Council reached the conviction that Manuel Jesús Leyton Robles was executed outside of any legal process by State agents. For this reason, it declared him a victim of human rights violations.