Around 08:00 hours today, the exhumation of the bodies of the Valenzuela Velásquez couple and their six-year-old daughter, who were victims of political executions after September 11, 1973, began. Early in the morning, Judge with exclusive dedication Gerardo Vernales arrived at the site and issued the order for the exhumation of the three victims, identified as Ilda Isolina Velásquez Vásquez, a nurse; Héctor Valenzuela, a teacher; and the minor Claudia Valenzuela Velásquez.

As reported by Radio Chilena, the Valenzuela family was sleeping in their home on September 14, 1973, when Carabineros entered their residence in the Independencia neighborhood, raided the property, and, following an interrogation, shot them, wounding two other children of the couple: Paula, 4 years old at the time, and Gonzalo, 2.

The uniformed officers erroneously linked them to the attempted escape of the regional intendant, Germán Castro, and after killing them, maintained that it had been a confrontation.

Source: La Tercera, December 5, 2003

Crime against couple in Talca in '73 clarified

The homicide of a couple that occurred on September 14, 1973, was clarified in the last few hours. The confessed perpetrator of the crime was placed at the disposal of the courts thanks to the work carried out by the judge of the First Court of Letters of Talca, Gerardo Bernales, and the Investigations police of that locality.

The homicide of the couple had remained unresolved for 11 years—and although the Rettig Report included it, concluding that “Héctor Valenzuela, his spouse Hilda Velásquez, and their daughter Claudia Valenzuela are victims of a grave violation of their human rights, as they were executed by State agents without any justification”—the episode was conflated with a suicide attempt, which delayed the clarification of the truth.

Now, with the confession of retired Carabineros Colonel Emilio Muga Galfano, who was placed at the disposal of the courts yesterday, Thursday, the case is virtually clarified. At the time of the homicide, the officer was serving as a lieutenant at the Third Police Station of Talca.

Due to a report of injuries, the officer went to the couple's home, located in the Independencia neighborhood of that locality. Héctor Valenzuela Salazar and Hilda Velásquez Calderón were unconscious in bed, having inhaled liquefied gas.

The officer, using his service weapon, shot the couple and later claimed that it had been a confrontation. When the police arrived at the scene—before the homicide took place—they raided the home. It was discovered that the couple's three children were wounded with a bladed weapon.

One of them, six-year-old Claudia Andrea, was already dead. The remaining two—Paula, four, and Gonzalo, two—were taken to the regional hospital of Talca with serious injuries. According to the Rettig Report, “the house was raided in the early hours and the victims were executed inside; police officers had cordoned off the area early on, warning some neighbors not to go out into the street and ordering them to remain in their homes; and when other relatives of the teacher arrived and the bodies were still in the house, the Carabineros present explained that it had been a suicide.” The judge in charge of the investigation had carried out exhumations of the remains, which were buried in the municipal cemetery of Talca, a few months ago. Héctor Valenzuela was 27 years old at the time of his death. He was a philosophy teacher and a sympathizer of the Socialist Party. His wife, 31, was a university-educated nurse and a communist militant.

Source: El Mostrador, March 5, 2004

Indictment issued in human rights investigation in Talca

The visiting minister of the Talca Court of Appeals, Eduardo Meins, indicted retired Carabineros officer Emilio Muga Galfano as the perpetrator of the crimes of homicide of a couple in 1973. The victims are Héctor Valenzuela Salazar and Hilda Velásquez Calderón, who were murdered in Talca on September 14, 1973.

According to the Rettig Report, Carabineros personnel arrived at the victims' home while investigating an incident that occurred in Paso Nevado, where an armed confrontation took place that ended with the arrest and subsequent execution of former intendant Germán Castro.

Neighbors stated that Carabineros raided the home, resulting in the deaths of the couple and their eldest daughter, Claudia Valenzuela Velásquez (6), while two other children, Paula (4) and Gonzalo (2), were seriously wounded.

The official report given to the relatives indicated that it was a confrontation and a possible suicide. The aforementioned officer remains at liberty on bail after paying $500,000, a resolution confirmed by the Rancagua Court of Appeals, which had to analyze the decision due to the disqualification of the members of the Maule Region appellate court.

Source: El Mercurio, March 20, 2009

Talca Court of Appeals sentences former Carabinero to five years in prison for two homicides in 1973

The visiting minister of the Talca Court of Appeals, Eduardo Meins Olivares, issued a first-instance sentence in the investigation into the qualified homicides of Héctor Valenzuela Salazar and Hilda Velásquez Calderón, which occurred starting September 14, 1973, in the capital of the Maule region.

The magistrate established that retired Carabineros Colonel Emilio Muga Galfano must serve a sentence of 5 years and one day in prison for both homicides. The investigation determined that Muga Galfano must serve the sentence effectively, given the length of the sentence and the unfavorable reports from the Santiago Oriente Social Reintegration Center of the Gendarmerie.

Source: Cooperativa.cl, July 29, 2010