The visiting judge for human rights violation cases in the jurisdictions of Concepción and Chillán, Carlos Aldana, issued four indictments for crimes of kidnapping and homicide perpetrated in 1973 in various communes of the Bío Bío Region.

In the first resolution (case file 1-2014), the visiting judge indicted former Carabineros officer of the Penco Precinct, Héctor José Santiago Aburto Muñoz, as a direct perpetrator of the crime of illegal detention or kidnapping with serious consequences against Mario Alberto Ávila Maldonado. This crime was perpetrated in the commune of Penco, beginning on October 9, 1973.

Meanwhile, the former Carabineros non-commissioned officer of the Penco Precinct, Franklin Demetrio del Carmen Crisosto Maldonado, was indicted as the perpetrator of the aggravated homicide of Ávila Maldonado, committed between October 12 and November 25, 1973.

During the investigation stage, it was established that: "On the morning of October 9, 1973, Mario Alberto Ávila Maldonado was taken from his workplace at the social development department, located in the public services building at 1055 Serrano Street in the city of Tomé, through deception, by a police officer, and then transferred to the Penco Carabineros station, where he was held in an arbitrary and illegal manner, as there was no competent legal, administrative, or judicial order.

He was subjected to interrogations and illegitimate duress by police officers assigned to that unit, resulting in serious harm to his person."

"Days after his detention, he was taken from the aforementioned station by police officers and transported to a rural and unpopulated area called 'Quebrada Honda,' located near the public road connecting Lirquén to Tomé, where he was executed by gunfire from weapons handled by Carabineros. His remains were found in that area on November 25, 1973."

The name of Mario Alberto Ávila Maldonado is remembered at the Memorial located in Quebrada Honda, a place where, in addition to the victim of this case, other political prisoners were executed during that era.

Chillán In the second case (case file 6-2017), Judge Aldana indicted former Carabineros officer Patricio Enrique Jeldres Rodríguez for his responsibility in the aggravated homicide of Gabriel Marcelo Cortez Luna, a crime committed on September 19, 1973, in the commune of Chillán.

During the investigation stage of the case, it was established that: "At 5:00 PM on September 18, 1973, a Carabineros patrol consisting of Herminio Fernández Mercado (deceased), Juan Francisco Opazo Guerrero (deceased), Márquez Rodolfo Riquelme Echeverría (deceased), and Pedro Ernesto Loyola Osorio (deceased) arrived at the home of Gabriel Marcelo Cortez Luna, located at 107 Manuel Rodríguez Pavilion, Chillán commune.

They entered without a competent judicial or administrative order and violently searched the home in search of Jorge Cortez Luna (the victim's older brother), who was not at the location. They proceeded to detain the brothers Gabriel Marcelo and Pedro Eduardo Cortez Luna, both of whom were taken to the Second Carabineros Precinct of Chillán, where Pedro Cortez Luna was released by order of Lieutenant Patricio Jeldres Rodríguez because they had been fellow students at the Liceo de Hombres in Chillán, while Gabriel Marcelo Cortez Luna remained detained at that police unit."

"After much searching by the family, his mother learned on October 18, 1973, that a body remained at the Chillán Legal Medical Service facilities, with the cause of death listed as: 'Cranioencephalic perforation, ballistic projectile, action by uniformed contingent,' according to the medical death certificate issued on September 20, 1973, which was buried in a common grave at the Chillán cemetery.

Upon exhumation, the body was verified to be that of the victim Gabriel Marcelo Cortez Luna, who had died on September 19 of the same year at the Maipón Street overpass upon reaching the Chillán railway station."

Normal School Students

In the third resolution (case file 9-2017), the extraordinary visiting judge indicted Patricio Enrique Jeldres Rodríguez as the perpetrator of the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Arturo Prat Martí and José Retamal Velásquez, and the homicide of Patricio Lautaro Weitzel Pérez.

According to the evidence gathered in the investigation of the case: "At 10:00 PM on October 1, 1973, a Carabineros patrol consisting of Herminio Fernández Mercado (deceased), Juan Francisco Opazo Guerrero (deceased), and Márquez Rodolfo Riquelme Echeverría (deceased) arrived at the home of Patricio Lautaro Weitzel Pérez, located at Pizarro Pavilions, street six, house four, Chillán commune.

They entered without a competent judicial or administrative order and detained him, along with his fellow students from the Chillán Normal School, Arturo Lorenzo Prat Martí and José Gregorio Retamal Velásquez, transporting them to the Second Carabineros Precinct of Chillán, where they were subjected to interrogations and torture by an operational group of Carabineros led by Lieutenant Patricio Jeldres Rodríguez."

Meanwhile, on December 24, 1973, "a young woman arrived at the watch repair shop of Mario Weitzel Trincado to repair a wristwatch that belonged to his son, Patricio Lautaro Weitzel Pérez. He immediately began inquiries into his whereabouts, arriving at the El Ala bridge sector over the Ñuble River, on whose bank he found the bodies of six people floating in the water, including that of his son Patricio.

He left him half-buried in the same place to report it to the court on December 26, 1973. A criminal case was opened, and the judge visited the aforementioned site the following day, ordering the recovery of the body and its transfer to the morgue for the corresponding autopsy, and subsequently ordered its delivery to the family members, who gave him a burial. (...) Regarding Arturo Lorenzo Prat Martí and José Gregorio Retamal Velásquez, since the date of their detention—October 1, 1973—at the Second Carabineros Precinct of Chillán, all whereabouts or news remain unknown."

Leaders In the final resolution (case file 11-2017), Judge Carlos Aldana indicted Jeldres Rodríguez as a direct perpetrator of the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Robinson Enrique Ramírez del Prado and Leopoldo López Rivas. These crimes were perpetrated in the commune of Chillán on September 25 and 26, 1973, respectively.

During the investigative stage, it was established that: "Around 10:00 AM on September 25, 1973, Robinson Enrique Ramírez del Prado, president of the Central Única de Trabajadores of Chillán, was detained by a group of Carabineros without a competent judicial or administrative order, in the presence of his boss (Juan León Bernier) and coworkers, at his workplace: 'El Cóndor' Tannery, located at 866 Av.

Collin, Chillán, and was taken to the 2nd Precinct of Chillán."

Meanwhile: "At 1:00 PM on September 26, 1973, at his shoe repair shop located at the intersection of Av. Brasil and Av. Libertad in the city of Chillán, Leopoldo López Rivas, a member of the Communist Party, was detained by a group of Carabineros without a competent judicial or administrative order, in the presence of his assistant (Vicente Vidal Méndez), and was taken to the 2nd Precinct of Chillán."

"Both detainees, Robinson Ramírez del Prado and Leopoldo López Rivas, were subjected to intense and cruel torture, leaving both in poor physical condition, and in that state, they were taken from the police unit (...) all whereabouts or news remain unknown."

Source: resumen.cl, August 10, 2017

Judge Carlos Aldana issues indictment against retired Carabineros General for homicides and kidnappings in Chillán

In the resolution (case file 6-2017 and accumulated cases), Judge Aldana Fuentes indicted retired Carabineros General Jeldres Rodríguez as the perpetrator of the aggravated homicides of Patricio Lautaro Weitzel Pérez and Gabriel Marcelo Cortez Luna; the aggravated kidnappings of Ricardo Troncoso León, Arturo Lorenzo Prat Martí, José Gregorio Retamal Velásquez, Robinson Ramírez del Prado, Leopoldo López Rivas, and Mario Fernando Moreno Castro; and the aggravated kidnapping of Juan Mauricio Poblete Tropa.

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases of the Courts of the jurisdictions of Concepción and Chillán, Carlos Aldana Fuentes, issued an indictment against retired Carabineros General Patricio Enrique Jeldres Rodríguez for his responsibility in two consummated crimes of aggravated homicide, six consummated crimes of aggravated kidnapping, and one consummated crime of aggravated kidnapping.

These crimes were perpetrated between September and December 1973 in the commune of Chillán.

In the resolution (case file 6-2017 and accumulated cases), Judge Aldana Fuentes indicted Jeldres Rodríguez, who was a Carabineros Lieutenant at the time of the events, as the perpetrator of the aggravated homicides of Patricio Lautaro Weitzel Pérez and Gabriel Marcelo Cortez Luna; the aggravated kidnappings of Ricardo Troncoso León, Arturo Lorenzo Prat Martí, José Gregorio Retamal Velásquez, Robinson Ramírez del Prado, Leopoldo López Rivas, and Mario Fernando Moreno Castro; and the aggravated kidnapping of Juan Mauricio Poblete Tropa.

Additionally, he indicted civilian Juan Antonio Sepúlveda Peña as an accomplice in the aggravated kidnapping of Troncoso León.

In the resolution, the visiting judge established the following facts:

a) Case file 7-2017: "On October 1, 1973, around 11:00 AM, while Ricardo Troncoso León, a photographer and theater director with the pseudonym 'Gonzalo Román,' was at his home located in the El Tejar neighborhood, 387 Pasaje Sur in the city of Chillán, with his wife and young daughter, a Carabineros patrol from the Second Precinct of Chillán arrived, commanded by a Lieutenant, in a jeep with Carabineros logos and accompanied by a civilian nicknamed 'El vuela poco,' named Juan Antonio Sepúlveda Peña.

They proceeded to raid the home and detain him without a competent judicial or administrative order, transporting him to the premises of that institution. He remained there in that capacity, and the family was informed on the 3rd of the same month and year that he had been transferred to the Regiment, where such a fact was denied, and his whereabouts or destination have remained unknown from that date until now."

b) Case file 9-2017: "At 10:00 PM on October 1, 1973, a Carabineros patrol dedicated to detaining people opposed to the military regime arrived at the home of Patricio Lautaro Weitzel Pérez, located at Pizarro Pavilions, street six, house four, Chillán commune.

Without a competent judicial or administrative order, they entered the home and proceeded to detain him, along with his fellow students from the Chillán Normal School, Arturo Lorenzo Prat Martí and José Gregorio Retamal Velásquez, transporting them to the Second Carabineros Precinct of Chillán, where they were subjected to interrogations and torture by the aforementioned Carabineros operational group led by Lieutenant Patricio Jeldres Rodríguez.

Their bodies were found in the bed of the Ñuble River, at the height of the El Ala Bridge. Subsequently, on December 24, 1973, a young woman arrived at the watch repair shop owned by Mr. Mario Weitzel Trincado—father of Patricio Lautaro Weitzel Pérez—to repair a wristwatch.

Upon realizing it belonged to his son Patricio Lautaro—who had been forcibly disappeared since September 1973—he followed her at a distance after assisting her, arriving at the El Ala Bridge sector over the Ñuble River, on whose bank he found the bodies of six people floating in the water, including that of his son Patricio.

He left him half-buried in the same place while he fulfilled his duty to report it to the court on December 26, 1973. A criminal case was formed, and the judge visited the aforementioned site the following day, ordering the recovery of the body and its transfer to the morgue for the corresponding autopsy, and subsequently ordered its delivery to the family members, who gave him a burial.

Regarding the victims Arturo Lorenzo Prat Martí and José Gregorio Retamal Velásquez, since the date of their detention—October 1, 1973—and their transfer to the Second Carabineros Precinct of Chillán, all certain news of their whereabouts or location remains unknown."

c) Case file 11-2017: "Around 10:00 AM on September 25, 1973, Robinson Enrique Ramírez del Prado, President of the Central Única de Trabajadores of Chillán, was detained by a group of Carabineros without a competent judicial or administrative order, in the presence of his boss (Juan León Bernier) and coworkers, at his workplace, 'El Cóndor' Tannery, located at 866 Av.

Collin, Chillán. He was seen entering the Second Precinct by his cousin Gerardo Pradenas del Prado, who at the time was a Carabineros officer at the same precinct, and they were personally confronted to determine the degree of kinship between them.

Subsequently, the victim entered a cell, which was the last time he was seen. At 1:00 PM on September 26, 1973, at his shoe repair shop located at the intersection of Av. Brasil and Av. Libertad in the city of Chillán, Leopoldo López Rivas, a member of the Communist Party, was detained by a group of Carabineros without a competent judicial or administrative order, in the presence of his assistant (Vicente Vidal Méndez), and was taken to the Second Precinct of Chillán.

His detention at the aforementioned police facility was acknowledged by the Carabineros on duty when they checked the entry log for Mrs. Rosario Peña Espinoza, who arrived at that location at 3:00 PM that same day.

Likewise, it is proven that both detainees—Robinson Ramírez del Prado and Leopoldo López Rivas—were subjected to intense and cruel torture, leaving them in poor physical condition. In that state, they were taken from the aforementioned police unit and loaded into a vehicle by Carabineros personnel—along with other detainees Luis Ibarra Durán and Juan Poblete Tropa—a date from which—September 25 and 26, 1973—all news regarding their whereabouts or location remains unknown."

d) Case file 15-2017: "Around 11:45 PM on September 23, 1973, while Juan Mauricio Poblete Tropa was sleeping at his parents' house, Carabineros led by Lieutenant Patricio Jeldres Rodríguez, supported by military personnel, arrived and violently took him out without a judicial or administrative order.

He was taken to the Second Carabineros Precinct of Chillán, where he was visited by his mother, María Sabina Poblete Tropa, who observed that he was very mistreated due to the duress he had received. On September 27, 1973, while his mother was going to the Precinct to drop off lunch for her son, she noticed him being loaded into a van.

When she asked about his destination, she was informed that he would be taken to the Regiment, where they denied having received him. From that day on, the family lost all news of his whereabouts until they received information from Mr.

Mario Weitzel Trincado, who handed over items found on a headless body that was in the vicinity of the 'El Ala' Bridge on December 24, 1973, next to the body of his son Patricio Lautaro Weitzel Pérez. After forensic genetic testing, a GMI laboratory report, and an integrated expert report were performed, incorporated on page 1767 and following of September 23, 2019, it was established with an identification probability of at least 99.99997% that the left femur labeled 62 belongs to the aforementioned victim, that is, Juan Mauricio Poblete Tropa.

On page 1992, the corresponding death registration was ordered at the Civil Registry Service, with the cause of death: indeterminate."

e) Case file 5-2018: "Around 12:00 midnight on October 1, 1973, Mario Fernando Moreno Castro, a leader of the Socialist Party, was at his home at 441 Cabildo Street, Chillán Viejo (a home he shared with his wife Rosa Elba Salinas Farías and their 3-year-old daughter, who were not at the location at that moment).

He realized his home was being raided by Carabineros officials and chose to flee over the rear fence of the property, passing through the interior courtyards of his neighbors. When he was passing through the intersection of Juan Martínez de Rozas and Cabildo streets, he was assisted by Mrs.

Mónica Muñoz Orellana, who saw him walking in the middle of the street carrying a white handkerchief on his shoulder. Mario told her that he was escaping from the raid on his home and that he was heading to turn himself in at the 2nd Carabineros Precinct of Chillán.

Given the circumstances of the time and the prevailing curfew, Mrs. Mónica had him enter the restaurant where she worked ('Sociedad Mutualista Bernardo O’Higgins'), located on the corner of Juan Martínez de Rozas and Cabildo, half a block from Moreno Castro's home, where he remained hidden all night.

Around 6:00 AM, Mario Moreno Castro left the restaurant, again expressing his intention to turn himself in at the 2nd Carabineros Precinct of Chillán, but not before leaving his belongings so they could be sent to his wife.

At the moment Mrs. Mónica Muñoz Orellana opened the door, she encountered a Carabineros jeep and had a dialogue with Carabinero Troncoso (deceased), whom she knew, since the restaurant served as a boarding house for Carabineros in the area.

She asked them what they were doing there so early, and Carabinero Troncoso pointed out that 'A little bird had escaped from them, but it was nearby.' After the Carabineros patrol left, Mario Moreno Castro left the place, a moment from which he has never been seen alive again to this date.

On the morning of October 2, 1973, when Rosa Elba Salinas Farías returned home after her shift at the Chillán Hospital, she realized her home had been raided and was informed by neighbors that her partner had been detained that dawn by a Carabineros patrol in a place near her home, so she went to the 2nd Carabineros Precinct of Chillán in search of him, where she was informed at first that Mario Moreno was detained at that police facility, but subsequently the same Carabineros officials denied that information."

f) Case file 6-2017 and accumulated cases: "At 5:00 PM on September 18, 1973, a Carabineros patrol consisting of Herminio Fernández Mercado (deceased), Juan Francisco Opazo Guerrero (deceased), Márquez Rodolfo Riquelme Echeverría (deceased), and Pedro Loyola Osorio (deceased) arrived at the home of Gabriel Marcelo Cortez Luna, located at 107 Manuel Rodríguez Pavilion, Chillán commune.

They entered without a competent judicial or administrative order and violently searched the home in search of Jorge Cortez Luna (the victim's older brother), who was not at the location. They proceeded to detain the brothers Gabriel Marcelo and Pedro Eduardo Cortez Luna, both of whom were taken to the Second Carabineros Precinct of Chillán, where Pedro Cortez Luna was released by order of Lieutenant Patricio Enrique Jeldres Rodríguez because they had been fellow students at the Liceo de Hombres in Chillán, while Gabriel Marcelo Cortez Luna remained detained at that police unit.

After much searching by his family, his mother learned on October 18, 1973, that a body was at the Chillán Legal Medical Service facilities, with the cause of death listed as 'cranioencephalic perforation, ballistic projectile, action by uniformed contingent,' according to the medical death certificate issued on September 20, 1973, which was buried in a common grave at the Chillán cemetery.

Upon exhumation, the body was verified to be that of the victim Gabriel Marcelo Cortez Luna, who had died on September 19 of the same year at the Maipón Street overpass upon reaching the Chillán Railway Station."

Finally, Judge Aldana resumed the processing of case file 8-2017 (accumulated with 6-2017), in which Jeldres Rodríguez is identified as the perpetrator of the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Gustavo Domínguez Jara, Wilson Becerra Cifuentes, and Tomás Domínguez Jara. These crimes were committed starting on October 11, 1973, in the commune of Chillán.

Source: pjud.cl, May 18, 2022

Case File 2.182-98 “Ricardo Lagos” Episode

NINETEENTH: That upon providing an investigative statement on pages 306, 314, 331, 343, 538, and 663, the accused Gajardo Arenas partially acknowledges his participation in the events, noting that on September 11, 1973, he held the rank of Carabineros Lieutenant and was serving at the Second Precinct of Chillán.

On September 16 of the same year, and by order of the Ñuble Prefecture in charge of Colonel Mario Álvarez Molina, he was to form a Carabineros contingent for the purpose of carrying out a raid on the house of the Mayor of the city of Chillán, Ricardo Lagos Reyes.

The operation was under his command, but he was accompanied by Lieutenant Jeldres, who had fewer years of service, for which reason he was solely responsible for the orders in the operation. Regarding the events, the deponent notes that they headed to the Mayor's home in a bus, all members of the group; he cannot recall the number.

They entered the home with the exception of the bus driver, who for obvious reasons stayed waiting outside the home. Upon entering the home, he notes that he interviewed the mayor himself, to whom he indicated that he had to search the place, to which he did not oppose resistance.

For this reason, he ordered the homeowner to remain seated on the terrace of the interior patio, a place to which his wife and son joined him. Under the aforementioned circumstances, the Corporal surnamed Marquez Riquelme arrived at the place, shouting to be authorized to shoot them, to which he tenaciously opposed; but upon turning around to enter the home to continue the search, the Carabineros officer Marquez Riquelme, without any order, proceeded to fire bursts from a rifle, killing the three people immediately.

He adds that, very flustered, he asked the Carabineros officer for explanations of what had happened, who indicated to him that if they did not shoot, the family would, given that they had a large quantity of weapons in the home.

Faced with the events, the deponent notes that he immediately called the Prefecture by telephone, where Colonel Álvarez Molina ordered him to leave the place immediately and go to give the pertinent explanations in person.

Faced with said order, the deponent notes that he left the home in the direction of the Prefecture, with Lieutenant Jeldres remaining in charge of the Carabineros group for following in hierarchical order.

Upon arriving at the Ñuble Prefecture, he interviewed the Colonel personally, to whom he recounted what had happened; immediately, Álvarez Molina himself called the Zone Chief, Colonel Toro Dávila, stating that a confrontation had occurred when proceeding to search the Mayor's home, as a result of which the mayor himself, his wife, and his son had died.

When asked by the deponent regarding the weaponry used, he states that Corporal Marquez Riquelme carried a UZI submachine gun and that he personally used a SIG rifle.

Source: Judiciary, August 13, 2008