In the case, presiding judge Mesa Latorre ordered the precautionary measure of full house arrest for the five defendants, considering "the nature of the crime, the assigned penalty, the age of the defendants, and the health situation in which the country finds itself."

The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases for the Courts of Appeals of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, indicted Santiago Sinclair Oyaneder, Hernán Agustín Rodriguez Leyton, Victor Hugo Hermosilla Reinoso, Luis Edmundo Riveros Soto, and the person with the initials H.W.C.R. as perpetrators of the crime of qualified homicide, in its capacity as a crime against humanity, against José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández.

The illicit act was perpetrated on the slopes of the Villarrica volcano between September and November 1973.

In the case (Rol 13-2013), presiding judge Mesa Latorre ordered the precautionary measure of full house arrest for the five defendants, considering "the nature of the crime, the assigned penalty, the age of the defendants, and the health situation in which the country finds itself."

The resolution further indicates that "Given the merit of the background information, from which it is clear that the freedom of the defendants constitutes a danger to the security of society; also taking into account the probable legal sanction for the crimes in which they are attributed participation; and in view of the provisions of Article 363 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the benefit of provisional release will not be granted to them."

In the investigation, Judge Álvaro Mesa was able to establish that:

A.- That José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández, 18 years old, was performing his Compulsory Military Service in 1973 at the Cazadores Regiment in Valdivia, assigned to the mortar squadron of that military unit.

On September 11, 1973, José Gastón was at his parents' house, as his leave had been authorized days prior. However, as the days passed and due to the situation prevailing in the country, José Gastón did not report to his military unit in a timely manner, so his father decided to accompany him to excuse this situation, which occurred days after September 11, 1973 [according to pp. 102, 141, 139, 141 (vol.

I), 721 (vol. III), among other evidence]. Upon arriving at the guard post of the Cazadores Regiment, José decided not to enter, telling his father that he was going to run some errands, and he did not return to the military unit. [according to pp. 33, 142 (vol. I), 1,175 (vol. IV), among other evidence].

B.- That as a result of not reporting or entering the Cazadores Regiment of Valdivia—which at that time was under the command of Colonel Santiago Sinclair Oyaneder—José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández was considered a "deserter," a situation discussed among the conscript soldiers and officers [according to pp. 275 (vol.

I), 412, 468, 509, 587 (vol. II), 854, 863, 903, 915 (vol. III), and 1,056 (vol. IV), among other evidence]. As a result, a patrol led by Lieutenant Luis Rodríguez Rigo-Richi [deceased, according to p. 208 (vol.

I)], and composed of approximately 8 or 9 conscript soldiers [according to pp. 418, 468, 587 (vol. II), and 854 (vol. III), among other evidence], went out in search of José Gastón, detaining him in the commune of Villarrica and transporting him to the Regiment, where he was seen as a detainee by several of his fellow soldiers who were also performing military service, observing that he was guarded by other soldiers, entering with his hands tied behind his back and thrown onto the floor of a military vehicle inside the facility. [according to pp. 251 (vol.

I), 418, 510 (vol. II), 735 (vol. III), among other evidence].

C.- That in the military unit, there was a patrol under the command of Rodríguez Rigo-Richi, identified as his trusted group, which was specifically designated to carry out patrol, detention, and raid orders issued by the regiment commander, Colonel Santiago Sinclair Oyaneder [according to pp. 1,024, 1,181, and 1,187 (vol.

IV), among other evidence]. In the afternoon of the following days, the same patrol led by Lieutenant Rodríguez Rigo-Richi was in charge of transporting José Gastón to the commune of Villarrica, with the purpose of searching for weapons in the sector, as Buchhorsts himself had allegedly indicated.

They traveled through several sectors on the slopes of the Villarrica volcano without finding what they were looking for. Faced with this situation, Lieutenant Rodríguez ordered the young José Gastón to dig, and at certain moments required him to get inside the hole, as the purpose was to make his own grave.

Once finished, he ordered the conscript soldiers to fire at Buchhorsts, which all the soldiers present did, executing him and burying him in that same place. [according to pp. 1,060 to 1,062 (vol. IV); pp. 1,177 to 1,178, 1,180 to 1,183 (vol. IV); 1,186 to 1,187 (vol. IV), among other evidence].

D.- That some time later, several conscript soldiers from the same Cazadores Regiment of Valdivia learned about the death of José Buchhorsts Fernández in the vicinity of the commune of Villarrica [according to pp. 251, 275 (vol.

I), 418, 491 (vol. II), 724, 735 (vol. III), 1,001 (vol. IV), among other evidence], with some of them recalling that they even gathered the entire Mortar squadron and informed them of his death. [according to p. 587 (vol. II), among other evidence].

E.- That despite the above, and even though his father went on repeated occasions to find out about his son's situation, the Cazadores Regiment of Valdivia did not provide him with information, giving him evasive, erroneous, or ambiguous answers.

They even told him that he might be in another military facility in the same commune of Valdivia, and he went to that place, but did not find his son among the detainees. [p. 34 (vol. I)]. As time passed and having no news of José Gastón, several other relatives traveled repeatedly to Valdivia, interviewing a Military Prosecutor named Manterola [deceased, according to p. 1,234 (vol.

IV)], who told them that José had been taken to an area on the road to the Villarrica volcano, but that upon attempting to escape, the "Ley de Fuga" (Escape Law) had been applied to him, being executed on the spot, and that his body had remained buried in that same place, not informing them of the location nor allowing them to search for his body. [according to pp. 34, 140, 141 (vol.

I), among other evidence].

F.- That to this date, no public official of the Armed Forces, especially the command of the Chilean Army that was serving at the time of the events, has provided any information to the respective authority regarding what happened to José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández and the location of his body, maintaining to this day the concealment of all types of evidence regarding the facts mentioned in the preceding paragraphs.

Likewise, according to the process records, there was no instruction for investigations regarding the events surrounding the detention and execution of José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández, even though, according to the death registration certificate, Lieutenant Luis Rodriguez Rigo-Richi himself and other officials from the same Cazadores Regiment of Valdivia were present to verify it.

Source: pdju.cl, April 27, 2022

Indictment issued against eight retired military personnel for the homicide of José Gastón Buchhorsts

The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, issued an indictment against eight retired military personnel for their responsibility in the crime of qualified homicide, in its capacity as a crime against humanity, of José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández.

The latter was murdered while performing his compulsory military service at the Cazadores Regiment in Valdivia. The homicide was perpetrated on the slopes of the Villarrica volcano between September and November 1973.

Thus, in the resolution, Judge Mesa Latorre indicted Hernán Agustín Rodriguez Leyton, Víctor Hugo Hermosilla Reinoso, Luis Edmundo Riveros Soto, Ernesto Alejandro Flores Colimán, Rigoberto Becerra Fica, Waldo Eugenio Salinas Núñez, René Miguel Sáez Gómez, and H.W.C.R. as perpetrators of the crime.

A conscript on the run

In September 1973, José Gastón Buchhorsts was performing his Compulsory Military Service at the Cazadores Regiment in Valdivia.

On September 11 of that year, José was at his parents' house, as his leave had been authorized days prior. However, as the days passed and due to the situation prevailing in the country, José did not report to his military unit in a timely manner, so his father decided to accompany him to excuse this situation.

Upon arriving at the guard post of the Cazadores Regiment, the young conscript decided not to enter, telling his father that he was going to run some errands, and he did not return to the military unit.

As a result of not having reported to the regiment, which at that time was under the command of Colonel Santiago Sinclair, José Buchhorsts was considered a "deserter."

As a result, a patrol led by Lieutenant Luis Rodríguez Rigo-Richi went out in search of the young man to detain him in the commune of Villarrica and transport him back to the Regiment.

Execution on the slopes of the Villarrica volcano

Several of his fellow soldiers who were also performing military service were able to observe that he was guarded by other soldiers, entering with his hands tied behind his back and being thrown onto the floor of a military vehicle inside the facility.

In the regiment, there was a patrol under the command of Rodríguez Rigo-Richi, identified as his trusted group, which was designated to carry out patrol, detention, and raid orders.

In the afternoon of the following days, this patrol was in charge of transporting José Gastón to the commune of Villarrica with the purpose of searching for weapons in the sector, after Buchhorsts himself had allegedly indicated this.

After having traveled through several sectors on the slopes of the Villarrica volcano, what they were looking for was not found. Faced with this situation, Lieutenant Rodríguez ordered Buchhorsts to dig, and at certain moments, required him to get inside the hole, as the purpose was to make his own grave.

Once finished, he ordered the conscript soldiers to fire at Buchhorsts and bury him in that same place.

A covered-up homicide

Some time later, several conscript soldiers from the same Cazadores Regiment of Valdivia learned about the death of José Buchhorsts in the vicinity of the commune of Villarrica, with some of them recalling that they even gathered the entire Mortar squadron to inform them of his death.

Despite this, and even though his father went on repeated occasions to find out about his son's situation, the Cazadores Regiment never provided him with reliable information about him, giving him evasive, erroneous, or ambiguous answers.

As time passed and having no news of José, several relatives traveled repeatedly to Valdivia to interview a military prosecutor, who told them that José had been taken to an area on the road to the Villarrica volcano, but that upon attempting to escape, the "Ley de Fuga" (Escape Law) had been applied to him, being executed on the spot.

He also informed them that his body had remained buried in that same place, not giving them the location nor allowing them to search for his body.

To this date, no public official of the Armed Forces has provided any information to the respective authority regarding what happened to José Buchhorsts and the location of his body, maintaining to this day the concealment of all types of evidence.

Likewise, according to the records of the case led by Judge Álvaro Mesa, there was no instruction for investigations regarding the events surrounding the detention and execution of the young man.

Source: diariodevaldivia.cl, August 14, 2023