Santiago Court ratifies conviction for the murder of a married couple perpetrated in 1974.

In a unanimous ruling, the Santiago Court of Appeals ratified the sentences handed down for the qualified homicides of Alejandro de la Barra Villarroel and Ana María Puga Ortiz, a married couple murdered on December 3, 1974, in an area near Plaza Pedro de Valdivia, in the commune of Providencia.

In its ruling, the appellate court only modified the first-instance resolution of Judge Leopoldo Llanos regarding the classification of the criminal participation of DINA agent Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, changing it from accessory to perpetrator of qualified homicide and, consequently, increasing the sentence from 5 years and one day to 15 years and one day in prison.

Likewise, the Chamber confirmed the sentences of 15 years and one day in prison for former agents: Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, Marcelo Moren Brito, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, and Pedro Espinoza Bravo, in their capacity as perpetrators of both homicides; and 10 years and one day in prison for Eduardo Jaime Astorga, in his capacity as an accomplice.

Thus, by virtue of the evidence recorded in the proceedings, it was established that "DINA agents managed to find out that the members and leaders of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria, Ana María Puga Rojas and Alejandro de la Barra Villarroel, had a one-year-old child who attended a kindergarten located in the commune of Providencia.

The agents went to verify his existence on December 2, 1974, checking the enrollment books; and on December 3 of the same year, they organized themselves into groups to wait for them to arrive, as they did daily, to pick up the infant from the kindergarten; they distributed themselves, according to the orders and instructions of the previous day, along the streets near the aforementioned kindergarten; at Ricardo Lyon and California, a group composed of agents Rinoldo Alismer Rodríguez Hernández, José Silva, Heriberto Acevedo, and José Fritz Sparza; and another, formed by Ricardo Lawrence, Rufino Jaime, and José Valdebenito, was positioned on Avenida Bilbao, between Lyon and Pedro de Valdivia; in this way, when the members of the first group saw the car they already knew approaching, with both MIR militants inside, and it did not stop in front of the kindergarten, they alerted the other contingent, so that they were intercepted by the latter at the intersection of Calle Andacollo and Avenida Francisco Bilbao, firing at the couple, without there having been an order for arrest or resistance on their part, both dying as a result of cephalic and cervical wounds. Subsequently, the bodies of Ana María Puga Rojas and Alejandro de la Barra Villarroel were taken to the 'Villa Grimaldi' facility and later their remains were transferred to the Legal Medical Service." In civil matters, the capital's court confirmed the ruling that ordered the state to pay $50,000,000 (fifty million pesos) to Rodrigo Hernández Puga, the son of the female victim. Likewise, the state and those convicted must jointly pay $50,000,000 (fifty million pesos) to Álvaro de la Barra Puga, the son of the couple.

Source: pjud.cl, August 11, 2014

Santiago Court convicts former CNI agents for the crime of a MIR militant in a staged confrontation

The Santiago Court of Appeals confirmed the convictions and increased the sentences to be served by former agents of the Central Nacional de Informaciones (CNI) for the murder of Alan Williams Rodríguez Pacheco, committed in January 1985 in the commune of Maipú, in Santiago, and presented at the time as a death in a confrontation by the repressive and communications agencies of the dictatorship.

In a unanimous ruling (case file 4940-2019), the Ninth Chamber of the capital's appellate court—composed of judges Dobra Lusic Nadal, Blanca Rojas Arancibia, and judge Miguel Vásquez Plaza—confirmed the first-instance resolution issued in June 2019 by judge Mario Carroza, which convicted nine former CNI agents but increased the penalties imposed on those sentenced.

Indeed, the former Army officers and operational leaders of the CNI, Álvaro Julio Federico Corbalán Castilla, head of the Anti-Subversive Division of the repressive entity, and Aquiles Mauricio González Cortés, head of the Blue Brigade of the aforementioned organization, were sentenced to serve 15 years of effective prison time as perpetrators of the crime of qualified homicide, instead of the five years they had received as a sentence in the first-instance ruling.

Meanwhile, also in the capacity of perpetrators of the crime, former agents Sylvia Teresa Oyarce Pinto, Rodolfo Enrique Olguín González, Víctor Eulogio Ruiz Godoy, José Guillermo Salas Fuentes, Juan Alejandro Jorquera Abarzúa, and Claudio Segundo Sanhueza Sanhueza were sentenced to 10 years and one day in prison, instead of the three years from the first-instance resolution.

Meanwhile, the former operational agent prosecuted in this case, Rinoldo Alismer Rodríguez Hernández, passed away during the proceedings and the case against him was dismissed. Alan Williams Rodríguez Pacheco, 28 years old, was a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR) and remained in hiding, operating in activities related to the resistance struggle against the dictatorship.

He was a teacher, a mathematician, and dedicated himself to giving private lessons. After having been detained in 1973 and remaining a prisoner, he went into exile in England and returned clandestinely to Chile at the beginning of 1980 within the framework of the "Operación Retorno." Once in Chile, he was part of the group of MIR militants who made up the Toqui Lautaro Guerrilla Detachment, which carried out guerrilla preparation tasks in the mountains of Neltume, in the commune of Panguipulli, in the province of Valdivia.

The guerrilla group was discovered and annihilated by military and repressive forces between September and November 1981. Alan Rodríguez Pacheco was one of the few members of the guerrilla detachment who survived the events in the southern mountains and remained in Chile, active in the clandestine struggle.

Years later, the repressive apparatus located and executed him. On January 3, 1985, he was living with his partner, Emilia Rosa López Cifuentes, who was pregnant, at the house on Calle Victoria No. 2304 in the commune of Maipú.

He was giving private English lessons and doing typing work at home, while she performed administrative duties at the Centro de Estudios Sociales y Económicos VECTOR. On the aforementioned day, and after having said goodbye to his wife at the door of the house, he returned and remained inside the dwelling where, around 10:30 a.m., he was the victim of a surprise military-style attack on the property carried out by agents of the Central Nacional de Informaciones.

For several months, CNI agents had managed to detect his location, follow him, and detail his routines with the sole purpose of murdering him. The attack on the property was carried out without prior warning, using disproportionate force and great firepower, and lasted for nearly half an hour, even causing the house to catch fire.

As a result of the attack, Alan Rodríguez Pacheco was killed by bullets, and his body was charred as a consequence of the fire generated by the use of weaponry. Subsequently, the CNI and official reports described the event as a "death in a confrontation." The judicial process was able to establish and demonstrate the falsehood of the confrontation and, on the contrary, prove the existence of a conspiracy and prior preparation intended to execute the victim.

An act that the repressive agents carried out without obstacles, acting with certainty and treachery.

Source: resumen.cl, January 5, 2022