Linares

On October 2, 1973, four people, all militants of the Partido Socialista, were killed:

-Teófilo Segundo ARCE TOLOZA, 26 years old, official of the Corporación de Reforma Agraria (CORA), detained at his home on September 12, 1973, by agents of Investigaciones from San Javier.

-José SEPULVEDA BAEZA, 22 years old, university student. Detained on September 12, 1973, at his home, by agents of Investigaciones from San Javier.

-Leopoldo Mauricio GONZALEZ NORAMBUENA, 20 years old, local head of the Corporación de Reforma Agraria (CORA). Detained by agents of Investigaciones from San Javier on September 13, 1973.

-Segundo SANDOVAL GOMEZ, 19 years old, high school student, detained on September 13, 1973, by agents of Investigaciones from San Javier.

All of them had been involved in an incident on September 11 in which they were pursued by Carabineros officers and civilians from the area, managing to escape the gunfire of their pursuers. They were later detained by agents of Investigaciones from San Javier and transferred to the Linares Public Jail.

They were executed in the city of Linares on October 2, 1973, by military personnel. According to the official version provided to the press, the detainees were being taken to a "crime scene reconstruction" and attempted to seize the weapons from their guards and escape.

The Commission has formed the conviction that the detainees were executed by State agents, outside of any legal procedure. The version of an escape attempt is impossible to accept for the following reasons:

-It is inconsistent to claim that on the day of the events, the four were taken from the jail and brought to a crime scene reconstruction at a location situated between the Artillery Regiment and the shooting range, given that this location is not on the road to San Javier, the place where the events actually occurred.

-The heavy guard under which detainees were transported during that period makes it improbable that, being restrained and unarmed, they would attempt to seize weapons from military personnel, whose physical, numerical, and logistical superiority was evident.

-It is inexplicable that to prevent an escape attempt, had one existed, the death of all the prisoners would have been caused under the described conditions.