Six retired military personnel were sentenced to 13 years in prison for the murder of a railway employee that occurred during the dictatorship. The individuals are Manuel Rafael Campos Ceballos, Manuel Reinaldo Canales Valdés, Juan Carlos Concha Belmar, Gabriel Alfonso Dittus Marín, Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, and Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenula.

During the investigation led by Álvaro Mesa, the minister for extraordinary visits for human rights violation cases of the Temuco Court of Appeals, it was established that the events took place on October 11, 1973.

That day, the 21-year-old railway worker, Arturo Alejandro Navarrete Leiva, was detained at approximately 8:45 PM on Calle Basilio Urrutia. Witnesses saw the military personnel place him, along with another person, into the vehicle they were using.

He was taken to the banks of the Cautín River in the Población Amanecer sector, where, by order of Second Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce, they shot him and subsequently threw his body into the current.

The following day, his mother, Magdalena Leiva Fritis, having been informed by one of the witnesses of his detention, went to the Tucapel Regiment, the FACH Air Base in Temuco, and the city's public jail, where she was informed that her son was not on the list of detainees.

For their authorship of the events, Minister Mesa sentenced the 6 retired Army officials to 13 years in prison for the crime of qualified homicide. In civil matters, he ordered the State to pay the sum of $150 million pesos as compensation for damages, specifically for moral injury resulting from the murder of Arturo Navarrete Leiva, in amounts distributed in the ruling.

Source: biobiochile.cl, February 21, 2017

42 years after the murder of a railway worker, the justice system, through Álvaro Mesa Latorre, the minister for visits for human rights violation cases of the Temuco Court of Appeals, subjected former military personnel Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, Juan Bautista Labraña Luvecce, Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao, Juan Carlos Concha Belmar, Manuel Reinaldo Canales Valdés, Manuel Rafael Campos Ceballos, and Gabriel Alfonso Dittus Marín to prosecution and preventive detention as authors of the crime of qualified homicide against Arturo Alejandro Navarrete Leiva, perpetrated in the commune of Temuco on October 11, 1973. According to the background information gathered in the investigation, the instructing minister Álvaro Mesa managed to establish, at this procedural stage, the participation of the former Army officials in the homicide of the young man who worked as a laborer for the State Railways. According to the facts investigated by Mesa, Arturo Alejandro Navarrete Leiva, single, 21 years old at the time of his detention, “was detained on October 11, 1973, around 8:45 PM, on Calle Basilio Urrutia, in the Railway Station sector, in front of the 'Diana' soda fountain in the city of Temuco. His detention was witnessed by numerous witnesses who saw how the military personnel loaded him, along with another person, into the vehicle they were using. He was taken to the banks of the Cautín River in the Población Amanecer sector of the city of Temuco, where the group of military personnel, in a firing squad position, under the command and by order of Second Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce, proceeded to shoot him and kill him, subsequently throwing his body into the waters of the Cautín River,” the indictment states. “The day after the events, his mother, Magdalena Leiva Fritis, informed by one of the witnesses of his detention, went to the Tucapel Regiment, the FACH Air Base in Temuco, and the city's public jail, being informed in all these places that her son was not in the records of detainees. All subsequent efforts made by his family to learn the fate of Arturo Navarrete Leiva yielded no results,” the accusation maintains. It should be noted that immediately after the events of September 11, 1973, the armed forces and order forces took control of the city of Temuco, with Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse, Commander of the No. 8 “Tucapel” Infantry Regiment of this city, establishing himself as Governor of Temuco, who also remained as Chief of the Temuco Garrison. Within the aforementioned military unit, a special group called the “Patrulla Brava” (Brave Patrol) or “Patrulla Chacal” (Jackal Patrol) was formed, composed of enlisted soldiers and conscripts from the Second Hunters Company, under the orders of Second Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce, who in turn received orders from the Lieutenant in command of the Company. This group was in charge, among other functions, of carrying out patrols within the city of Temuco, as well as guarding the detainees who were held in the facilities of the “Tucapel” regiment in Temuco. Minister Álvaro Mesa Latorre was appointed instructor of human rights cases in place of Minister Fernando Carreño starting in September 2011. Upon assuming the position, he received 41 cases in the summary stage. He currently oversees 110 cases totaling 217 volumes, of which 4 are in the plenary stage; 3 have been ruled upon and 4 dismissed. In total, he has registered 56 indictments to date, with 133 people subjected to prosecution. In his investigative work, the instructing minister of the Temuco Court of Appeals is assisted by three judicial clerks and five detectives from the Human Rights Crimes Investigation Brigade of the Chilean Investigative Police.

Source: tiempo21.cl, June 28, 2015

Curarrehue: Former Army members sentenced for illegal detention, illegitimate coercion, and homicides

The minister for extraordinary visits for human rights violation cases for the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, sentenced former members of the Army and a CONAF official for their responsibility in the crimes of illegal detention, illegitimate coercion, and qualified homicide of Alberto Colpihueque Navarrete, Eleuterio Colpihueque Licán, and Abel Florencio Colpihueque Licán.

These illicit acts were perpetrated in October 1973 in the rural sector of the commune of Curarrehue, La Araucanía Region. In the ruling, Minister Mesa sentenced Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés and Ricardo Jesús Vásquez Estrada to 16 years in prison as authors of two qualified homicides, plus 4 years of intensive supervised release for the application of illegitimate coercion.

Meanwhile, Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao must serve 16 years in prison as the author of the crime of homicide. In the case, the visiting minister applied sentences of 3 and 4 years in prison to Gabriel Antonio Sandoval Catalán, with the benefit of supervised release, as the author of the crimes of illegal detention and illegitimate coercion, respectively.

Finally, Sergio Enrique Poblete Poblete, a CONAF driver at the time of the events, was sentenced to two 5-year prison terms, with the benefit of intensive supervised release, for his participation as an accomplice in the crimes of homicide, plus the payment of two fines of 20 UTM, as an accomplice to two crimes of illegitimate coercion.

During the investigation stage of the case, Minister Mesa Latorre managed to establish the following facts: A. That starting on September 11, 1973, Army personnel from the No. 8 “Tucapel” Regiment of Temuco began to alternately carry out operations in the foothills area of the Araucanía Region with the objective of guarding border posts and detaining people opposed to the new regime.

B. That between the months of October to December 1973 and January 1974, troops from the Second Hunters Company of the No. 8 “Tucapel” Regiment of Temuco moved to the Curarrehue sector, distributing themselves into patrols that were stationed in different sectors of that commune, using rural schools, public facilities, and a school located in the city as a base for operations.

C. That a military patrol from the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco was stationed at a rural school owned by Mr. Manuel Llancafilo (deceased), located in the Quiñenahuín sector, on the road to Reigolil, in the commune of Curarrehue, with the objective of establishing a surveillance post and carrying out patrols in the sector.

D. That during the months following the military coup, possibly in October, Ismael Llancafilo Cayufilo (deceased), son of Mr. Manuel Llancafilo, apparently motivated by old grudges originating from land ownership, denounced his neighbor Alberto Colpihueque Navarrete to the military, accusing him of communist militancy and of having committed crimes such as theft, cattle rustling, and incest.

For these reasons, the Army personnel stationed at the Quiñenahuín school, among whom was the conscript Gabriel Antonio Sandoval Catalán, a reserve sergeant, together with the accuser Llancafilo Cayufilo, went to the home of Colpihueque Navarrete in the morning hours of a day in October 1973 and proceeded to detain him along with two of his sons named Eleuterio Colpihueque Licán and Abel Florencio Colpihueque Licán, whom they beat and subsequently took to Manuel Llancafilo's school without carrying any order authorizing them for such an act.

E. That a witness to the detention was the spouse of the victim Alberto Colpihueque Navarrete, Mrs. Margarita Licán Carinao, who at page 605 (Volume II) of the case files stated she recognized Ismael Llancafilo Cayufilo (deceased) as part of the group that proceeded to detain her husband and two of her sons, who were beaten by the members of the military patrol.

F. That according to the statements of Abel Florencio Colpihueque Licán from page 264 to 265, page 272 (all in Volume I) and from page 605 to 606 (Volume II), the three detainees were initially interrogated separately about two hundred meters from the house, with the declarant being able to notice that his father and brother were severely beaten by the apprehending personnel, while the civilian who accompanied them, Ismael Llancafilo Cayufilo, took care of the horses they were traveling on.

Subsequently, they were taken to the school where they were interrogated again, with the witness being released in the afternoon or the following day. However, Alberto Colpihueque Navarrete and his son Eleuterio Colpihueque Licán were forced to work for the following three or four days on the property of Ismael Llancafilo Cayufilo, “clearing” the land.

G. That days later, Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce (deceased) of the 2nd Hunters Company of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco appeared at the site along with conscript soldiers Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés and Ricardo Jesús Vásquez Estrada, who were his trusted men.

There, they proceeded to interrogate and torture Alberto Colpihueque Navarrete and his son Eleuterio Colpihueque Licán through beatings, wounds caused by a corvo (curved knife), and submerging their heads in a pot of water, practicing the so-called “submarine” (waterboarding).

Subsequently, they were loaded into an all-terrain vehicle belonging to CONAF, which was driven by Sergio Enrique Poblete Poblete, a driver belonging to that public department who collaborated with the Army.

As guards, Lieutenant Espinoza and some conscript soldiers close to him who were part of the so-called “Patrulla Chacal” that regularly accompanied this officer went along. The detainees were taken to the commune of Curarrehue, where they were left at the school that served as a barracks for the military troops.

H. That the following day, Lieutenant Espinoza ordered three conscripts belonging to the 4th Section of the Second Hunters Company that was under his command, Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, Ricardo Jesús Vásquez Estrada, and Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao, to take the detainees out and load them into the same vehicle in which they had brought the victims from Quiñenahuín.

The driver of the vehicle was the same one who had participated in the previous procedure, that is, Sergio Enrique Poblete Poblete. The detainees were tied with their hands behind their backs and wore a sack over their heads that covered them down to their torsos.

I. That Lieutenant Espinoza ordered them to leave in the direction of Puesco, and after half an hour of travel, when they were passing by the Quillelhue lagoon, he ordered the vehicle to take a road that deviated to the right.

After advancing between fifty and one hundred meters, he ordered the vehicle to stop and had the detainees and the conscript soldiers Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, Ricardo Jesús Vásquez Estrada, and Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao get out.

Immediately afterward, the detainees were freed from their ties and ordered to walk a few meters to a sector where Lieutenant Espinoza ordered them to dig a pit, for which he gave each of them a shovel.

Conscript soldier Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés helped the detainees in this task. J. That Alberto Colpihueque Navarrete and Eleuterio Colpihueque Licán, aware of the fate that awaited them, begged for their lives to Lieutenant Espinoza, who jumped into the pit and proceeded to slit the throats of both detainees with his corvo.

Subsequently, he drew his weapon and finished them off by shooting them at point-blank range. Finally, he ordered the conscript soldiers Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, Ricardo Jesús Vásquez Estrada, and Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao to cover the bodies with earth, after which they returned to the vehicle that was waiting for them near the main road and returned to Curarrehue.

In civil matters, the ruling accepted the filed lawsuit and ordered the State of Chile to pay a total compensation of $540,000,000 (five hundred and forty million pesos) to the victims' families.

Source: temucotelevision.cl, May 30, 2019

Former Army members and civilian sentenced for the murder of two peasants in Curarrehue in 1973

The Supreme Court sentenced four former members of the Army and a civilian collaborator of the repression in the commune of Curarrehue for the murder of peasants Alberto Colpihueque Navarrete, 57 years old, and his son Eleuterio Ramón Colpihueque Licán, 26 years old, committed in that mountain town on October 10, 1973.

By Darío Núñez In a unanimous ruling (case roll 361-2020), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, minister María Teresa Letelier, and minister Diego Simpértigue—accepted the cassation appeals filed by the plaintiffs against the resolution issued by the Temuco Court in November 2019 that applied the "half-prescription" (statute of limitations reduction) to the accused.

In a replacement sentence, the Second Chamber confirmed the first-instance sentence, issued by the minister for extraordinary visits Álvaro Mesa Latorre in May 2019, with modifications expressed in the detailed resolutions.

Former Army conscript soldiers Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, Ricardo Jesús Vásquez Estrada, and Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao are sentenced, as authors of the crimes of qualified homicide of Alberto Colpihueque Navarrete and Eleuterio Colpihueque Licán, to suffer each the single penalty of five years of minor imprisonment in its maximum degree and the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification for political rights and absolute disqualification for public offices and positions during the time of the sentence.

The accused Vallejos Garcés and Vásquez Estrada were also sentenced to 41 days in prison for the crime of illegitimate coercion committed against the same persons prior to their execution. It sentences former Army conscript soldier Gabriel Antonio Sandoval Catalán to suffer two penalties of sixty days of imprisonment in its maximum degree, and the accessory penalties of suspension from public office and position during the time of the sentence, in his capacity as author of the repeated crimes of illegal detention perpetrated against Alberto Colpihueque Navarrete, Eleuterio Colpihueque Licán, and Abel Colpihueque Licán, and the crime of illegitimate coercion perpetrated against the first two persons. It sentences the former employee of the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) and collaborator of the uniformed officers, Sergio Enrique Poblete Poblete, to the single penalty of four years of minor imprisonment in its maximum degree and the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification for political rights and absolute disqualification for public offices and positions for the duration of the sentence, in his capacity as an accomplice to two crimes of qualified homicide against Alberto Colpihueque Navarrete and Eleuterio Ramón Colpihueque Licán, and to the single penalty of paying ten (10) Monthly Tax Units as an accomplice to the crimes of illegitimate coercion committed against the same victims. The highest court established an error of law in the sentence issued by the Temuco Court of Appeals, considering that it favored all the convicted persons with the "half-prescription." However, the Supreme Court grants them the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence for some, and supervised release for others. That is to say, no criminal will serve effective prison time, which becomes disguised impunity. Added to this is that the main perpetrator of these crimes, former Army officer Manuel Espinoza Ponce, remains unpunished due to his death. The facts that identify the former Army members as responsible Between the months of October 1973 and January 1974, troops from the Second Hunters Company of the No. 8 'Tucapel' Regiment of Temuco moved to the Curarrehue sector, distributing themselves into patrols that were stationed in different sectors of that commune, using rural schools and public facilities found in the commune as a base for operations. At the beginning of October, Army personnel stationed at the Quiñenahuín school went to the home of Alberto Colpihueque Navarrete and proceeded to detain him along with two of his sons, Eleuterio Colpihueque Licán and Abel Florencio Colpihueque Licán, whom they beat and subsequently took to the school where they were interrogated and tortured again. The following day they released Abel Florencio, but his father and brother remained in the power of the uniformed officers. In subsequent days, Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce of the 2nd Hunters Company of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco arrived at the site, accompanied by some trusted conscripts, all of whom made up the so-called "Patrulla Chacal" of that regiment, specialized in punishment actions and executions of political prisoners. Ponce and his group subjected the Colpihueque detainees to interrogation and torture again. Subsequently, they loaded the prisoners into an all-terrain vehicle owned by CONAF, driven by Sergio Poblete Poblete, and left with them in the direction of Puesco. After half an hour of travel, Espinoza Ponce ordered them to stop, had the detainees get out, and gave them a shovel to dig their own grave. Faced with the victims' pleas, using his corvo, officer Espinoza slit their throats and immediately finished them off with shots from his weapon. Finally, he ordered the conscript soldiers to bury the bodies of the two murdered peasants.

Source: resumen.cl, December 19, 2022

In the civil aspect, the visiting judge accepted the filed claim and ordered the State to pay a total indemnity of $2,780,000,000 (two billion seven hundred eighty million pesos) for moral damages to the victims' families.

The minister in extraordinary visit for human rights violation cases for the jurisdictions of the Courts of Appeals of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, issued sentence number 78 on the matter, and convicted 23 retired military personnel and Army collaborators for their responsibility in the qualified homicides and illegal coercion against Florentino Alberto Molina Ruiz, Juan Antonio Chávez Rivas, Víctor Hugo Valenzuela Velásquez, Juan Carlos Ruiz Mancilla, Amador Francisco Montero Mosquera, Pedro Juan Mardones Jofré, and Carlos Aillañir Huenchual, perpetrated in the commune of Temuco in November 1973.

In the sentence (case file 113.089), Minister Mesa Latorre sentenced:

Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud

to life imprisonment for his responsibility as the perpetrator of the 7 qualified homicides and 10 years of imprisonment for his responsibility as the perpetrator of 7 crimes of illegal coercion against the seven victims.

Meanwhile, Daniel San Juan Clavería, Omar Burgos Dejean, Hernán Raúl Quiroz Barra, Raúl Binaldo Schonherr Frías, Orlando Moreno Vásquez must serve a sentence of life imprisonment as accomplices to the 7 qualified homicides and a sentence of 10 years of imprisonment as perpetrators of illegal coercion.

The accused Juan Guillermo García Covarrubias, Pablo Domingo Gran López, Romilio Osvaldo Lavín Muñoz, Carlos Eduardo Oviedo Arriagada, Raimundo Ignacio García Covarrubias, Norberto Francisco Uribe Moroni, Pedro Guillermo Manuel Tichahuer Salcedo, Juan Bautistas Labraña Luvecce, will serve sentences of life imprisonment as accomplices to the 7 qualified homicides and 427 days of imprisonment as accomplices to the 7 counts of illegal coercion.

Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chahuán

will serve a sentence of life imprisonment as the perpetrator of the 7 qualified homicides.

Additionally, Gabriel Alfonso Dittus Marín, Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao, Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, Juan Carlos Concha Belmar, Manuel Rafael Campos Ceballos will serve a sentence of life imprisonment as accomplices to the 7 qualified homicides.

Arnoldo Aedo Matus

will serve a sentence of 20 years of imprisonment as an accomplice to the 7 homicides.

Libardo Hernán Schwartenski Rubio

will serve a sentence of 10 years of imprisonment as the perpetrator of 7 crimes of illegal coercion.

Finally, José Raúl Inzunza Reyes was sentenced to 427 days of imprisonment as the perpetrator of 7 crimes of illegal coercion.

In the sentence, Minister Mesa Latorre established the following facts:

A.- That, immediately following the military coup of September 11, 1973, the armed forces and order forces took control of the city of Temuco, with the Colonel Commander of the "La Concepción" Regiment of Lautaro, Hernán Jerónimo Ramírez Ramírez (deceased, as recorded on page 6,060 of volume XVII), establishing himself as Intendant; and the Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on page 1,298, volume IV), Commander of the N° 8 "Tucapel" Infantry Regiment of this city, as Governor of Temuco, who also remained as Chief of the Temuco Garrison.

B.- That on the same day, September 11, 1973, the Temuco lawyer Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, who was also a Reserve Lieutenant of the Chilean Army, was called to collaborate with the new regime to support the work of the Military Prosecutor's Office that operated within the unit and was in charge of the Second Commander, Major Luis Jofré Soto (deceased, as recorded on page 1,295, volume IV).

This officer, however, had to assume greater functions as Second Commander of the Tucapel regiment shortly thereafter. From that day forward, civilians began to arrive at the regiment, having been called to appear before the Military Prosecutor's Office through communiqués published in the written press and on the radio, or having been brought in as detainees from different parts of the region by police and military patrols.

Given the high number of detainees and people called to testify, the Military Prosecutor's Office was reinforced to carry out its work with Judiciary officials who were requested from the Temuco Court of Appeals by the aforementioned lawyer Podlech Michaud, who, acting as Ad-Hoc Prosecutor, made a presentation to the Plenary of the Appellate Court (Minutes from page 3010 to 3011, volume IX), after which some clerks from different courts and a Court Rapporteur were assigned on service commission.

Due to the lack of knowledge in criminal procedural matters, added to his weak character and his work as Second Commander of the regiment, Major Luis Jofré Soto began delegating functions as Military Prosecutor to the lawyer Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, advisor to the Prosecutor's Office, who began to hold the position of de facto Prosecutor, to the point that he conducted jail visits and that lawyers, family members, and even ecclesiastical dignitaries consulted him regarding the fate of the detainees.

However, Major Jofré Soto continued to sign administrative documents most of the time and participated in some interrogations of detainees.

C.- That the people called to appear before the Military Prosecutor's Office and those brought in as detainees were kept in facilities located next to the guardhouse and in the large gymnasium. Once interrogated by personnel from the Military Prosecutor's Office, by detectives Aquiles Alfonso Poblete Müller (deceased, as recorded on page 3,800, volume XI), Daniel San Juan Clavería, and Hernán Raúl Quiroz Barra of the Investigative Police attached to the regiment, or by the officers themselves who participated in these activities—among whom were Jaime Guillermo García Covarrubias, Raimundo Ignacio García Covarrubias, Pablo Domingo Gran López, Mario Hernán Arias Díaz (deceased, as recorded on page 7,531, volume XXI), Carlos Eduardo Oviedo Arriagada, Norberto Francisco Uribe Moroni, Pedro Guillermo Manuel Tichahuer Salcedo, Romilio Osvaldo Lavín Muñoz—and non-commissioned officers, among whom were Juan Bautista Labraña Luvecce, Orlando Moreno Vásquez, and Raúl Binaldo Schonherr Frías, some were released, others were sent to their homes under house arrest, and others were taken to the public jail where they remained while their procedural situation was resolved.

D.- That also, by September 1973, the Second Section of Information and Intelligence existed at the N° 8 "Tucapel" Infantry Regiment of Temuco, which was in charge of Captain Nelson Manuel Uldaricio Ubilla Toledo (deceased, as recorded on page 1,296, volume IV), under whose dependency some non-commissioned officers of that institution also performed functions, among whom were Juan Bautista Labraña Luvecce, Orlando Moreno Vásquez, and Raúl Binaldo Schonherr Frías.

This work was reinforced after September 11, 1973, with the addition of Investigative Police officials Aquiles Alfonso Poblete Müller (deceased, as recorded on page 3,800, volume XI), Daniel San Juan Clavería, and Hernán Raúl Quiroz Barra, mentioned above, and Carabineros, among whom was Omar Burgos Dejean, who provided political information to the aforementioned officer regarding all those persons subject to an investigation by the Military Prosecutor's Office.

Likewise, some officers, among whom was Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chahuán, as well as non-commissioned officers and conscripts of the regiment, joined the intelligence tasks. As the days went by, the Military Prosecutor's Office and the Second Intelligence Section began to work jointly to interrogate the detainees, as in this case, who remained reclined in the jail or in some facility of the Tucapel regiment.

To articulate this work, two locations were enabled in the military unit, one located between the Headquarters Company and the Mortar Company, and another in an old, disused gymnasium located next to the conscript soldiers' "mess hall." In this way, the detainees were taken to and from the jail to the regiment by military personnel of the Second Section, being interrogated at the Military Prosecutor's Office and physically coerced in one of the aforementioned facilities to "soften them up" before or after these interrogations, as in this case.

In both interrogation and torture rooms, there were implements to tie up the detainees and apply electricity to different parts of the body, in addition to applying other types of torment such as kicks and punches, as in this case.

Conscript soldiers participated in this task, among whom were Manuel Rafael Campos Ceballos, Juan Carlos Concha Belmar, Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, Gabriel Alfonso Dittus Marín, Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao, Juan Humberto Carrillo Rebolledo, Libardo Schwartenski Rubio, and José Raúl Inzunza Reyes, and a Carabinero, Omar Burgos Dejean, who collaborated with Captain Nelson Ubilla Toledo and the Investigative Police detectives who were there: Aquiles Alfonso Poblete Müller (deceased, as recorded on page 3,800, volume XI), Daniel San Juan Clavería, and Hernán Raúl Quiroz Barra.

Most of the officers of the "Tucapel" regiment and some non-commissioned soldiers from the Headquarters and Services Companies, among whom were José Raúl Inzunza Reyes, from the Mortars, Hunters, and Second Section, all of whom entered these facilities at different times, also participated in the interrogation and/or torture sessions of detainees in those places.

E.- That within the aforementioned military unit, a special group called "Patrulla Brava" (Brave Patrol) or "Patrulla Chacal" (Jackal Patrol) was formed, composed of non-commissioned soldiers and conscripts of the 2nd Hunters Company, among whom were Manuel Rafael Campos Ceballos, Juan Carlos Concha Belmar, Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, Gabriel Alfonso Dittus Marín, Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao, Juan Humberto Carrillo Rebolledo, and Libardo Schwartenski Rubio, under the orders of Second Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce (deceased, as recorded on page 1,299, volume IV), who in turn received orders from Lieutenant Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chahuán, who was in command of the Company. This group was in charge, among other functions, of guarding the detainees who were kept in the facilities of the "Tucapel" regiment of Temuco.

F.- That during the days following September 11, 1973, a significant number of people were killed or disappeared in the IX region, with several of these deaths explained by regional military authorities through the publication of communiqués issued either from the Intendancy or the Temuco Military Garrison.

The communiqué that explained the events subject to this investigation, in light of the evidence gathered in this process, provides an implausible version of how the events of the night of November 10, 1973, unfolded, taking into consideration the statement of Manuel Ángel Fernández Carranza (page 222), who, after the events of November 10, 1973, and upon returning from a mission he had been entrusted with toward the Pucón sector in search of guerrillas, was summoned by the then-commander of the N° 8 Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on page 1,298, volume IV), to inform him that the assault on the ammunition dump had not been such, but rather an execution carried out at the shooting range, information he gave him personally so that he would not find out through rumors.

G.- That Florentino Alberto Molina Ruiz, a member of the Central Committee and Regional Secretary of the Communist Party, was detained and taken from his home on Monday, November 5, 1973, by two Carabineros who were members of the Civil Commission, who transported him in a red pickup truck to the Second Police Station of Temuco, where he spent the night in a cell.

The following morning, he was transferred to the "Tucapel" Regiment of Temuco by order of the Military Prosecutor's Office of Temuco, remaining reclined there until the night of November 10, 1973. During that period, his wife went daily to leave him clothes and food, which were channeled through the guards at the entrance of the military compound.

In turn, Molina Ruiz would send her his used clothes as a sign that he was still being held there. Molina Ruiz, who was missing an arm due to a work accident, was seen as a detainee inside the aforementioned military compound by Hermán Carrasco Paúl, who was also in the same condition, who stated that both were victims of illegal coercion.

He was also recognized due to his disability by some conscripts who guarded them.

H.- That Juan Antonio Chávez Rivas, a student at the State Technical University, Regional Secretary, and member of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth, was detained on November 6, 1973, by two Carabineros who were members of the Civil Commission, who transported him in a red pickup truck to the Second Police Station of Temuco, where he spent the night.

The next day, he was transferred to the "Tucapel" Regiment of Temuco. The detainee's relatives approached the military unit to ask about him, where they were told that he was not there, despite the fact that he was seen in the courtyard of the military compound, heavily guarded and in very poor physical condition.

I.- That Víctor Hugo Valenzuela Velásquez, a public employee and propaganda secretary of the Communist Youth of Cautín, was detained on November 7, 1973, around 10:00 a.m., at the Real Estate Registry of Temuco, where he worked.

The arresting personnel, who were dressed in civilian clothes, belonged to the Army Intelligence Service, one of them being a Sergeant of the "Tucapel" Regiment of Temuco. The detainee's relatives went to the "Tucapel" Regiment, where they confirmed the detention and, for three days, delivered clothes and blankets for him at the guardhouse.

J.- That Juan Carlos Ruiz Mancilla, a Civil Construction student at the State Technical University and a member of the Communist Youth, traveled to the city of Punta Arenas, where his parents lived, after September 11, 1973. He was detained there on November 7 of that same year and transported by plane to Temuco, where he was taken to the "Tucapel" Regiment.

K.- That Amador Francisco Montero Mosquera, an Electrical Engineering student at the State Technical University and a member of the Communist Youth, was detained at his home on November 7, 1973, by personnel from the Carabineros Civil Commission and transported to the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco. Relatives went to that place to find out about his situation and to deliver food and clothes.

L.- That Pedro Juan Mardones Jofré, a student at the State Technical University, was detained at his home and transported to the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco. The conscript soldier of the 2nd Section of the 2nd Hunters Company, Luis Humberto Llamunao Huaiquinao (pages 1234 to 1235 and 1323 to 1324), stated that it was his duty to bring water to Mardones Jofré, who was reclined in a storage room located inside a mechanical workshop.

At that moment, he noticed that the detainee had a very injured hand, making it impossible for him to hold the glass offered to him.

M.- That Carlos Aillañir Huenchual, a farmer and sympathizer of the Popular Unity government, was detained on November 6, 1973, by a military patrol moving in an institutional 3/4-ton truck. The detention took place in the rural sector of Pelales, in the town of Quepe, where the house of a brother of the detainee was located.

The soldier in charge of the patrol indicated that the detainee was going to be taken to the Tucapel regiment of Temuco.

N.- That at the end of the day on November 10, 1973, while the aforementioned detainees were reclined in the "small" gymnasium of the Tucapel regiment of Temuco, guarded by conscript soldiers of the 2nd Hunters Company belonging to the "Jackal Patrol," Lieutenant Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chahuán, Commander of the aforementioned company, and Second Lieutenant Espinoza (deceased, as recorded on page 1,299, volume IV) appeared, accompanied by other military personnel from the regiment.

In addition, an institutional truck parked at the location, backing up in front of the entrance to the compound where the victims were being held. Said vehicle, due to its characteristics, was recognized as the one usually used to transport meat and bread, and on some occasions, to transport conscripts for guard duty shifts.

Immediately thereafter, Lieutenant Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chahuán instructed the subordinate personnel to make the detainees board the truck along with them. Then, the truck with the detainees, plus the officers and their companions, left the place.

Regarding this same truck, the following day its cleaning was ordered, among others, to conscript soldier Héctor Florentino Navarrete Leiva, who stated that it was full of human flesh and brain remains (page 2150).

Ñ.- That minutes later, sentries at the guard post located at the entrance sector to the military compound known as "Isla Cautín" saw a caravan of institutional vehicles enter the place, consisting of at least one Toyota jeep and the truck indicated in the previous paragraph.

O.- That in the final hours of November 10, 1973, the aforementioned detainees were taken out of the Tucapel regiment of Temuco, loaded onto the aforementioned military vehicle, and transported to the shooting range sector of the "Isla Cautín" military compound by the officers and their companions.

In that place, the victims of the case were tied to stakes that had been arranged there in a row. Shortly thereafter, Captain Rodolfo Vargas Campos (deceased, as recorded on page 1,297, volume IV), Sergeant Hernán Rodrigo Santiesteban Domínguez (deceased, as recorded on page 4,953, volume XV), and Sergeant Anacleto Aguirre Rivera (deceased, as recorded on page 10,240, volume XXIX), all from the 1st Hunters Company, plus Sergeant José Gajardo Gajardo (deceased, as recorded on page 4,954, volume XV) from the 2nd Hunters Company, joined the group of military personnel present in that sector.

Second Sergeant Arnoldo Aedo Matus of the First Hunters Company was also part of this entourage.

P.- That once the patrol commanded by Captain Vargas arrived at the place, he ordered its members to position themselves behind the detainees who were tied to the stakes, with the exception of Second Sergeant Arnoldo Aedo Matus of the 1st Hunters Company, whom he told to position himself in another, distant place and to proceed to fire shots toward the trees located in a specific sector of Isla Cautín.

This Sergeant Aedo Matus was able to observe that the Commander of the regiment, Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on page 1,298, volume IV), was present at the place, accompanied by an officer of medium-tall stature, and that two civilians were also witnessing the maneuvers in the same sector, recognizing one of them as the advisor lawyer to the Military Prosecutor's Office of Temuco, Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud.

Q.- That subsequently, the detainees in those conditions were executed on the spot one by one and finished off with bursts of gunfire, after which their bodies were sent to the morgue of the regional hospital of Temuco, where the required autopsy was performed, determining the causes of their deaths as follows: Molina Ruiz, craniocerebral explosion, multiple contusive gunshot wounds; Chávez Rivas, craniocerebral explosion, multiple contusive wounds from firearms; Valenzuela Velásquez, craniocerebral attrition, multiple contusive wounds from firearms; Ruiz Mancilla, shock from comminuted fracture of the pelvis and right femur, multiple gunshot wounds; Montero Mosquera, craniocerebral attrition, multiple contusive wounds from firearms; Mardones Jofré, craniocerebral attrition, multiple contusive wounds from firearms; Aillañir Huenchual, primary shock, multiple contusive gunshot wounds transfixing the thorax, abdomen, and limbs. Finally, a military communiqué was drafted to be published in the press the following day, which reported an attempted assault on the Isla Cautín ammunition dump by a group of extremists.

R.- That the day after these events occurred, news appeared in the local written press indicating that an assault had occurred on the Isla Cautín ammunition dump of the Tucapel Regiment, in which an indeterminate number of extremists had participated, news that was ratified by Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on page 1,298, volume IV), which must be contrasted with the statement of Manuel Fernández Carranza, who, after the events of November 10, 1973, and upon returning from a mission he had been entrusted with toward the Pucón sector in search of guerrillas, was summoned by the then-commander of the N° 8 Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on page 1,298, volume IV), to inform him that the assault on the ammunition dump had not been such, but rather an execution carried out at the shooting range, information he gave him personally so that he would not find out through rumors. During the following days, details continued to appear in the press about how these events had occurred and the way in which military personnel had repelled said attack and subsequently gone out in search of the supposed extremists who were not killed in the confrontation and who managed to flee the scene.

In the civil aspect, the visiting judge accepted the filed claim and ordered the State to pay a total indemnity of $2,780,000,000 (two billion seven hundred eighty million pesos) for moral damages to the victims' families.

Source: pjud.cl, September 21, 2023