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Chile Arrests Last Fugitive Convicted in Víctor Jara Murder

The arrest closes a three-year manhunt, marking the start of prison terms for the final convicted officer.

FILE - In this undated file photo, singer and songwriter Victor Jara poses in Chile. (AP Photo, File)
FILE -Members of the Funa Commission shout slogans outside the home of Edwin Dimter Bianchi, accused and on trial for the murder of Chilean singer-songwriter Victor Jara, during a demonstration to publicly shame him in Santiago, Chile, April 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)
A demonstrater waves a flag depicting Chilean musician Victor Jara during a protest against the government in Santiago in November 2019

Overview

  • Retired Colonel Nelson Haase Mazzei, who was arrested Saturday, has been ordered imprisoned to begin a 25-year sentence for the 1973 kidnapping and murder of Víctor Jara.
  • Haase fled in 2023 after his sentence was announced and was the last of seven former officers convicted in 2018 and resentenced in 2023 to be taken into custody.
  • Court findings describe Jara’s September 16, 1973 death as a political execution in which he was tortured, suffered multiple fractures and received 44 bullet wounds.
  • Jara’s daughter, Amanda Jara, said the family appreciates the arrest but emphasized that serving prison time does not by itself deliver full justice or full truth.
  • The arrest completes a recent phase of prosecutions for dictatorship-era abuses and builds on decades of truth commissions and a national search plan to identify victims and the disappeared.