Chilean police have captured Nelson Haase, a retired colonel convicted for his involvement in the kidnapping and murder of folk singer Victor Jara following the 1973 military coup led by Augusto Pinochet.
Haase was sentenced in August 2023 to 25 years in prison for his role in Jara's death, which occurred just five days after the coup. He had been on the run since the sentence was finalized. Police apprehended him on Saturday in Puyehue, located in the southern Los Lagos region, approximately 950 kilometers south of the capital, Santiago.
Victor Jara, a popular singer-songwriter known for his protest and pacifist songs who supported the ousted socialist president Salvador Allende, was tortured and shot 44 times. He was among thousands arrested in the immediate aftermath of the coup and taken to a sports stadium in Santiago, where many recounted witnessing his torture.
Haase was one of eight officers found guilty of Jara's murder in 2018. After years of appeals, Chile's Supreme Court confirmed a 15-year sentence for murder and an additional 10 years for kidnapping. The then 80-year-old Haase failed to surrender to serve his sentence, disappearing for nearly three years until his capture.
Another individual convicted in Jara's murder, Gen. Hernan Chacon, died by suicide when police attempted to arrest him. The remaining five convicted officers are currently incarcerated. In 2023, Pedro Barrientos, a retired army lieutenant also found liable for Jara's murder by a U.S. jury, was extradited to Chile.
The Pinochet dictatorship, which lasted 17 years, was responsible for the torture, execution, or disappearance of thousands of individuals deemed enemies of the regime.