Chilean authorities have arrested four men in connection to the 1973 murder of Chilean folksinger Victor Jara's brutal murder following the 1973 military coup that placed Gen. Augusto Pinochet as Chile's dictator. A judge also ordered the extradition of an additional suspect who currently lives in Florida, Fox News Latino reported.
A total of eight former army officials were accused of carrying out the murder or complicity to commit murder of the communist folksinger last week. According to Fox News Latino, Chilean Army Lieutenant Pedro Barrientos Núñez and former Colonel Hugo Sánchez Marmonti were among those accused.
Sánchez Marmonti, along with three other men, handed themselves into the Chilean authorities on Wednesday. The men were taken to a special military jail, Judge Miguel Vázquez told reporters. The remaining defendants are expected to be detained in the following days.
According to Fox News Latino, a judge ordered the extradition back to Chile of Barrientos Núñez, who is currently living in Florida. Barrientos Núñez has denied any involvement in the murder of Jara. Among the defendants being accused of being an accomplice to the murder, Robert Souper Onfray is undergoing medical tests at a psychiatric clinic, Judge Vázquez added.
Jara, one of the most vocal opponents to Gen. Pinochet's dictatorship, was taken into custody along with around 5,000 other prisoners to the regime's Santiago soccer stadium detention center on September 11, 1973. Fox News Latino reported that he was repeatedly beaten and tortured and had his hands smashed. According to a witness, his captors then mockingly suggested that he play his guitar.
On September 16, soon after singing part of his anti-regime song "Venceremos" (We Will Win), Jara was shot 44 times before his body was dumped on the outskirts of Santiago. He was 38 years old.
The singer's widow, Joan Turner, held a news conference on Wednesday in the same stadium where her husband was detained and tortured, Fox News Latino reported. According to the BBC, Turner, originally from Britain, has requested the US government extradite Barrientos Núñez to Chile.
During her press conference, she said, "If Victor's case serves as an example, we're pushing forward in demanding justice for Victor with the hope that justice will follow for everyone."
Jara's body was exhumed as part of an investigation into his death in June 2009. According to the BBC, thousands of mourners attended his final three-day wake six months later. He was one of over 3,000 people who were killed or went missing during the military regime of Gen. Pinochet, which lasted from 1973 to 1990.
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