Fugitive convicted in 1973 murder of Chilean singer Victor Jara captured

Police have captured Nelson Haase Mazzei, a retired military officer convicted over the 1973 kidnapping and murder of Chilean singer-songwriter Victor Jara, a Justice Department statement said.

Haase, 80, fled in August 2023 when he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The statement said an order had been issued for his imprisonment.

Local media reported that Haase was found in the Los Lagos region, about 950 kilometres south of the capital.

Jara, a major figure in the New Chilean Song movement, was tortured and killed on September 16, 1973, five days after Augusto Pinochet’s coup against President Salvador Allende. Court documents from 2023 said he suffered severe blows to his face and hands and was shot 44 times. He was 40.

Seven retired military officers were sentenced in 2023 over Jara’s death, with prison terms ranging from eight to 25 years. One of them, General Hernan Chacon, killed himself when police went to arrest him in 2023. AFP reported that the other five are in prison.