Chilean Colonel Sentenced for Decades-old Murder of Víctor Jara
WHO:
ABC News - Retired Colonel Nelson Haase Mazzei, 80 years old, was arrested for the murder of singer-songwriter Víctor Jara.
The Guardian - Víctor Jara, a 40-year-old member of the Communist Party of Chile and a prominent folk singer, was murdered.
The Guardian - Joan Jara, the widow of Víctor Jara, established the Víctor Jara Foundation.
WHAT:
ABC News - Haase Mazzei was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Jara and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The Guardian - Haase Mazzei was arrested after being a fugitive since 2023.
ABC News - Jara was tortured, violently assaulted, and executed, suffering multiple fractures and 44 bullet wounds.
The Guardian - Seven retired soldiers were found guilty of Jara's murder and sentenced in absentia in August 2023.
WHERE:
ABC News - The arrest took place in Puyehue, in the rural south of Chile.
ABC News - Jara was arrested at the State Technical University and taken to Chile Stadium, now known as Víctor Jara Stadium.
WHEN:
ABC News - Jara was murdered on September 16, 1973, five days after the coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende.
ABC News - Haase Mazzei was convicted in 2018, and his sentence was increased in 2023.
The Guardian - Haase Mazzei fled from authorities in 2023.
WHY:
ABC News - The crimes committed against Jara are emblematic of the brutality during the 17-year dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.
HOW:
The Guardian - Jara was tortured and humiliated at the stadium, where officers played Russian roulette with him, broke his hands, and shot him multiple times.
ABC News - The Judiciary ordered Haase Mazzei's immediate imprisonment upon his arrest.
(UPDATED July 28, 2026 01:27 UTC)
Retired Colonel Nelson Haase Mazzei, aged 80, has been arrested in Puyehue, Chile, for the murder of the prominent folk singer Víctor Jara, who was brutally killed on September 16, 1973, just days after the coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende. Jara, a member of the Communist Party of Chile, suffered horrific torture and was executed, with his body showing multiple fractures and 44 bullet wounds, while seven retired soldiers were previously found guilty of his murder in absentia in August 2023. Haase Mazzei, who had been a fugitive since 2023 after being convicted of kidnapping and murdering Jara, is now facing immediate imprisonment as ordered by the Judiciary.