Victor Jara murder fugitive Nelson Haase captured after 2023 conviction
Nelson Haase, convicted in the 1973 kidnapping and killing of Victor Jara, was captured after fleeing a 25-year sentence, officials said.
By Frankie Delgado · News Reporter
2 min read
The Victor Jara murder fugitive who vanished after being sentenced in the Chilean singer-songwriter’s killing has been captured, according to a Justice Department statement reported by AFP on Sunday.
Nelson Haase Mazzei, an 80-year-old retired military officer, had been convicted in the kidnapping and murder of Jara, one of Chile’s most important protest musicians. The Justice Department statement said an imprisonment order had been issued for Haase.
Local media reported that Haase was found in the Los Lagos region, about 590 miles south of the capital.
What happened to Victor Jara?
Jara was killed on Sept. 16, 1973, five days after Gen. Augusto Pinochet overthrew Chile’s elected president, Salvador Allende. He was 40.
Court documents from 2023 said Jara was tortured, with the harshest blows delivered to his face and hands. He was then killed with 44 bullets, according to the case records cited in the report.
Jara was known for songs including “El derecho de vivir en paz,” translated as “The Right to Live in Peace.” He became a defining figure in New Chilean Song, a 1960s movement that fused music with social and political themes.
Why was Nelson Haase wanted?
On Aug. 28, 2023, seven retired military officers were sentenced in connection with Jara’s death, receiving prison terms that ranged from eight to 25 years. Haase fled after his 25-year sentence was handed down, according to the Justice Department statement reported by AFP.
One of the seven convicted men, 85-year-old Gen. Hernan Chacon, died by suicide in 2023 when police arrived to arrest him, according to the report. The remaining five are in prison.
Among them is Pedro Barrientos, who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a traffic stop in Florida in 2023. ICE said at the time that Pinochet’s forces detained and tortured many people at Chile Stadium after the Sept. 11, 1973 coup.
ICE described Chile Stadium as an indoor sports site turned by the military into a de facto detention center. The agency said many people held there disappeared or were executed, and that Jara was among the best-known victims.
Why does the Victor Jara case still matter in Chile?
Jara’s killing has become one of the emblematic crimes of Pinochet’s 1973 to 1990 dictatorship. The dictatorship left 3,200 people dead or disappeared, according to the report.
Chile Stadium was renamed for Victor Jara in 2003, placing his name on the site tied to his detention and death. Decades later, his image has continued to appear in Chilean public protests, including a 2019 demonstration in Santiago captured by AFP photographers.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.