Chile captures fugitive convicted of singer Victor Jara's murder under Pinochet

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Victor Jara is still remembered decades later as a victim of the Pinochet regime

Police in Chile say they have captured a man convicted years ago of the kidnapping and murder of popular folk singer Victor Jara under military ruler Augusto Pinochet.

Nelson Haase was one of a group of officers given jail terms for the killing, which took place just five days after the coup which brought Pinochet to power in 1973. He was sentenced to 25 years.

Haase took flight when the sentence was announced in August 2023 but was found by police on Saturday in the south of the country.

Jara, who became famous in the 1960s and 70s for his protest and pacifist songs and supported the ousted socialist president Salvador Allende, was subjected to torture and shot 44 times.

He was one of about 5,000 people, arrested in the immediate aftermath of the coup, who were taken to a sports stadium in the capital.

Those who survived the ordeal recounted how the singer was tortured, with soldiers crushing his fingers and telling him he would never be able to play his guitar again.

His case is one of the most striking examples of how the Pinochet dictatorship dealt with its enemies.

Thousands were tortured, executed or disappeared during the 17-year regime.

Haase, a retired colonel, was one of eight officers found guilty of Jara's murder in 2018 .

After five years of appeals, the country's Supreme Court made a final judgement in the case, sentencing Haase for 15 years for murder and another 10 for kidnapping.

The then 80-year-old failed to appear voluntarily to serve his sentence, and disappeared for nearly three years. Local media said he was found by police agents in Puyehue, in the Los Lagos region 950 km (590 miles) south of the capital Santiago on Saturday.

Another of the seven men convicted of murder, Gen Hernan Chacon, died by suicide when police came to arrest him. The remaining five are all in jail.

Also in 2023, the US extradited to Chile retired army lieutenant Pedro Barrientos, who a Florida jury had found liable for Jara's murder .

Víctor Jara: The folk singer murdered for his music