Former Chile officer sued in Florida for torture death of folk singer Victor Jara in 1973 coup

SANTIAGO, Chile – The family of Chilean folk singer Victor Jara claims to have solved the 40-year-old mystery of who killed him during Chile’s 1973 coup.

And they’re preparing to prove it in a federal courtroom in Jacksonville, Florida.

The family has filed a civil lawsuit against former Chilean army lieutenant Pedro Barrientos Nunez. They accuse him of torturing and killing Jara by playing a game of “Russian roulette” inside a locker room in Santiago’s Estadio Chile, where some 5,000 supporters of President Salvador Allende were detained.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday and the family’s legal team tells The Associated Press that Barrientos was served notice Thursday at his home in Deltona, Florida, where he now lives as a U.S. citizen. Barrientos has denied having anything to do with killing the folk singer.

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Frederick Bernas And Luis Andres Henao

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