Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–11, Part 2, Documents on South America, 1973–1976

248. Memorandum for the Record¹

San Jose, September 22, 1976.

SUBJECT

• Chile—Charles Edmund Horman

During his 19–21 September 1976 visit to the San Jose Embassy, Mr. Harry W. Schlaudeman, Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America Affairs, told the writer that there continues to be considerable interest, Congressional, organizational, and private, in the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Charles E. Horman in Chile in September 1973. He said this interest has been enhanced by the statements made by Rafael Gonzalez Verdugo, Chilean Air Force Intelligence Officer, who is in asylum in the Italian Embassy in Santiago and has said that he was present when orders were given by General Lutz for Horman to be executed. (See attached copy of an article from the Washington Post dated June 10, 1976.)

In view of the above the writer felt that it might be of assistance for him to recount to the best of his memory what he recalls about this case and also to forward copies of some of the memoranda prepared by him during the investigation by the Consulate of this case. (The memoranda held by the writer are not complete by any means, however, it is assumed that all memoranda are available in the Department of State, since the file on Horman was sent to SCA.)

The writer would like to say that he had no direct dealings with the widow of Charles Horman, and his conversations with Horman’s father, Mr. Edmund C. Horman, were very limited and if the writer recalls correctly were limited to two. Mr. Frederick Purdy, Consul in Santiago at that time, was the person who dealt most extensively with these two relatives.

As background, and the writer again wishes to stress to the best of his memory, the Consulate was first advised of the fact that Charles Horman had been detained on 18 or 19 September 1973 when his wife appeared at the Consulate to ask for assistance. It is believed that she returned to the Consulate several other times and that other inquiries were made by friends of Horman. The writer assumes that the Consulate records on Horman were checked with negative results, because the Consul always said that Mr. C. Horman was not registered. The name of Horman was added to the Consulate’s list of those persons that could not be located and was checked on an almost daily basis with lists maintained by the Chilean authorities of persons detained in the National Stadium. The writer knows that this was done because he was present and assisted in checking the list on at least three occasions. The name of Horman was never located on the listings and the Chilean authorities at the National Stadium consistently denied that he was in the Stadium or had ever been in the Stadium. In addition, checks were made at the morgue and hospitals in an effort to locate this missing U.S. citizen. The writer at this time is unable to give any other information as to the type of reports which may have been received by the Consul or which might have been results of actions taken by the Consul, although there is a complete chronology available in the Department.

At the request of the Ambassador and when the Consulate finally received some manpower assistance from the Embassy, the writer on 1 October 1973 went to the address of Charles Horman to make a neighborhood check to try to ascertain by whom and when Horman had been detained. Attached is a copy of a memorandum prepared at that time of the results of that investigation. Also attached is a copy of another memorandum dated 1 October of a conversation with Mr. Steven Volk, a friend of Mr. Horman.

On 5 October 1973 the father of Horman, Mr. Edmund Horman, arrived in Chile to press for a continued and more thorough search for his son. Attached is a copy of a letter written by the father to Senator J. William Fulbright and which appeared in the Congressional Record—House on October 31, 1973. The writer believes this letter pretty well covers the present feelings and viewpoints of Mr. Horman on the activities of the Embassy and the Consulate in regard to the search for his son.

The writer talked to Mr. Horman on the first occasion to cover information provided to the writer on 8 October 1973 by Mr. Timothy Ross, a British journalist in Santiago. The writer does not have a copy of the memorandum prepared on October 8, but attached are copies of memoranda dated October 10, 15, and 17, 1973 which set forth the writer’s activities and Mr. Ross’ statements. (Also attached are two memoranda dated October 18, 1973 covering discussions with other persons in the investigation of the disappearance of Mr. Horman.) The only other occasion that the writer was with Mr. Horman was when Mr. Horman accompanied the writer and Mrs. Marian Tipton, another Consular Officer, to lunch. No substantive comments were discussed at this lunch.

As a result of pressure from the Embassy and the contacts made by Mr. E. Horman during his visit to Chile, the body of C. Horman was finally located by the Chilean authorities in mid-October 1973. The writer recalls that the Consulate was told by the Chilean authorities that it had taken so long to locate the body because of a mixup or misreading in the cadaver’s fingerprints, and the body was interred as unidentified. The Consulate took efforts to have the body disinterred and returned to the morgue for a complete autopsy, which was carried out. The cause of death was determined as multiple bullet wounds, and if the writer recalls correctly, seven bullets had penetrated the body. The Consulate and the Embassy then started pressing for the release of the body for return to the U.S. for proper burial. However, the body was not released until March 1974. During this long lapse the Consulate was repeatedly assured that the body was under refrigeration, however, this was incorrect, since at a date unknown the body was again interred.

In March 1974, while the writer was in the Consulate alone, a person who identified himself as Rafael Gonzalez Verdugo appeared at the Consulate. He said he was a Chilean Intelligence Officer connected with the Air Force and that he had received orders from Military Intelligence to assist the Consulate in obtaining possession of Horman’s body for shipment to the United States, but that this had to be done immediately. This is after more than four months of constant pressure by the Consulate and the Embassy. Since retrieval of the body was of major concern, the writer accompanied Gonzalez to the cemetery and obtained its release. The writer does not have a copy of the memorandum which he prepared covering his actions taken with Gonzalez; however, he does recall asking Gonzalez how and why Horman was killed and Gonzalez said that he must have been out after curfew or else leftist terrorists killed him. The writer asked Gonzalez why it had taken so long for the authorities to release the body and he said it was because the Chileans were conducting an investigation into what had happened to Horman and because of normal Chilean red tape. In other words, Gonzalez was very non-committal about the circumstances and said he had only been detailed to assist the Consulate in obtaining possession of the body, which was buried in the National Cemetery. The writer refrained from asking too many questions because he did not want anything to delay the acquisition of the body.

When Gonzalez walked into the Consulate in March 1974, the writer recognized his face and later checked Consulate records and found that he had refused Gonzalez a nonimmigrant visa to the U.S., the writer believes sometime in 1972. The reason for the refusal was that he had been residing in the U.S. in an irregular status for several years. The writer does not recall Gonzalez mentioning during the visa interview that he had a U.S. citizen child or that the child was ill, however, he may well have done so (it is possible that this refusal report is still on file with the Consulate in Santiago). While with Mr. Gonzalez in March 1973, the latter did not bring up the visa refusal nor did the writer, however, Gonzalez did say that he had been to the U.S. assigned with CORFO as an undercover Chilean Intelligence Officer and that is why he spoke such good English. To the best of the writer’s knowledge and recollection, the visa refusal interview and the day we went together to get Horman’s body are the only times the writer saw or talked to Gonzalez. It is possible that Gonzalez returned to the Consulate several times to try to overcome the visa refusal.

The writer is unaware of all the allegations made by Gonzalez, however, he has heard that Gonzalez has said that Gonzalez and the writer had a social relationship dating back to 1972. As indicated above, this is untrue. Gonzalez has also indicated, according to what the writer has heard, that he knew the writer had a “dual role” in the Consulate. The writer cannot comment upon what this allegation might have been based, however, it should be recalled that on several occasions the writer was accused of being an Agency employee in Chile by certain Chilean press and TV commentators. As to other statements or ideas which are alluded to in the Post article, the writer does not recall ever having met General Lutz and he knows he was never in Lutz’s office or home. The Defense Attache, (Col. William Hon), to the best of the writer’s knowledge, held all conversations with Lutz in regard to Horman’s death. The writer has no information relative to the possibility that an “American Intelligence Officer” was present, but doubts this statement to be true because of the situation in Chile at that time. At no time did any Chilean, either civilian or military, admit to the writer direct knowledge that he or she knew that Horman was arrested by the military authorities and/or executed. To the best of the writer’s knowledge, neither the Consulate nor the Embassy was ever able to prove that Horman was taken to the National Stadium. The writer has no information as to why the Chilean authorities delayed such a long time prior to releasing the body. When Horman’s body was shipped to the U.S. it was addressed to the Forensic Laboratory in New York City. It was not until members of the GAO investigating team interviewed the writer in La Paz, Bolivia, that the writer was even sure that the body shipped was in fact that of Horman. At that time, GAO team members said that the body had been positively identified as Horman’s by the laboratory.

The writer wishes to stress once again that he has no knowledge of why Horman was detained if in fact he were, why he might have been shot, or any other knowledge of this case which has not already been reported to the Department of State. He is not concealing any information. One might ask if this were true why the writer kept copies of statements and memoranda. The reason for this is that the writer prepared a draft cable for his supervisor because of the sensitivities of this case. Accompanying this draft telegram was background information for use by his supervisor in deciding whether or not to transmit the draft. (The writer did not know that the cable was even sent until June 1976 when he saw it in Washington.) Apparently the supervisor had the copies of the background information held in the writer’s personnel file because in October 1974 they were sent to him in La Paz for his review. Also attached is the copy of the note forwarding these documents.

1. Summary: In response to continuing controversy surrounding the disappearance and death of Charles Horman, James E. Anderson summarized his involvement in the case.

   Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of General Counsel, Job 12-01548R: Legan Subject Records Files (OGC), Box 1, Chile Special Search Project, CIA Documents Denied in Full Pertaining to Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi—Gonzales/Privacy Issues—[less than 1 line not declassified]. No classification marking. Anderson, who had been a counselor officer in Santiago in September 1973, was a political officer in San Jose in September 1976. None of the documents referenced in the memorandum were attached to this copy.