[JURIST] A Chilean court ruled Monday that US military intelligence services provided information that led to the arrests, and eventual executions, of two Americans in 1973. According to the ruling [AP report], former US Navy Captain Ray Davis gave information to the Chilean officials that was used in the arrest of journalist Charles Horman and US university student Frank Teruggi. This event served as an inspiration for the Oscar-winning film Missing [IMDb website]. The judge also upheld the indictment of retired Chilean Colonel Pedro Espinoza, who has been charged with the murders since 2011. Rafael Gonzalez, a former civilian counterintelligence agent, also remains indicted for serving as an accomplice in the journalist’s murder.

Davis was indicted [JURIST report] in 2011 for the murder of Horman and Teruggi. Both crimes were alleged to have been committed during the 1973-1990 regime of General Augusto Pinochet [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive]. Davis served as a commander of a US military mission in Chile in 1973 when a coup [BBC backgrounder] ensued that resulted in the ousting of former socialist president Salvador Allende [BBC profile] and the seizure of power by Pinochet. Though the Chile’s Supreme Court issued an extradition request to Davis himself, the former captain lived secretly in the country, and died last year.