Key Facts

• Ronni Karpen Moffitt, an American working with Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier, was killed by a car bomb in Washington DC in 1976.
• Three former agents of Chile’s secret police (Dina) were convicted for Moffitt’s murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
• The secret police operated under Pinochet’s dictatorship and targeted opponents in Chile and abroad.
• The bombing was ordered directly by Pinochet and planned by Dina’s chief Manuel Contreras.
• The killing caused tension between Chile and the US, which later placed an arms embargo on Chile.
• Previous legal actions had punished some involved Chilean military officials and an American collaborator named Michael Townley.
• Moffitt’s family and supporters see the court ruling as a long-awaited step toward justice.
• Orlando Letelier was an outspoken critic of Pinochet and was murdered in the same attack.