Manuel Contreras, an important figure during Pinochet’s regime in Chile and notable for his role in the killing of thousands during the time has died.
Contreras, who was a military officer headed the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA),a secret police agency. He became one of the most feared men in the country during his era as Head of DINA, capturing and torturing hundreds of people who opposed the regime.
On June 2008, Contreras received two life sentences for the assassination of General Prats and his wife and was given a combined sentence of 526 years.
He died at a military hospital yesterday aged 86.