Michael Townley

For the Australian politician, see Michael Townley (politician). For the Grand Theft Auto V character, see Michael De Santa.
Michael Townley
Born
Michael Vernon Townley

(1942-12-05) December 5, 1942 (age 81)
Waterloo, Iowa
Nationality United States Chile
OccupationAssassin
OrganizationDirección de Inteligencia Nacional
SpouseMariana Callejas
Conviction(s)Assassination of Orlando Letelier
Attempted assassination of Bernardo Leighton (in absentia)

Michael Vernon Townley (born December 5, 1942, in Waterloo, Iowa) is an American-born former agent of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the secret police of Chile during the regime of Augusto Pinochet.[1] In 1978, Townley pleaded guilty to the 1976 murders of Orlando Letelier, former Chilean ambassador to the United States, and Ronni Karpen Moffitt, Letelier's co-worker at the Institute for Policy Studies. He was sentenced to ten years in prison, serving 62 months.[2] As part of his plea bargain, Townley received immunity from further prosecution; he was not extradited to Argentina to stand trial for the 1974 assassination of Chilean General Carlos Prats and his wife Sofía Cuthbert in Buenos Aires.[2]

In 1993, Townley was also convicted in absentia by an Italian court of carrying out the 1975 Rome murder attempt on Bernardo Leighton.[3] Townley worked in producing chemical weapons for DINA which would be used against Pinochet regime political opponents,[4][5][6][7] along with Colonel Gerardo Huber[8] and the DINA biochemist Eugenio Berríos.[9] He has long maintained status as a protected witness.[10][11][3]

  1. ^ Summary of Investigation, January 21, 1982, gwu.edu. Accessed July 31, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Diplomat's Assassin to be Freed". Washington Post. 1983-07-26.
  3. ^ a b Willan, Philip (11 March 1993). "Agent of Chilean secret service convicted of murder attempt". UPI.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference contrerasuse was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference protection was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference donmanuel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference leadassassin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Manuel Salazar Salvo, Roto el pacto de silencio en la inteligencia militar Archived 2007-09-21 at the Wayback Machine, Punto Final, n°611, 24 March – 6 April 2006 (in Spanish)
  9. ^ Michael Townley fue interrogado por muerte de Frei Montalva, Radio Cooperativa, 30 March 2005 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference townleywitness was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference witnessprotection was invoked but never defined (see the help page).