Synopsis: In September 1976, a group calling itself the Cuban Nationalist Movement (CNM) assassinated Orlando Letelier, the former Ambassador to the U.S. from the Republic of Chile.

Juan Manuel Contreras Sepulveda, director of the National Directorate of Intelligence (DINA-the intelligence and secret police agency of the Chilean Government) helped organize the assassination. Other defendants with official duties in DINA included:

Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Director of Operations,
Armando Fernandez Larios, and
Michael Townley, who exchanged information for amnesty.
Others implicated were:
Guillermo Novo Sampol,
Alvin Ross Diaz,
Virgilio Paz Romero,
Jose Dionisio Suarez Esquivel,
Ignacio Novo Sampol.
Manuel Contreras ordered Pedro Espinoza to assassinate Letelier, and it was Espinoza who passed the order on to Armando Fernandez and Michael Townley. These men used DINA resources arrange international travel, create false travel documentation, make monetary disbursements, and create intelligence contacts.

Armando Fernandez conducted surveillance of Letelier in the United States, and passed that information on to Townley. Cuban exiles, Ignacio Novo, Suarez, Ross and Paz provided explosives, detonating devices, and manpower to assist the assassination. Townley, Paz, and Suarez constructed a bomb, drove to Letelier's home in Maryland, and the bomb on his car.

On September 21, 1976 the bomb was detonated killing Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt. The case went to trial in the United States, and Guillermo Novo Sampol was found guilty of:

conspiracy to murder a foreign official in violation of 18 USC § 1117;
murder of a foreign official in violation of 18 USC §§ 1111 & 1116;
first degree murder in violation of 22 DCC § 2401;
murder by use of explosives in violation of 18 USC § 844(i)); and,
making false declarations in violation of 18 USC § 623.
Sampol was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences in a maximum-security prison and two concurrent 5-year terms for False Declarations.

Defendant Alvin Ross Diaz was convicted of:

conspiracy to murder a foreign official in violation of 18 USC § 1117;
murder of a foreign official in violation of 18 USC §§ 1111 & 1116;
first degree murder in violation of 22 DCC § 2401; and,
murder by use of explosives in violation of 18 USC § 844(i).
Diaz was sentenced to two concurrent life sentences in a maximum security prison.

Defendant Ignacio Novo Sampol was convicted of making false declaration in violation of 18 USC § 623; and misprison of a felony in violation of 18 USC § 4. He was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment.

Defendant Virgilio Paz Romero entered a plea of guilty for conspiracy to murder a foreign official in violation of 18 USC § 1117 and sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment.

Defendant Armando Fernandez Larios was convicted by bench trial for accessory after the fact to murder of a foreign official in violation of 18 USC § 1116, and sentenced to 27 to 84 months of imprisonment.

Defendant Jose Dionisio Suarez Esquival, in exchange for a promise not to prosecute his wife, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder a foreign official in violation of 18 USC § 1117. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 12 years.

The United States Attorney failed to win extradition of Juan Manuel Contreras Sepulveda & Pedro Espinoza Bravo from Chile.