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Man jailed for life over death of gay man whose body was carved with swastikas
The creator's telling of the case, the strongest entry point on file.
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Daniel Mauricio Zamudio Vera (3 August 1987 – 27 March 2012) was a Chilean man whose killing became a national symbol against homophobic violence in Chile. Zamudio, who identified as gay, was attacked in San Borja Park in downtown Santiago on 2 March 2012 by four men linked to a neo-Nazi gang. According to accounts from his family, he had previously experienced violence connected to his sexual orientation.
During the attack, Zamudio was beaten for approximately six hours until he lost consciousness. He was taken to the Hospital Emergency Public Assistance in Santiago, where doctors documented a traumatic brain injury, a broken leg, and cuts to his stomach resembling swastikas, apparently made with broken bottles. Cigarette burns were also found on multiple parts of his body. Zamudio remained hospitalized and died from his injuries 25 days later, on 27 March 2012, at the same hospital.
The case drew significant national and international attention. Following his death, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera called on parliament to accelerate passage of a hate crimes law that had been stalled for more than seven years. The proposed legislation sought to prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, appearance, or disability. The bill faced opposition from several churches, which argued it could pave the way toward legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Despite this opposition, the law was passed in July 2012 and signed by the President, entering into force shortly after.
A trial followed in which four men — Patricio Ahumada Garay, Alejandro Angulo Tapia, Raúl López Fuentes, and Fabian Mora Mora — were prosecuted for Zamudio's killing. On 17 October 2013, Judge Juan Carlos Urrutia found all four guilty of first-degree murder, describing the crime as one of "extreme cruelty" and "total disrespect for human life." On 28 October 2013, sentencing was handed down: Ahumada received a life sentence, met with cheers in the courtroom; Angulo and López were each sentenced to 15 years; and Mora, the youngest defendant, received 7 years, a lighter sentence attributed to his cooperation with investigators and lack of prior convictions.
The case has since been referenced in discussions of LGBT rights in Chile and the presence of neo-Nazi groups in the country, and has been the subject of several film and television treatments, including "Zamudio: Lost at Night" (2015), "Jesús" (2016), and "You'll Never Be Alone" (2016).
