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October Concentrates Key Trials for Arson Attacks in Biobío Province
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Two key trials for arson attacks recorded in Biobío province will be concentrated in October, both at the Oral Criminal Trial Court of Los Ángeles.
Between 2023 and 2025, including the two still pending hearings, there are three judicial processes carried out in the area for this type of attack. One of them was annulled by the Court of Appeals of Concepción.
The new hearings target those indicated as responsible for these criminal acts.
LOS ÁNGELES ATTACK
On September 9, 2021, an arson attack was recorded at kilometer 16 of Route Q-15, in the Paraguay sector, commune of Los Ángeles.
The incident occurred after 3:00 a.m. at a forestry operation on the Punta Arenas estate, near Saltos del Laja. Unidentified individuals burned a truck in the middle of the operation and shot at least two more vehicles, with no workers reported injured.
One of the victims was forced to get out of his truck, which was then set on fire. At the scene, two other trucks remained that had received ballistic impacts.
At least six people participated in this attack, which was later claimed by the Arauco Malleco Coordinator (CAM).
Initially, five people were arrested for this arson attack: Esteban Ignacio Henríquez Riquelme, Ernesto Lincovam Llaitul Pezoa, Ricardo Esteban Delgado Reinao, Roberto Nicolás Villouta Alcamán, and Eduardo Mauricio Cornejo Vidal.
All were brought to trial in 2023. On November 4 of that year, the Oral Criminal Trial Court of Los Ángeles issued a guilty verdict for attempted homicide and arson against Henríquez, Llaitul, Delgado, and Villouta, as co-authors of two attempted homicides, one completed crime, and another arson attack. Cornejo was convicted as an accomplice to the arson crimes.
However, this ruling suffered a setback when in February 2024 the Court of Appeals of Concepción annulled the sentences issued against Ernesto Llaitul Pezoa, son of the CAM leader, and the other four members of the group. José Luis Marilao Matus was another of those implicated in the arson attack that affected the Punta Arenas estate. Marilao was arrested in July 2024 as part of a preventive operation led by Carabineros in Malleco province, La Araucanía region, for his alleged participation in the criminal acts.
At the time of being checked by police officers, they noticed he had an active arrest warrant for the crime of arson attack. On October 8, Marilao will face justice for these events. The Public Prosecutor's Office charges him, as the perpetrator, with one count of completed arson and one attempted, and two counts of attempted homicide.
The trial will take place at the Oral Criminal Trial Court of Los Ángeles. If found guilty, he risks a sentence of 5 years and one day of major imprisonment in its minimum degree for each count of attempted homicide, plus five years of minor imprisonment in its maximum degree as the perpetrator of the arson crime and 540 days as the perpetrator of the attempted arson crime.
The accused benefits from the mitigating circumstance of irreproachable prior conduct and the aggravating circumstance of Article 12 number 12 of the Penal Code: committing the crimes at night and in an unpopulated area.
QUILLECO ATTACK
In the early hours of October 13, 2023, a new arson attack was recorded at kilometer 25 of Route Q-45, near the commune of Quilleco.
At 3:30 a.m., Carabineros from the Canteras outpost received a report about the presence of five hooded individuals armed with rifles or long shotguns who arrived at a forestry operation on the route.
The individuals intimidated a victim with firearms and forced them, under threats, to accompany them in a vehicle to the main route. Subsequently, they made them get out and set two trucks on fire.
One of the machines was burned at kilometer 25, and the other at kilometer 21, towards Los Ángeles. Carabineros activated an operation at the site, managed to identify the vehicle in which the alleged perpetrators were moving, and inside found balaclavas and accelerant fluid. The individuals were arrested and transferred to the First Carabineros Station of Los Ángeles. At the scene, evidence was also found that linked the detainees to the attack and made them available to the Public Prosecutor's Office.
The detainees were identified as Óscar Hernán Cañupan Calfín, Bastián Andrés Llaitul Vergara —nephew of Héctor Llaitul—, José Ignacio Lienqueo Márquez, Roberto Alejandro Garling Infanta, and Axel Cristóbal Campos Vivallos. All were indicated as members of CAM and formally charged with the crime of robbery with violence, as completed.
After having been rescheduled several times, the oral trial preparation hearing for this attack took place on July 8, 2025.
Although the exact day of the trial was not confirmed, the Judiciary reported that it would be scheduled for the first days of October.
Source:La Tribuna
