Two ex-Chilean navy officers guilty of torturing, killing priest

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VALPARAISO, Chile, May 8 (UPI) -- Two former Chilean navy officers were found guilty of abducting, torturing and killing Chilean-born, British-raised Catholic priest Michael Woodward in 1973.

Woodward was tortured and killed by the officers just days after the Sept. 11, 1973, military coup that ousted President Salvador Allende and brought Gen. Augusto Pinochet to power.

A Chilean court sentenced Jose Manuel Garcia Yeres and Hector Palomino Lopez each to three years in prison for their involvement in the priest's death, the BBC reported Wednesday.

The court in Valparaiso has allowed the men to serve the sentences under house arrest.

The court also ordered the state to pay Woodward's family $100 million in reparations, the BBC reported.

Woodward was working with the poor in Valparaiso when he was arrested, tortured and taken aboard the ship Esmeralda where he was killed, investigators said.

His remains never were found.