Allende killed himself, Chile's Supreme Court concludes

Santiago, Jan 7 (EFE).- The Supreme Court of Chile ruled Tuesday the dismissal of the investigation into the death of Salvador Allende on grounds that the socialist president took his own life as soldiers stormed the presidential palace during the military coup of Sept. 11, 1973.

The judges endorsed in full the findings issued in September 2012 by the Santiago Court of Appeals.

The question of Allende's death was included among a total of 726 cases of possible human rights violations during the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

The probe led to the exhumation of the late president's body in May 2011.

Though confident the death was a suicide, Allende's family agreed to the exhumation in the interest of dispelling any remaining doubts.

A multidisciplinary team of experts concluded that Allende killed himself with a gunshot to the head, confirming an account long accepted by his family.

The president took his own life as Pinochet's troops were storming the presidential palace following an aerial bombardment.

Besides killing more than 3,200 people, the Pinochet regime jailed 38,000 others on political grounds.

The majority of political prisoners were tortured, including Michelle Bachelet, who was president from 2006-2010 and will return to Chile's highest office in a few months after winning the 2013 election.