[3] The key to finding the two murderers was delivered by Corporal Juan Quijada, of the First Commissariat of Viña del Mar, who realized that witnesses described the two men as speaking in an authoritative voice, often used by Chilean policemen.

The sentence was confirmed in the second instance by the unanimity of the First Chamber of the Court of Appeals of Valparaíso, composed of the ministers Margarita Osnovikoff, Iris González and Guillermo Navas.

The sentence was ratified unanimously by the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of Chile, consisting of the ministers Osvaldo Erbetta Vaccaro, Emilio Ulloa Muñoz, Abraham Meersohn Schijman and the lawyers Raúl Rencoret Donoso and Cecilli Cáceres, on 17 January 1985.

Relatives of the victims, most of whom were leftists who were opposed to the military dictatorship, lobbied against the executions of Sagredo and Topp, since they believed the two men were connected to a higher-ranking death squad.

Sagredo said he and Topp had committed some of the murders after being given drugs and promised money by a "crime club" that included a prominent building contractor and five other "executives" who wanted to eliminate political opponents of the Pinochet regime.