| Summary: | The murder of Sara Bell Recabarren, in October 1896, presumably by her lover, Don Luis Matta Perez, a noted lawyer who belonged to the elite and the winners of the 1891 civil war, was one of the scandals with greater public repercussion in Chile at the end of the 19th century. From the narrations of the case in the press during eight months and in the first novel on the subject, this article analyze the construction and resignification of the character “Luis Matta Pérez”, as well as his role as representation of the elite. We propose that his figure was submitted to a dispute of meanings that place honor at the center of the discussion. Newspapers linked to the elite developed strategies to contain the scandal, and the media that represented Matta´s political enemies constructed the itinerary of his dishonor, which would culminate in his “social death”.
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