Poet Pablo Neruda talks with reporters Oct. 21, 1971, in Paris after being awarded that year's Nobel Prize for Literature. Laurent Rebours/AP hide caption toggle caption Laurent Rebours/AP The Two-Way Chile Says It's Possible That Poet Pablo Neruda Was Murdered November 6, 2015 Neruda's death in 1973 was attributed to prostate cancer. Now, 42 years later, the Chilean government says the Nobel laureate may have been killed in the aftermath of a coup.