Murder without Mercy by Nigel Blundell

Author:Nigel Blundell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bisac Code 1: HIS027130
ISBN: eBook ISBN: 9781848847392
Publisher: Wharncliffe
Published: 2011-04-19T00:00:00+00:00

Luis Garavito

Could this pervert be the world’s most prolific serial killer?

Luis Alfredo Garavito, a homosexual paedophile, preyed on poor teenage Colombian boys between the ages of eight and 16, torturing most before raping them, then cutting their throats and, on occasions, dismembering their corpses. Even today, no one is certain how many children Garavito lured to their deaths. Police found 114 bodies. Garavito admitted killing 140–and during his confession to police, he opened a scrappy notebook and showed the investigator the 140 lines he had drawn, each symbolising one murdered boy. Even this total might be an under-estimation, for it is believed that as many as 200 youngsters could have fallen into his evil hands.

As is the case with many who turn to murder in adulthood, the young Garavito was the victim of parental abuse. Born in Colombia’s western coffee-making region to Manuel and Rosa Garavito, the first child of seven, he was regularly beaten by his father, and later claimed he was raped by two male neighbours. Having managed only five years of schooling, he left home when he was just 16. He worked first as a store clerk then as a street vendor selling religious icons and prayer cards. Those who knew him considered him something of a simpleton. At various times, he was treated for depression and suicidal tendencies. He took on many other jobs, including labouring and handyman, but his reliance on drink was soon to turn him into an alcoholic. He later admitted that most of his murders were committed after a heavy drinking session.

Because Colombia has one of the highest murder rates in the world, the unearthing of a child’s body in 1992 was treated as a routine crime–yet it is believed that this discovery was Garavito’s first murder. Neither did the authorities act when more children first started to go missing. As Timothy Ross, a charity worker with juvenile prostitutes, said at the time: ‘Kids disappear all the time in Columbia, especially those from the poorer strata of society. And they tend to come from unstable homes anyway.’ Police later reported that it was because there was no one to notice that the children were missing or to inquire about their whereabouts that Garavito was able to go on killing for so long without being detected.

Garavito’s murderous spree had started in earnest in 1994 as he moved around the country seeking easy prey. There were always poor or homeless children more than willing to wander off with him on the promise of money, food, drink or drugs. Many of them were the children of street vendors who had been left unattended in parks and at city traffic lights to beg money from motorists. To win their confidence, Garavito would pretend to be a street vendor or beggar himself. He also posed as a cripple and even a monk, thus earning one of his nicknames, ‘The Priest’.

Having gained a child’s trust, he would then persuade him to go for a walk. This was often a long trek, as he wanted to make his victim as tired as possible before pouncing.

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