Luis Alfredo Gavarito

 

One of the most prolific serial killers in the world is Luis Alfredo Gavarito, a Colombian street trader, who is thought to have murdered over 140 adolescents ranging between the ages of six and sixteen. When he confessed, it emerged that he had made a record of his victims in a notebook that he carried with him as he went on his killing sprees. His victims were mostly street urchins who gathered at his market stall, where he would give them money and food before luring them off to be tortured, murdered and mutilated in hideous ways, including decapitation. His campaign of terror lasted for seven years before he was caught trying to rape a young boy. He was arrested and brought to trial, but received a relatively short sentence in return for co-operating with the authorities. Today, the issue of his possible release in the near future is the subject of much controversy, both within Colombia and internationally.

 

Rape and torture

 

Gavarito was born on January 25, 1957, in the town of Genova, Quindio, which is located in Colombia’s western coffee-growing region. He was the oldest of seven boys, and later told the police that from a young age, his father had sexually abused him. In addition, his father had physically abused him, regularly beating him and his brothers. He also alleged that not only his father, but also two male neighbours, had repeatedly raped and beaten him while he was growing up, so that his childhood had been one of misery and neglect, from his earliest years.

After only five years at school, Gavarito was sent out to work. Finding that he was not wanted at home, he left aged sixteen, and began his working life as a store clerk. Little more is known of his early adult life, except that at a young age he became a serious alcoholic and received medical treatment for depression. He was also, at various times, diagnosed by doctors as having suicidal tendencies.

Eventually, this intensely troubled young man found steady work as a market stallholder, selling religious icons and prayer cards. He began to befriend homeless children living on the streets of Colombia’s cities and towns, gaining the nicknames ‘Goofy’, ‘El Loco’ (The Madman), and ‘The Priest’. He told the children various stories to gain their confidence, such as that he was a monk, or a disabled person. He also gained entrance to schools by saying that he was selling the religious material on his stall in order to make charitable donations to foundations for the elderly and for children’s education. This was an unlikely story, but apparently he was believed and allowed into schools on several occasions.

 

Dismembered corpses

 

In 1992, he killed his first child victim, and after that began to move around the country, covering his tracks as he went. He visited many provinces of Colombia, killing children in each, and also spent time in Ecuador, where he is thought to have committed more murders. He would offer children food and soft drinks as well as gifts and small amounts of money, and gain their trust before luring them off for a walk. When the children grew tired, he would rape and torture them, afterwards cutting their throats. But that was not the end of it: he often dismembered the children’s corpses after murdering them. Later, he told police that he always committed these horrific crimes after he had been drinking heavily.

In this way, between 1992 and 1998, Gavarito murdered over 140 children, mostly in Pereira, the capital city of the western state of Risaralda. The police estimate of his murders is actually 172 children, but since some of the corpses were never recovered, Gavarito was only found guilty of 140 of the them.

 

Black magic ritual

 

In 1997, the decomposing bodies of thirty-six boys were discovered in the city of Pereira, prompting an investigation. Up until this time, such was the disorganisation of the Colombian police and government, that no one had realised a serial killer was on the loose in the country. The children were homeless, or from very poor homes, and so in most cases their disappearance was not registered; neither were their relatives taken seriously when they reported the children missing.

The boys’ bodies were found in two mass graves, many of them with parts removed and showing signs of torture. The first grave was discovered when a boy walking through a patch of wasteland saw a human skull in the bushes. The second came to light less than a week later, when walkers came upon body parts in a river bed beneath a city highway. After that, more bodies were discovered in over sixty towns in the country.

Investigators claimed that the bodies may have been evidence of a black magic ritual. There were also rumours that organ trafficking may have been behind the crimes. Another theory was that the murders were a political act: that an individual or group was conducting a campaign of murder against street children as a form of social cleansing. There was much speculation in the press, and a nationwide manhunt was launched to find the killer or killers. As it turned out, of course, there was no organised campaign behind the murders; it was simply the work of one deranged individual, a serial killer who had been on the loose for many years but whose existence had never been noticed.

 

Capture and conviction

 

Gavarito was finally arrested as he tried to lure a small boy to his death. In retrospect, it appears that he had been crying out to be caught, but no one had previously bothered enough about the fate of the street children to pursue him. Gavarito promptly confessed to the murder of many boys over the preceding seven years. He was arrested and taken into custody, where, during a four-hour confession, he produced a notepad and showed police the gruesome tally of his killings. For each murder, he had written a line across the page. The evidence was so compelling that, when he came to trial, he was immediately convicted. He should have received a life sentence; however, because of Colombian law restrictions, his sentence had to be reduced to thirty years; and because he led authorities to the graves of his victims, he also received a further limitation, which reduced the sentence to twenty-two years.

Not surprisingly, this leniency for such a dangerous and prolific killer provoked an outcry in Colombia, and was also widely criticised in the press by foreign commentators. Some argued that Gavarito should have received the death sentence or life imprisonment, but currently, neither of these punishments is available in Colombia, so this was not possible.

In 2006, Gavarito was interviewed on television. The TV host who interviewed him mentioned that Gavarito was now a reformed character who had a desire to help abused children, and was considering a political career when he got out of prison. The interviewer also commented that, due to good behaviour in prison, Gavarito might be eligible for early release. As a response, concerned Colombians began to petition to have the law changed: in cases like this, it seemed essential to bring in life sentences to keep killers in prison, out of harm’s way. However, to date, the situation has not changed, and it may be that Gavarito will be released early, much to the anxiety of the Colombian public.

To date, there are still many child murder cases being investigated in Colombia that may or may not be the work of Luis Gavarito. It is thought that continued investigation of these cases may be the only way to detain this terrifying child killer further, and keep him in prison when the time comes for his release.