In this horror story, we're going to listen to a true crime case originally published on another one of our podcasts that is merging with this one, So if you've already listened to it, thank you. We'll be back with more paranormal creepy episodes in the next one, with the occasional true crime topic depending on your feedback. Here we go at sixty four. Maria de la Lusco on salez Ayala, who was starting to feel her age. She took pride in keeping her home in Sulave, Mexico, clean, but it was getting difficult. She needed help. Her kids were long out of the home now and she was mostly by herself. She needed to hire help, and there was this woman who walked through her street offering her cleaning services, so she figured she would wait for her On that specific day, they met and she accepted her services. When the cleaning lady was finally done, she told Maria that she needed more money. Her house was dirtier than normal and it took more work. Mada I couldn't believe what the woman was saying. In anger, she offered the woman even less money than before. The woman flew into a rage. She started insulting Maria. Things escalated into a fight, and soon this lady started beating her. The woman was too strong, and within minutes Maria found herself being strangled. Some hours went by and Maria's son stopped by to visit her. The door was open and he knew something was wrong. He ran inside and found his mother lifeless, slumped over a chair. He called the police and they immediately closed off the scene. Other than Maria's missing money and one fingerprint, they had nothing. It was a first of what turned out to be a series of elderly women being reported dead around Mexico City. My name is Edwin, and here took horror story. At first, Madia's tragic death seemed like a robbery gone wrong. It was scary, but something that happened regularly in a big urban area like Mexico City. And life continued for Maria's family, for her neighbors, and for the police that responded to the call, and the path to recovery started. But four months after Marias killing, on March second, two thousand and three, another elderly woman was found dead. Her name was Guillemina Leon Robsa. She had also been strangled and Just like in Maria's case, there were no clues to help police identify the killer. Money was missing too, Just like Maria, police made no connection. They thought it was just another violent robbery, a sad but typical response. Five months after Guillemina was found murdered in her home, it happened again. On October twenty four, Maria del Garment Munoscote de Galban was found dead in her home and it was the same situation. Things were missing from the house and she had been strangled. Yet somehow police thought it was just another random killing. Twenty days later, another elderly woman was dead, and then two more Lucrezia Elsa Calvo Marroquin, Natalie Torres Castro and Alicia Cotta du Coin were all strangled to death. They were all over seventy five and all about ten days apart. Three months after Alicia Cotta du Coine was killed, another lady was found dead in her home. Five days later another woman. They were Alisia Gonzalez Castillo and Andreata Cante Carreto. They were seventy four and seventy five, and like the others, they had been robbed, beaten, and strangled to death. But it didn't stopped there. By the end of two thousand and four, there were another fourteen elderly women murdered in Mexico City. They were Carmen Cardona Rodea Socorro and Edina Martinez Pajaries, bad Lupe Gonzales Sanchez, Estella Cantrel Trejo, Delfina Gonzalez Castellio, Maria Vidhina Disapan, Maria de los Angeles, Cortes Renoso, Margharita Martel Vasquez, Simona Vedo ya Yalla, Maria Dolorres Martinez Bnavidez, Margarita Redondo Rodriguez, and Maria Imelda Estrada Peres. It was the same pattern again. They were all over seventy years old and they had been strangled to death. There was no denying the connection. Mexican media started calling this unknown killer El Mata Jejitas, the old Lady killer, and somehow the police and the mayor of Mexico City were still denying it. It's Mexico, we don't get serial killers. They continued to treat these investigations as separate incidents, and that's probably why they missed the one other detail that connected two of the killings. On July nineteenth, Maria de los Angeles Cortes Renoso was found dead in her house. She lived alone in the neighborhood of Gustavo Madro. In her room, police found paperwork for a new assistance program, and this program was created to help the elderly with health care and sanitation. Police started to think that this could have been how the killer lured the way into Maria's house, and this wasn't the only healthcare related item found at crime scenes though. Three months later, on October twenty fourth, Maria de Lordes Martinez men Avidez was found dead in her home. The killer beat her, strangled her to death, and positioned her on the couch. Police entered her home and found a stethoscope wrapped around her neck. Now this could have been it another clue to help the investigation that police could have noticed, but they were still denying this connection between the old lady murders. They were refusing to see A lot neighbors saw the killer leaving Maria Lo Lordus's house, and they all gave the same description, a tall, robust woman or a shorter man with dark eyebrows and a wig. Most of the neighbors agreed that it was probably a woman, but the police didn't listen. They were positive they were looking for a man, and this made the investigation take a lot longer than it needed to. Two thousand and four came and went, and there was a little break in the killings as people in Mexico City started to feel safe again. There was another one. On January eleventh, two thousand and five, sixty year old Julia Vera Dublan was killed. She had been strangled to death, just like the last twenty one women, and almost exactly one month later, Maria Elenamenosa Vayades was killed. Police could not continue to lie to the pub. These were serial murders and they needed help. They had no leads and only fingerprints that matched no one. They came up with a profile, but they based it on American serial killers like Ted Bundy. The figure of the Old Lady killer was a man, someone who was cold, charismatic and calculated, highly intelligent that he was probably dressing himself in women's clothing to lure his way into his victims' homes. Mexico City detectives even traveled to France to try and get help catching El Mata Richitas the old lady killer. In the nineteen eighties, a French police dealt with similar murders. A man was attacking and killing old ladies, killed twenty one women in a span of three years, but unfortunately this didn't get the police very far. The killings continued. By the end of April two thousand and five, four more women were dead. They were Maria Elisa Perez Moreno Ardura Patino Varanco, Carolina Drovlelo and Anna Maria Velasquez Diaz. They were all killed in the same way, and one of them lived in the same neighborhood as a victim from the year before. The help from the French police in the profile of the killer were leading them nowhere. Police started looking for any connection. They noticed three women all had the same painting. For example, it was a school aged boy in a black shirt and a red ribbon. They had red, curly hair and pale skin. The painting is called a boy in a red waistcoat by Jean Baptiste Crews. But this, like everything else, led nowhere. By fall of two thousand and five, there were eleven more women dead. Celis Morales, Mariaguadalupe Nunez al Manza, Julia Vargas, Emma Aramenta Aguayo, a Maa Reyespena, Carmen Sanche Serrano, the Lorees Conception, Silva Calva, Marie del Carmen, Camilla Gonzalez, Miguel, while the Lupe Contredras and Mare de Los Angeles and Repeernandez. The summer of two thousand and five, when M. Mar Dementaguaya was murdered, neighbors saw the killer again. They told the police the same thing. A tall, robust woman ran out of the house, but police ignored this. They were still sure the killer was a man. But then something else happened. In late two thousand and five, there was an attempted robbery at an elderly woman's house. Someone had offered to help the old lady sign up for the new healthcare program, and she agreed. The old lady thought this was a nurse, since she asked the nurse to check on her adult son she was staying with her because he broke his leg and was bed ridden. The nurse agreed and left behind a fingerprint on the sun's X rays. This fingerprint matched the other fingerprints that were collected at previous crime scenes. The son and the old lady were able to give the police a better description, a tall, strong woman with very short hair, strong facial features, and dark eyebrows. It matched the description other witnesses had already given the police. They put up a sketch drawing of the description all over Mexico and told elders not to trust strangers. No one felt safe and the fact that the police had not found the killer was scaring the community. And it didn't help that police seemed to be ignoring everything witnesses had told them. For some reason, they had a new profile. They were looking for a gay man, one with a violent past, who lived among women. It was probably highly intelligent and hated older women. Witnesses described a tall, strong woman with short hair. They were searching in all the wrong places. The killer had to be a man dressed in women clothing. It can probably sense the frustration of the community at this point, and even worse, they began to raid gay clubs and round up members of the LGBTQ plus community. No evidence pointing to any of the people they rounded up, and yet they continue to target them, at one point to resting up to forty nine people. This was clear discrimination, and so the community started organizing protest against Mexico City police. They were fighting these unjust arrests. Being a member of a marginalized community is difficult in most places, and Mexico is no exception. It also didn't help that the most popular novela in Mexico City at the time, which by the way, is like a Mexican soap opera, called La Madrastre The Stepmother, began airing in February of two thousand and five. The novela Mariez wrongfully convicted for the death of her best friend. She was released after twenty years for good behavior. She goes back to her husband, who hated her so much that he told her kids she was dead, but they reconcile and she pretends to be their stepmother. She decides she needs to find who was a real killer, and in the final episode of the novae, the killer is revealed to be the Metrio, the husband's lawyer. The Metrio also happens to be a cross dresser. This novela was showing the watchers that cross dressing is evil and immoral and those who do this can't be trusted. This is all assumption at this point, but perhaps this is why the police were so intent on their killer being a gay cross dressing man. They were rounding up trans people and gay men and beating them. During the protest, the LGBTQ plus community chanted nosmos MACHOs perrosisomos muchas were not men, but were many. These violent raids led nowhere. The killings were still happening, and now the elderly and the LGBTQ people of Mexico City were both living in fear. The pressure was building for police to stop these killings. It was an election year in Mexico City and Lopez o Raloro was running against Felipe Caldern, the current mayor. Lopez o Rador was losing popularity amongst the people he had been one to create the very program the killer was exploiting to rob and murder old ladies. In the end, too many blamed Lopez or Rador and he lost the election. Investigators started going to all the morgues in Mexico City. They were hoping the old lady killer would turn up in one of them. Police even tried making a wax figure of the killer, hoping someone would identify him, but still nothing was changing. Two thousand and five ended and whoever was responsible for the Old Lady murders was still out there, but there was one more murder waiting to happen, and this one would change everything for Mexico City. Murders continues right after this stay with me. On January twenty fifth, two thousand and six, Anna Maria de los Fregias was at her house in Colonia Moktsuma. There was a white house with a green door that had two units rented out the other side, but on this day, her tenant was not there. There was a knock on her door. There was a woman and she was thirsty. She told Anamaria that she had been tired from walking in the neighborhood. She was a social worker and was making rounds to help the elderly sign up for a program, and Amaria listened as a stranger at her door continued to talk. She didn't want to be rude and sent her away. The woman asked for a cup of water, and Animaria let her in. When she returned with the cop the woman attacked and a Marie could not defend herself. The woman used her stethoscope and strangled her to death. Just at that moment, Anamaria's tenant was walking up to the house, he saw someone rush out of it, and as he got closer he noticed that the door was open. He ran inside and Jose Joel found Anamaria dead on the floor. He ran outside and started to yell that Anamaria was killed and that the killer was running. Not far from the house, two officers were patrolling the area. Jose Is Mayel and Marcantonio saw someone running. The person was carrying bags, and so they ran after the person and apprehended them, but not without a fight. The officers dragged the person back to Jose Hoil and asked if this was a killer. Yes, it's her, Jose Roil confirmed it. When officers looked through the bag she carried, they found paperwork to enroll the elderly woman in a program. They also saw social worker cards. This woman strongly resembled the woman in the sketches and the wax figure, and when her house was searched, they found altars to both the Santa Muerte and Jsuz Malverde. Santamerte is a folk saint mostly worshiped in Mexico. She is the personification of death. She's not evil, but the Catholic Church and evangelical pastors condemn her worship. Us Malverdez considered the patron saint of cartel members. This is who the killer worshiped. The police held a conference to announce her capture and inform the public. Her name was Juana Barassa. Her fingerprints matched all the fingerprints they had collected at crime scenes. They even brought out the wax figure to show how much it and Juana looked alike. And Sawana's trial was taking place. In the spring of two thousand and eight, her past was uncovered. Juana da Yannara Varasa Sampeio was born on December twenty seventh in the rural town Nivaligo, Mexico, in nineteen fifty seven. Her dad, the Nidad Barasa, was a police officer who had thirty two children. Her mother was Usta Sampeio, a sex worker and an alcoholic. She was a teen when Juana was born. She met the Nidad at a bar. He was in his late thirties, and Husta abandoned Juana when she she was three months old. She left her to be with Trifujio Sanperio, who was Housta's stepfather and still married. Juana never learned to read or write. She was physically abused by her mother. She was also isolated, forced to stay home from school. She had a troubling relationship with her mother. Housta returned to her life when she was about twelve, but started trafficking Juana for alcohol. She sold her to a man named Jose Lugo for three beers. Juana stayed with Jsselugo for four years, where he constantly abused her. He impregnated her twice in these four years, once at thirteen years old and again at sixteen. The first pregnancy ended in miscarriage, but at sixteen she had her eldest son, Jose Enrique Lugo Arasa. She still had nowhere to go. Her mother was an unreliable alcoholic, and she had not seen her father since she was twelve, and so she stayed with Hosselugo. She had not forgiven her mother for the abuse, and it felt like she had no one. The person who was supposed to protect her was her abuser and trafficker. Juana left for Mexico City when her mother passed away from cirrhosis around nineteen eighty. During the eighties and nineties, she had several jobs, but there was one that she did the longest and actually enjoyed. She was selling food during Luca Libre fights. In nineteen ninety, during one of her shifts, she was approached by a man who was looking for new Luccadoras women wrestlers, she was able to earn two hundred to five hundred vessels each fight, and this was much more than her previous wage. She became La Vama del cilentio, or the Lady of Silence. She was known for her strength, for how she made her opponents submit. She felt a strength she had never felt before, wrestling like she was powerful, unlike the abused girl of her past. In Luca Libre, there are the good guys and the bad guys, or brudos and technicos. Juana Barasa was a rutha and she loved it. She believed she was a ruda at heart. It was her nature. Her wrestling costume consisted of a short sleeve, one piece suit pink and gold. Her mask was a butterfly that uncovered her eyes and cheeks. It was pink and gold as well, and she wore pink and gold boots that reached her knees. She wore a butterfly belt. So she may have played a villain in the ring, but she didn't look like one. She loved her job and when she wasn't in the ring, she was always at the wrestling matches with her kids. It was hercalling, but unfortunately, due to the amount of physical work needed, she heard her back. She used to try many different home remedies for her back and carry amulets for luck. Despite her amulets, her luck was running out. Her nineteen ninety four marriage was coming to an end. Her husband, Felik Suairis Ramides, was killed. There were rumors that he was not a chauffeur, that he was actually a cicadio, a hitman for the cartel, and he was killed for it. This was her longest marriage. She was with Feliques for ten years, and so she was left alone with her twenty one year old, twelve year old and two ten year old. She did which she could, selling food, candy and working in a chocolate factory. She still worked as a wrestler to make ends meet, but it was taking a toll on her body. She began to steal in eighteen ninety five so she could feed her children. She stole from stores. She stole cars, robbed small stores, and robbed people walking by. The elderly women were her main targets because they were the easiest to rob. She met at Aselli Tapia Martinez, and with her she used to dress up as a nurse and rob elderly women. The nurse costumes made it easy for them to be trusted. The pair were not together long, Quana realized she didn't need Araseli anymore. She began to be friends elderly women had robbed their houses after doing small jobs for them. A Aaseli started to cause problems from Juana. She was stating a corrupt police officer named Moises Florids Dominges. He arrested Araceli in nineteen ninety six and then began to extort Juana. It was blackmailing her. If she paid him a cut from her robberies, then he would keep her out of jail. In nineteen ninety seven, Juana's son was killed. She felt there was no justice and life was not fair, and so she became angry and bitter, first her husband, then her son. They just pushed her over the edge. In two thousand, Juana started cleaning houses. She used to rob the houses she cleaned and kept trying to wrestle, but she needed more money to raise her youngest children. At forty three, she was getting too old to continue her career in lucha libre. That was her last straw, losing her identity as a wrestler. During her trial, she insisted that she only killed one old lady. She said she did it because she was mad. The prosecution claimed that she had committed over forty murders. Quana insisted she didn't stalk her victims and wasn't searching for them, but prosecution proved she was involved in at least eleven killings. Her defense try to say that she was not mentally well and that's why she committed the murders, that she was doing this because of how her mother treated her. On the thirty first of March two thousand and six, she was found guilty. Kuanavarasa was sentenced at seven hundred and fifty nine years in prison for murdering sixteen elderly women in Mexico City, though it suspected that she killed at least forty nine women. She cried when she heard her sentence, and not because she was guilty, but she claimed that she would not survive in prison. She is currently serving her sentence at the Santa Marta Decatita Prison. The Old Lady Murders of Mexico City made several things come to light among its citizens, police and competence, and seemingly obvious connections that were missed, assumptions made with little or no information to back them up, and a lack of accountability with these matters for accusing underrepresented members of communities they were supposed to be serving. It left the city with adult children paying visits to their lonely parents, checking up on them to make sure that they weren't relying on deceptive strangers and knocking on their doors offering their help. And if we're left with anything, it was that sense of anase, the need to check in on your parents and grandparents, realizing that going up to the doorstep to find it securely shut, or when they finally pick up the phone after the second or third attempt, that you finally breathed a sigh of relief. This episode was researchedand written by Christina Lumagi, with production by me Edwin Collarubias. Our other show Murders, has merged with this one to keep everything in one place, and we're still gonna stick with the horror paranormal topics based on your emails and messages. Still real and still scary. Anyway to listen at free, check out Scary Plus over on scaryplus dot com, and you can also help out the show by sending this episode to someone who's into this type of thing. You can also find me on Instagram and TikTok. I'm at Edwin Cove. That's E. D w I nco V. I'll link to everything in the description of this episode. Anyway, keep it scary everyone, See you soon.
