The Beast Of Colombia That Literally Sold His Soul To The Devil & Sacrificed 221 Boys
Barabing, baraboo. In Columbia, there. are these insane cathedrals and churches. from like the 1600s. They are as beautiful as you would. imagine. Once you walk in there, there's. vaulted ceilings. I mean, they look. three stories tall, domed archways, pillars with these intricate gold. detailing, stained glass windows just. reflecting all this colorful light off. of these wooden pews. And of course, you. cannot forget the beautiful altars.
dripping melting candles and these. complicated ornate statues at the front. And during the day, it is a place of. gathering, reflection, faith, you know? But at night, I think like any building, the last thing you want to hear is. someone weeping from inside of one of. these cathedrals. In a small town in Columbia at one of. these old old churches, there was a man. weeping. It's night time, the lights are. off, he's kneeling on the cold stone.
floor, he's looking up at the altar, and. there's just tears streaming down this. guy's face. His face is all scrunched up. as if he had just seen something so. utterly terrifying. And he's grabbing. his fist and he starts banging it on his. own chest. And he keeps weeping, mea culpa, mea culpa, which means my. fault, my fault in Latin. He starts pulling at his hair, he's. hitting his head with his fist. obsessively reciting verses from the.
book of Psalms. The fool says in his. heart, "There is no God. They are. corrupt. Their deeds are vile, vile, vile. There is no one who is good, no. one who does good. Their deeds are. vile." Two passersby peek their head in. through the door when they hear this. weeping. And they're like, "Who is that? What is going on? Why is this man just. weeping in this cathedral? This doesn't. make any sense." And the other passerby. says, "Oh, I think that's the new priest. in town.". This man was the beast of Columbia. The.
man who performed satanic rituals with. dead bodies and Ouija boards. He was the. man who sold his soul to the devil, not. even figuratively, but he admitted to a. transaction. He also kept a little blue book of 221. names. All of the names of the little boys he. killed. 221? That is the low end of the figure. The monster of Genova, otherwise known. as the beast of Columbia, is the serial.
killer with the most victims. It is. estimated that he has at least 221. victims and potentially into the 400s. And this is how he was set to be. released from prison this year, 2023.
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case. But as always with foreign cases, if there's anything lost in translation, something we didn't cover, or you've got. some interesting information on this. case, please let us know in the. comments. And let's get started. Eight boys in a small town in Columbia. had lost a finger in a game of. hide-and-seek. None of the eight boys. knew each other, none of them played. hide-and-seek with each other, but they. all had matching missing thumbs. But. that's not all that's changed about. them. It's not like they played one. round of hide-and-seek, came back with a. missing thumb, and went about their.
lives. They all walked around town now like the. ghosts of the town. Before, these are. kids that were full of energy, full of. hope, just bouncing off the walls. Their. parents could not keep them still. And. now, they're flinching at every little. noise, every little sound. I mean, they're sticking so close to their. parents, and all the color look like it. had been just drained from their faces. And people are wondering, "What what. kind of games are these boys playing. these days? You think maybe if their. finger got stuck in something? Was it a. machinery defect somewhere?" Some.
townspeople started whispering, "It was. not an accident. Someone's going around chopping off. boys' thumbs.". And the boys are now too scared to talk. about it. They don't want to tell you. who. But why? And who would even do. something like that? Like that's very. random to just go around chopping off. people's thumbs. Some neighbors heard, "I think it's that. new guy that moved into town. What did. they say he was like a beggar? The local. crazy man? Or no, someone said he was. like a priest." Other people said, "No.
They said he was a witch." Whatever he. was, he was just getting started. Police get called out into the woods. where a mass grave of 36 tiny bodies. were found. Woah. Children. I mean, it's. clear something or someone had killed. these children. This is not some sort of. self-doing. You don't just have a mass. grave of 36 kids. This is not an. accident. This also wasn't a bus crash. or a plane that crashed into the woods. And they start thinking, the. investigators, they're putting their.
heads together. They've got like no. clues to go off of. And the first. thought is Pablo Escobar's cartel. They. were active in the area, it's a. Colombian cartel, and probably one of. the most ruthless cartels in all of. history. If anyone was capable of doing. the unthinkable and killing 36 children, it would be Pablo Escobar's cartel. At the height of the Medellín cartel, they were bringing in over I mean, this. figure is insane. I had to triple-check. cuz I'm like, there's no way. They're.
bringing in 200 million dollars a day in. profits. The king of. Pablo Escobar was said at his height to. be making 2 billion dollars a year in. personal income, of course, tax-free. At their height, they were supplying 96%. of the US's consumption and controlled. 90% of the global market. They basically. ruled Columbia, if not the world. Side. note, they were also very creative. people. Okay, I don't know if they.
founded this technique, but they. definitely made a killing from it. They. would soak denim jeans that you wear in. liquid. I don't even know it came in liquid, okay? They would soak it in liquid co-. dry off the jeans, export them legally. through shipping containers into the US. where they had special chemist that. would work with them, that would get the. jeans, simply wash them with a special. liquid compound that would pull out the. liquid cocaine and separate it from the. rest of the liquid, and then they would. dry it into powder cocaine.
The cartel learned how to train carrier. pigeons to deliver secretive mail to one. another as a way to communicate. They. had a ton of pigeons around. And it's. estimated that they murdered at the very. least 4,000 people during their reign as. the kings of Columbia. Many of them were. innocent people. So, what is another 36 to them? He said. he kept every single threatening note. that he ever received from his. competitors in a tiny little scrapbook. Because what are these sweet memories if.
you don't look back at them? He kept. them all like love letters. But the. Medellín cartel was ruled out because. within the local cities, Pablo Escobar. was notorious for being one of the. locals' biggest philanthropist, if you. will. His favorite cause to donate to. was to help children in need. Really? Yeah. I mean, he was more generous around Medellín, which is the town he's from, but he does. seem to be a bit generous to Colombian. children. So, it's a mass grave of children, they. think, "It can't be the Medellín cartel.
Then could it be the Cali cartel?". Another big cartel from Columbia. They. operated a bit more secretively than the. Medellín cartel. But that didn't make. sense because they were known to be a. tad bit nicer than the Medellín cartel. Like a tad bit. So, Pablo Escobar was. known as one of the most ruthless men. probably alive. I mean, he's dead now, but when he was alive, this guy was. cutthroat. He killed anyone that he even. suspected of being against him, even. just a stranger on the street. But Cali.
cartel ran like a business, a. billion-dollar business. They had a. Boeing 727 that they would use to fly. drugs from Mexico to the United States. They would sell the drugs in the US, load up cash into the plane, fly that. plane to Columbia where they would take. the money. They made alliances with. important people in the transportation. industry to be able to pull all of this. off. I mean, not only that, they had. investors, bankers, lawyers, logistics, exporters, importers, chemists, wholesalers, retailers. They ran their.
business like a Fortune 500 company. But there were groups of the Cali. cartel. There were subgroups where they. allegedly believed in social cleansing. of discardables. That's what they called. them. Discardables were sex workers, street children, petty thieves, gay. people, and people without homes. And a. subgroup of the Cali cartel believed. they needed to die. And so, when they. were not busy blowing up the whole. world, they would go around social. cleansing. They believed that these.
people were ruining their beautiful city. of Cali, Colombia, and I don't know if. it was a leadership thing, but subgroups. would go around killing these people. They would drive around with signs that. read "Clean Cali, beautiful Cali." They. would toss these bodies into a river. nearby that was now dubbed the river of. death. And they really hated Pablo. Escobar, side note. And when Pablo. Escobar was finally imprisoned, they. wanted to fly an A-37 Dragonfly, which. is an attack aircraft that's produced. for the US Air Force. I don't know how.
they got their hands on one, but they. planned to drop a bomb on the whole. prison to finally eliminate Pablo. Escobar once and for all. And you're. like, "That's a crazy plan." It's just a. plan though, right? They got as far as. to trying to load the bombs onto the. jet, but there was a crowd forming. So, they had to leave. But, they got the. bombs. They got the jet. They got the. bombs, and they were go ready to go bomb. a whole prison. for Pablo Escobar. But, the mass grave. was not in Cali, Colombia. So, the. detectives there thinking, "This doesn't.
make sense." Even the social cleansing. that the subgroup of the Cali Cartel. would do, they were never at this scale. They were never mass grave levels, and. they were never really outside of the. city of Cali. And cartels, they. typically don't just go out and kill a. group of children. Typically, if they do. target an innocent child, it's done. because they're targeting their adult. family members. Then, the next assumption was, "If it's. not drug trafficking, it could be organ. trafficking." Colombia has become one of.
the biggest markets for black market. organ transplants, causing what they. call now to be organ tourism. So, it's. where desperate foreign patients come to. Colombia for an organ transplant that. would be considered impossible if not. illegal in their home country. To give. context, recently a 6-year-old girl had. been kidnapped and sold to organ. traffickers for $16,000. The World Health Organization believes. that about 10,000 kidneys are traded on. the black market worldwide annually. That's about one black market kidney. sold every single hour. And there's.
estimates. Kidneys can go anywhere. between 20 to $60,000 a kidney, and. that's just for the kidney itself. That. does not include the operation. Terrifyingly, they will sell corneas. They will sell eyes for $30,000. Livers. go for up to 50 to $100,000, and hearts and lungs go for about. $150,000. Now, most of the time the traffickers, or they call themselves brokers, they. make all the money. There are some.
markets where victims willingly give up. their kidneys for money, but they only. get $2,000 for their kidneys, while the. brokers are taking home 18 to $58,000. For the other organs like the heart, the. lungs, the parts that victims need to. survive, they're either doing this. because they have no choice, they've. been kidnapped, or potentially their. death is the only way that their loved. ones can live. But, they're not even going to get. $150,000 out of that. They'll get a tiny. percentage. It'll probably be closer to. like $15,000.
to die. It's estimated that the illegal organ. trade generates about $1.7 billion a. year. So, investigators are thinking, "That makes sense. 36 kids and, you. know, children's organs, they could be. more valuable on the market." But, a lot. of the victims in the mass grave, they. had cuts on their stomach, and their. private parts, they were missing. So, okay, maybe it could be organ. trafficking, but no. Once they looked. closer, they realized that all these. cuts were made incredibly messy. Organ.
traffickers, they are precise with their. cuts. Nobody wants a tainted organ. So, that doesn't really make any sense now. The authorities then move on to the. theory that answers any and all. questions that they have. "Maybe it's. Satanism," they say. "Maybe it's people. who practice witchcraft. That would be. the only thing that makes sense. Nothing. else makes sense at this point." There. was clear evidence of torture. Many of. the victims were decapitated and had. their right foot chopped off. Why would they have their right feet.
dismembered, but still left behind at. the scene? That doesn't make sense to. investigators. Only right foot? Only right foot. And it's still there. Yeah, they don't take it with them. It. They just leave them. It doesn't make. any sense, does it? Luis hated when. people had what he couldn't have. It was. like a thing. He always had been like. that, even when he was a kid. I mean, he. was the oldest of seven kids, and he. hated any single person in his school. that had a normal family. Genuinely. despised them with this burning hatred. So, Luis had grown up in a small town.
called Genova, Colombia. And Luis's dad, he's very much men rule the world, but. more importantly, only I rule the world. That's his thinking. So, it doesn't. matter if it's his son or his daughter. None of them are allowed to go out. None. of them are allowed to talk unless he. permitted them to. He was an alcoholic. that spent all day at the bar spending. up the family's money. And when he comes. home, his whole family would hide under. their beds. That's not even an. exaggeration. They would hide under. their beds because Luis's dad had a.
temper. Whenever someone got on his way. physically, he would blow up. And. they've got a really small house with. nine people. Everyone is always in everyone's way. His way of saying, "Excuse me, could you. please scoot over?". was just taking off his belt and. whipping you. Yeah. So, if Luis's mom didn't have dinner. ready on time, which this guy never. comes home at the same time, so I don't. know how she's expected to predict that. he's going to be home at certain points, but if she doesn't have his meal hot and.
ready for him, she would get beat. And as the eldest son, Luis would try to. stop his dad from beating his mom. But, he tried a few times. The. punishments were really bad. Luis's dad. would strap him up to a tree trunk, and. he would beat him with a machete. I. don't know how he would hit him with the. back of the machete, or if he's just. kind of beating him like on the side. with the machete, or if he's practicing. small shallow cuts with a machete. It's. very unclear, but it was a machete.
Eventually, Luis would stop trying to. protect his mom because at one point he. felt like, "Well, mom's never going to. leave, and I keep getting beat for no. reason." And that's just how it was. At. one point, Luis's dad did attack his own. wife with the knife. She ended up. staying, probably not because she wants. to, but from a socioeconomic standpoint,
she would be destitute, and her kids. would be in danger. So, she stayed, and. Luis stops protecting her. When Luis would get beaten up, he would. show up to school the next day with. these massive red welts on his bottom, on his butt. He would be unable to even. sit down because of this pain, and he. would look at all the other kids that. could sit down, that were so excited to. go home after school because their. parents loved them, and he hated them. He genuinely despised them for having. what he didn't have.
So, he kind of tried to bully them. He wasn't really that successful. Okay, so do you know what a procedural memory. is? Mhm. They're procedures that the brain. has learned and can be activated without. conscious thought. If someone hands you. a piping hot cup of tea, without even. thinking about what you're doing, you. might grab the cup. You might blow on. the tea so it cools down. You might take. a sip without consciously deciding, "I'm. going to blow on the cup, and I'm going. to take a sip." So, it's like a memory, body memory. Yes, like muscle memory. And usually,
it's reserved for things like driving, you know, riding a bike. But, Luis, all. of his procedural memories were. dedicated to, "Okay, if somebody pisses. me off, I'm going to pummel them with my. two fists." Like, any emotion he felt, it was almost like a trigger response. Emotion, two fists up in the air. swinging. I mean, I guess he saw his dad. do it so often, he felt like this is. just what happens. Emotion A leads to. action B. He would beat up his classmates for. something as little as accidentally.
using his pencil. So, you think, "Okay, Luis is the. biggest, baddest boy in class.". But, he wasn't. He would actually get. bullied more than he was the bully. He wore glasses, and he got bullied for. that. And his last name is Garavito, which sounds like garabato, because the. V and the B in Spanish, our researchers. were telling me, don't really sound. different. So, it's more like garabato, garavito. Okay. Garabato means doodle. Yeah. The soon-to-be world's deadliest. serial killer, Luis, in his grade school.
was bullied for being Luis the doodle. boy. It's a very, yeah, it's a very. interesting bullying experience. doesn't sound that bad, does it? I don't. think so. I think it's more like chicken. scratch. Scribble. Squiggle. Okay, I see. Okay. So, he's jealous of. the kids at school because they have. normal families, normal dads, and normal. last names. And then, Luis's dad touched him. Luis said one. night his dad forced him to be bathed by. him, which at this point, he's no longer.
a toddler that needs to be bathed by his. parents. He is more than old enough and. capable enough to bathe himself, but his. dad is insisting, and it's either this. or the belt. So, Luis sat there. uncomfortably in the bath while his. father bathed every inch of his body. He. said nothing else happened, but that. memory is just so crystal clear for him. And then, it happened again, but this. time with Luis's dad's friend. He came. over to the family house pretending to. hang out with Luis's dad, but he would. get Luis alone, tie him up, brutally.
assault him. So, now he's getting SA'd. Afterwards, and this is very specific, but this family friend would go get a. candle. He would use the flame of the. candle to burn the very sensitive parts. of Luis, including the hairs on his. private parts. And usually, it didn't just stop there. The family friend would then use his. mouth to bite Luis where he was the most. sensitive, And these are not nibbles, they're full-on chomps. He would bite. down and watch Luis cry out in pain.
while he would simultaneously. satisfy himself. This happened over and over again for 2. years. Thankfully, the family moved away, so. the family friend was no longer in their. lives, but they made a new family. friend. And this time he was a priest. Clearly, Luis is being traumatized from. the abuse, but more than anything, he. was just so angry and jealous. that his assaulters had what he didn't. have, which was power.
You know that saying two birds, one. stone? Mhm. Luis took it so literally. When he. was done being assaulted by his dad's. family friend, he grabbed two birds. I. don't know how he caught them. He. grabbed a stone and pummeled them. He. said that he, quote, "tore them apart, ripped them apart, completely mangled. these two birds." And that made him feel. very, very good. There are seven stages. a killer goes through to become a serial. killer. And these phases are typically. very different and they're used to. profile serial killers versus murderers,
because most murderers, they will kill. from emotions that probably you and I. not understand, because it's not like we're justifying. their actions. But these are emotions. that most people feel, just not to the. point of being homicidal. You feel angry. at times. You feel jealous, fear, you. know, these types of things. But for. serial killers, they kill for the. thrill. And there's just no way that we. can even try to grasp that, like try to. wrap our heads around something like. that. They live their lives so that they.
can take lives. That's it. The first phase is the aura phase. This. is when the killer starts to create this. aura around him. This almost border. distance themselves from social. relationships and people. They start. pulling away from family and friends. They retreat into their own little. fantasy world where they start having, in most cases, very violent thoughts. And there's nobody around them for them. to confide in, to tell them, "Hey, like,
do you think this is weird?" No one. They're alone. Luis was never allowed to. have friends, so that wasn't really a. thing. He was never close with his. family. And after his continuous. assaults by family friends and priests, he's already fantasizing about turning. the tables and returning the pain that. he felt to a random innocent boy. That. is his fantasy. The second phase is the trolling phase. That's what it's called. And it usually. consists of the killer kind of toying. with the idea of killing a little bit. more. Instead of just having fantasies, they start thinking of, "What What would.
the process look like? And who Who would it be? And how would I. really go about it?" They're not sitting. there taking notes and like coming up. with a full plan, not yet. That's a. different phase. But they're kind of. thinking a little bit more realistic. How am I going to implement this into my. life? Luis was the oldest of seven kids, and one day, like a drill sergeant, he's. lining up his little siblings. He's. yelling, "Get in the line. Get in the. line." Males and female siblings, okay? They're really young. Luis himself is. only 15 years old. He forces them to.
line up, strip down of all their. clothes, and from there, he goes one by. one. slowly caressing them. He describes it. as, and I quote, "a light smooth touch.". Just like tracing his hands on them. He claimed that's all he did. Other sources claimed he would take it a. step further and force his siblings to. sleep unclothed in the same bed as him. And when they were asleep, he would. touch them. But we are unsure. Now we enter into the third phase. This.
is kind of the flirting phase. There's a. slight difference between the trolling. phase and the the flirting phase. You. know, I don't think the flirting phase. is a great way to label it, but I'm not. the one that came up with these labels. It's when a serial killer is. in this hyper-focused mode of trying to. find the perfect victim. Trying to kind. of flirt with the victim, gain their. trust, toy with the idea of how and. where to kill that particular victim. So. they're narrowing it down to a group of. people that they want to target. More. concrete plans are being made in this. phase. They're literally flirting with.
the idea of killing, which is terrifying. to think about. Who came up with these. seven steps? A bunch of profilers. Oh. Yeah. I see. But you know what's. interesting, a lot of different serial. killer profilers have different methods. Yeah, there's like a couple of things. that they all go by. I saw that some. people don't use these seven stages. Some people do, so I guess it really. depends, right? Now, Luis is in his 20s. And you would. never, in a million years, think that. this man is flirting with the idea of.
becoming a serial killer if you met him. He's working at a bakery. He's baking. loaves of bread. He goes to church every. single Sunday. He even attended AA. meetings to address his relationship. with alcohol. Middle-aged women would. come down into the bakery, buy a loaf of. bread, and shove pictures of their. daughter in Luis's face. And I mean, yeah, they knew that he was an. alcoholic, but a lot of men in this town. were. At least Luis is working on it. He. acknowledged it, and he looks kind of. cute. He wears those '80s-style big. eyeglasses. And I'm not saying that to.
compliment him. I'm saying, you know, this is the older ladies' perspective. He's baking cakes for a living. He goes. to church on the weekends. He does. occasionally get very angry with the. bakery owners, so his bosses, and he. would occasionally punch them in the. face a couple of times. But other than. that, he was a complete catch. A lot of. these moms, I'm sure they didn't see him. punch his bosses. The moms, they would. already have two loaves of bread at. home, but they were just stopping by to.
buy another loaf, begging Luis, "Hey, my. daughter is single." Luis would politely. decline, and he said, "You know, maybe. later. I've got a lot on my mind right. now." Luis had started assaulting little. boys in the park. Now, he would hide in. the bushes with his machete. And if he. saw a little kid walk by alone, he would. jump out and yell, "Don't say anything. or I'll kill you.". One of his earlier victims, William. Trujillo, he said that Luis forced him. out of his clothes and did. did everything to him. Everything.
including torture, biting him painfully. all over. But he said the worst part. was that he was so silent doing. everything. Like completely silent. It's terrifying and disturbing. And as. stench William said, "Do you know what a. farm worker smells like after a day of. work? That's what he smelt like.". William was tortured and held captive in. that park for 12 hours. And even in his earlier crimes, it's. clear Luis likes the mental torture. aspect of all of this. Because William.
remembers finally gaining the courage to. talk, and he asked, "Sir, when will you. be letting me go home?". And there was silence. And finally, Luis. spoke and said, "When the bells ring.". The church bells ring at 5:00 in the. morning. He'd already been there for like 10. hours. William had to wait for what feels like. an eternity, and he didn't even know if. the man was telling him the truth or he. was lying to him. And right at 5:00, the. church bells go off. Luis slowly. releases his grip and says, "Go ahead.".
And William, book it, he runs off. The. fourth phase that serial killers. typically take is the capturing phase. And Luis was capturing a ton of. children. About 200 children were. captured by Luis, brutally assaulted, and ultimately released. So these 200. children are not even his murder. victims. So just think about the sheer amount of. victims that he has. in his lifetime. Wow. Now, quick. disclaimer. I don't feel like we need. to, because everyone here are.
reasonable, intelligent people, but Luis. is a male killer who targeted boys. And. if that makes anyone think that there is. a link between being gay or bisexual and. being a serial killer, there should be. some, I don't know, critical thinking. comprehension classes out there that. should probably urgently be looked into. So this has nothing to do with. sexuality. see a lot of people kind of. point out the link between the extreme. Catholicism that he was raised in, where. homosexuality was like a cardinal sin,
and then him being assaulted as a kid, and then developing these attractions. towards a certain gender. I don't know. I feel like. I feel like a killer is a killer, you. know? And we can kind of argue these. things, but at what point is it just. Now, Luis would go to the park with. candy, drinks, toys, whatever he thought. he could entice little boys with. And he. would wait for these boys to walk by. Sometimes he would use candy to be like, "Come here. You want some candy?". Literally. That's what he would do. He would lure.
them with candy. He would then string. them along to a secluded area of the. park, tie them up, and torture them. A lot of experts believe that he was. experimenting with torture since his. essays as a kid involved a lot of. physical pain. So he started cutting. victims with razors, shallow cuts all. over their bodies. Then he tried deeper. cuts, but he didn't really like that. So. he just did shallow cuts. So this would. go on for 12 hours at a time. He very. quickly learned he had to be mindful. that his torture tactics didn't kill the.
victims, because he wanted his victims. alive, because that's the whole fun of. it. He brought candles into the park. He. would light them on fire to burn his. victims, just like he had been burned as. a kid. He would bite the victims all. over their bodies, beat them, and I'm. talking, I mean, he would pummel his. victims. A full-grown adult targeting. 5-year-olds. And he would assault them. Luis was disorganized, yet organized. He. was very disorganized in almost all. other aspects of the crime, but when it.
came to the torture, he was very. methodical. The torture almost always. happened in the same order every single. time. It's like he had created the perfect. cycle to maximize his sick pleasure. And. when he was done, he would let them go, rush home to write their names down in. this little blue book of his. And this. is the part that just really makes this. case an anomaly. But for 12 years, Luis. was in this phase, toying with the idea. of murdering for 12 years, essaying. hundreds hundreds of kids, torturing.
them, hundreds of them. And I say anomaly not just because he. was in this phase for 12 years, but also. the fact that he wasn't put behind bars. before he committed his first murder. when he is out there committing some of. the most atrocious crimes that we've. researched is just crazy. I mean, I don't know how else to put it. I also do really want to disclaim we. really wish that we could share more of. who the victims were, who what they were. like, but unfortunately, there just. aren't that many stories of Luis's.
victims out there. I was provided some. context by our researchers and they. stated, "When a boy went missing in. Colombia at the time, the most likely. reason was either being a victim of a. gang, cartel, or a paramilitary group. Or maybe they left home due to extreme. domestic violence from the parents. Most parents did not file missing. persons reports because a lot of them. were just straight-up scared. If we went. to the police, and most police forces. are run by cartels, and the cartel took our kid, we reported.
to the police who the cartel controls, then our child would be in even more. danger. What if they think that our. child snitched or were causing too much. trouble to keep the child alive? As for. Luis's assault victims, even if they. came home and told their parents what. had happened, parents felt like going to. the authorities was just not an option. Not only was justice rarely ever served. for cases like this, their child is now. going to be subject to life-threatening. social shame. And all for what? To not get justice and.
just victimize their kid even further? A. lot of Luis's victims are still not. identified to this day. And now that's both his assault victims. and later his murder victims. After 12 years, he would escalate into. phase five, murder. Mind you, he already has 200 victims in. his little blue notebook. This is before. killing. Before he starts killing, he's. got 200 victims. And his first kill was. almost on a whim. He said that he was. drunk. He left a bar and decided, "You. know what? Today is the day." He went,
bought a pack of cigarettes, a cord, a. knife, and a cheap bottle of brandy. He. stumbled into the park, waited for a boy. to be lured in. He kept holding out. change in his hand to see if any boy. that passed he'd be like, "Hey, do you. want some money?". This is an area where a lot of children. go out and they they try to work cuz. they need to bring food home for the. family. Of course they want money. Typically, they would ask, "What What. kind of job are you offering? Do you. want me to shine your shoes? Do you want. me to sell candy on your behalf, run. errands?".
Luis would tell the boy, "No. You can. just take a walk with me.". Luis grabbed his hand. and led him into the wooded area of the. park. And this park connects to a huge. like mountainous area that surrounds the. city. And once it was secluded enough, Luis tied the boy up like the 200. victims before him, he bit him. everywhere, and then assaulted him. But he said that he just felt this. anger. He said it was the strongest impulse of. his entire life.
And it was the impulse to punch this. boy. So he sat on this boy and quite. literally beat this boy to death with. his bare hands. Like the boy cannot get. up. Mhm. And then he walked off covered in blood. Nobody stopped him. Whether or nobody. saw him or they minded business, I don't. know. But he went home, took a shower, grabbed his little notebook to write. down another name. But this time in a new section. Phase six is a phase that sets serial. killers and murderers apart, which is.
serial killers typically take trophies. So unlike killers who kill for life. insurance, love, greed, revenge, they. usually want to get rid of anything that. ties them to the crime. Serial killers, they want that connection open. They. want to go back and reminisce about that. moment. They want to relive it. Luis had his little blue notebook, but. later he would rummage through the. victim's pockets. He's typically looking. for some sort of student ID. And if he. found it, he would sit there and cut out. just the pictures of the boy. So he. would never bring home the full student.
ID, just the picture part. If he didn't find a student ID, he would. just take their underwear. Later, they would all be found folded up. in his drawer right next to his own. underwear. He would also sit there in his house. clipping any newspaper headlines about. his crimes. I mean, he really loved his trophies. And then the last phase. is the depression phase. Once Luis was done with his first kill, like most serial killers, he fell into a. state of depression. For some serial.
killers, this includes the feeling of. guilt. Luis said he was so disappointed in. himself, which is honestly such a weird. way to describe it. Like I get. disappointed in myself all the time, but. for small mistakes. He's disappointed in. himself because he killed someone. I don't If If it feels like such a light. word to use. But he said he was so. disappointed in himself, he walked. himself into church, wept in front of. the statue of Jesus, and he just cried. If I'm being honest with you, I don't.
think that this man really felt guilty. So what What exactly. does that mean? When he say he feel depressed and cried. and go to church, like what is that? think it's a procedural memory. So he was raised devout Catholic family, and anything that he did wrong or he. perceived as wrong, he was forced to. confess. He was forced to cry. Mhm. That's how you get rid of your sins. So. if there was a part of him that still. had any of that faith that he needed to.
be saved, this was purely for that, I. believe. It was narcissistic. It's I. want to be saved. I want to go to. heaven, so I need to confess to my sins. I don't think there was genuine remorse. because I I It's hard to imagine he. feels even a little bit guilty, but. still went on to kill 220 more times. So he did that and then he continued and. so it's like a back and forth and back. and forth. Every time after a kill, at least for. the first, I don't know, dozens, he said. that he would go to church and just cry. because he was so remorseful. I truly don't believe he was remorseful.
at all. Mhm. Yeah. You know, I think. that these outbursts of emotions are. just procedural memory, that part of his. brain that's lighting up again, or I. think that it's just some sort of. narcissistic tendency to make this whole. fantasy feel even more real and. complicated. This is purely speculation. A lot of serial killers have some sort. of personality disorder that makes them. unable to feel human emotions or. empathy. I mean, they feel human. emotions such as anger, but they don't. feel empathy. So a lot of them will.
mirror people. And I wonder if this is. him mirroring what he thinks is is. expected after something like this. Mhm. Because I genuinely don't think that. he's sorry at all. Yeah. When he was 23. years old, he did end up going to a. psychiatrist. And this is why I think. that he's a little bit dramatic. Wait, he's only 23 right now? Yeah. Wait, you said it's been 12 years. So. Oh, he started when he was Wow. Okay. And he would go on for like another, jeez, like two decades. This part, I don't know how else to. describe it, so I'm just going to try to.
describe it the way that I think people. will understand the message the best. I'm not trying to like trivialize it, but I feel like he is kind of dramatic. in the sense that he wants these main. character moments. I think that's part of his weeping at. church after the kills. Because listen. to this. He goes to a psychiatrist in. his 20s and. he gets diagnosed with reactive. depression, which typically indicates. that someone has significant distress. that is oftentimes out of proportion to.
the severity or the intensity of the. external stressor. So this type of. depression is triggered by something. that happens in their life. It's. reactive. They have a big life event and. now this person does not feel like they. can handle the stressors of life. So. they feel depressed. So if someone steps. on another person's foot by accident and. this person has reactive depression, a. normal reaction would be feel physical. pain and potentially a little annoyance. In Luis's case, his mind would send him. off the rocker. Reactive depression is usually.
temporary, meaning once the situation. that the patient lives in, this external. situation, improves, the reactive. depression also improves. Or if the. external circumstances persist, the. patient does not develop a way to cope, then it develops into chronic. depression. Mhm. And this is not to say that. reactive depression isn't very painful. and very real and potentially. life-threatening because it can develop. into chronic depression which can end. someone's life. But reactive depression. is typically not classified as a.
high-risk diagnosis. But of course, it's. case by case and it could very quickly. evolve into something that's more. high-risk. Luis gets told that he has. reactive depression. He claimed he. wanted to end it right then and there. But then he never would. You know, and. he just like kept telling people in. interviews later on that it just made. him really depressed to have reactive. depression. Because later, his reactive. depression, some psychologists stated, did evolve into clinical depression or.
chronic depression, right? So he's. claiming he's very depressed. He would. go down to his therapist, feel even more. depressed because his therapist is like, "You're depressed." Then he would go to. AA meetings, feel extra down because. he's an alcoholic, and then that night. he would go to a bar, get drunk, and. then try to kill someone afterwards. And. he just kept using the excuse that he. was sad and depressed. Like I say this. with such not really much sympathy. because I feel like so many of us are. sad and depressed and none of us go out. there and commit heinous acts of. violence. So I I don't even know if.
that's really what. he claims he's doing this cuz he's all. sad. He's sad and then he kills and then. he goes to church because he's so so. sorry. Do you get what I'm saying? Like. none of this is making any sense. And then he said he would feel sad after. a kill, and he would start thinking back. to the last time he felt any sort of. happiness, and that was while he was. committing his crimes. He stated that he would start flipping. through his little blue notebook and. pleasuring himself at the memory of his. crimes. And he realized in order to feel. happy again, he would have to kill.
again. And these kills would only get. more gruesome. So, he would punch the. victims all over. He specifically would. target their hands. Which this part, I. mean, if you've been around younger. ones, you know how. their hands are so small. It feels like. a natural universal feeling to see a. child's hand and want to protect them. Luis would specifically target these. hands. He would punch them until he. shattered the bones in the hands. He. would punch and slice them on their. bottoms as well. He would try to lightly.
stab into their kidneys. He said that he. chose to stab near the kidney. specifically because he realized that. there's not a lot of he thought major. arteries in that area. So, the victims. would typically not bleed to death. before he was done with them because he. wanted them alive for a very, very long. time. The final acts of torture included him. slitting their throats while actively. assaulting them. And then when he was. done, he would decapitate them. He would. cut off their private parts and place.
their private parts into their mouths of. the decapitated heads. This was almost. his signature, and I'm not saying that. as a figure of speech. Serial killers. typically have something called an MO. Now, an MO is how they operate. This is. how they find victims, trap victims, kill victims, and then dispose of their. bodies. A signature, these are words. profilers use. I'm not calling it a. signature, is something that is almost. unchangeable for each serial killer. It's an action or something that is done. during the kill that indicates this is.
why they're committing these crimes in. the first place. This might be the ultimate action. It's. not the kill itself. This could be where. we need to look into. It's a signature for a reason. So, MOs, they typically evolve. They change. Serial killers adapt. They find new. techniques. A signature usually stays. the same. It reflects a deeper. psychological reasoning behind these. kills. And him placing the victim's private. parts into their own mouths was a bit of. a signature for Luis. Hmm. So, that's not an MO. No. Later his.
MO would evolve and he would add a lot. more steps to this process before his. victims were dead. He would take a. screwdriver to gouge out their eyes and. their ears. Sometimes he would use a. knife or tool to detach the fingers from. their hands. He would use tools to. detach their right feet from their legs. Then after the torture, he would cut. open their stomachs while they were. still alive, open and remove all of. their intestines, and place them next to. their face on the ground. The victims.
would be alive their intestines laying. in the grass next to them. Which is. something that is technically medically. possible. If someone's vital organs like. their heart and lungs remain untouched. and the laceration cuts on the stomach. do not hit any major blood vessels, it's. said that someone who is disemboweled. can actually remain alive for several. hours in immense shock and pain. Then once he was done with that, he. would finally decapitate them and move. on to commit his signature.
And this whole process would take hours. if not half a day to a full day. Luis was also a chain smoker and he. would take smoking breaks in between the. acts of torture. It's stated that. sometimes he smoked an entire pack of. cigarettes during his kills. Back then, cigarettes in Colombia were. exclusively sold in packs of 20. And on. average, it takes 6 minutes to smoke a. cigarette. So, that's at least 2 hours. of him just pausing to smoke. 2 hours of extra torture that the. victims would have to endure. Luis tried.
not to kill too late at night, mainly. because he said he was scared of the. dark. But sometimes it was unavoidable, and that was fine for him. There was. another thing that Luis was starting to. get scared of. And it was the idea of. getting caught. He had been an active. serial killer in the area for years now, potentially even a decade at this point. And only just recently people started. noticing. People started hearing the. whispers around town. Mothers would be. pulling their kids closer to them while. they were running errands. And then. there was that incident. He had just.
finished murdering another victim when. someone had apparently seen him. attacking the kid in the woods. He hears. the police coming. The victim wasn't. dead yet. He quickly finishes does what. he does, flees as fast as possible, and. breaks his leg in the escape. The witness did not see what Luis looked. like, so he had a close call. But he. would get off without a charge. And the. only thing that angered him. was that now because he broke his leg, he had a limp on his right foot. And that right foot. would never be the same. And he hated.
seeing people with perfectly healthy. right feet. Hmm. So, that's why he chopped. Wow. A lot of people speculate that he. started gouging out the victim's. eyeballs because his eyesight was. deteriorating. He was having problems. with his eyes. Now, this added a little bit of anxiety. to Luis's life. And there was the. situation of the eight boys with the. missing thumbs. He went from assaulting.
boys, torturing them, letting them go, and then into killing boys. But during. his kill phase, he actually let eight of. his victims go. And that would haunt him forever. And. it's not because he messed up. It's not. because he thought, "Oh, let me just let. these kids go because they said. something that I liked. They did. something that I liked." He felt. sympathy. It wasn't that. He thought it. would be more fun. He was experimenting. So, he chopped off each of their thumbs, cut the cords off of them, and let them. free after hours and hours of torture.
And he said, "I'm going to count to a. random number in my head. If you make it. back to your family alive before I catch. you, then you get to live." At this. point, the boys are already running. He. never even chased them. He just let them free. Now, there are theories about why he. would do this, and it's not because he. had remorse for these eight boys, but. the general theory is that well, he was. trying to see if it was going to give. him some sort of sick satisfaction to. know that these boys would never live a. single day without thinking about him. And they would live the rest of their.
lives in utter terror. And that itself is a very strong form of. torture. He did this to eight little. boys. So, eight little boys in Colombia. were traumatized by him and forever. mutilated with missing thumbs. Why why the thumb? I guess he was trying. to start another signature for this. part. Is it because he like he he can. see which one Maybe. is his victims? Yeah, it's pretty easy to see, I guess. Yeah. Wow. And that could be very, very true. because he only operated in like 10 to.
15 towns. Pretty small towns, too. But. now these eight boys were keeping him up. at night. They had seen his face for. hours. They had heard his voice for. hours. They knew what he looked like. They knew what he smelled like, everything. Like, what if they went to. the police? He was annoyed with himself. and he vowed never to let another one go. ever again. And he made adjustments to his MO as. insurance policies. He always wore shoes. that were one size too big. And he made. sure that no boy could get away now. There would be no ninth boy without a. thumb alive to tell the tale. But he was.
also tweaking his method to make it more. efficient. Efficient in terms of how to. make the torture last longer for him so. that he can get the pleasure, but not waste his energy on other. things. So, he came up with this method where. before the torture and before the. attack, he would chain up his victims. with some sort of rope or cord, and he. would force them to walk around in. circles while he held out a machete near. their necks. They were made to walk in. circles until their legs shook. This. part of the process took hours of in. some cases.
Wait, what what does that mean? Their. legs legs shook? They're walking in. circles nonstop for hours until their. legs are shaking cuz they're so tired. Wow. The whole time he's yelling at them. about how he's going to kill them. They're all dead meat. He's going to. bite their privates off. He's detailing. every single act of visceral torture. that he's about to commit on them. And. this was two birds, one stone for him. It was pleasurable for him to see his. victims shake in fear, but it was also. to tire them out so they had no chance. of fighting back. They were genuinely so out of energy.
Not that they even had a strong chance. of escaping before this because it's a. full-grown man against 7-year-olds, but. this was his insurance policy. Luis did satanic rituals with the. bodies. There's not much credible. information on what the rituals. consisted of, but we do know that he. used Ouija board with the dead bodies. And he was very excited to make a deal. with the devil each time he killed. This is why I think that the whole. church thing is nonsense. Like, I think. it's nonsense. I don't think he's. religious. I don't think he's. remorseful. He said the first time he.
sold his soul to the devil, it was a. feeling he would never forget. He said, "It turned out that when I made a pact. with the devil, a voice moved the. curtain. My hair stood up on the ends, and I entered into a psychotic state. where I heard a voice tell me that it. loved me. I said I wanted power, and it said it. wanted to serve me. It said, 'I want to. serve you, sir.'. I sold my soul to the devil, and that's. how it went.".
He would think about that joyous moment. as he made his victims walk in circles. Detective Mark Duran was assigned to. this case, and he was walking in circles.
with his team. They knew way too late. that they had a serial killer on their. hands. Even the mass grave, they. genuinely weren't even thinking of a. serial killer cuz remember they're. thinking of a cartel, a different. cartel, organ trafficking, satanic cult. A serial killer, they not even on their. minds. And now now they're too late. Now. they're trying to track the killer's. movement, but it's all over the place. They're literally going in circles. New. neighboring cities, new towns. Just when. they thought they were gone or dead, the. serial killer, a new body would turn up.
Every person he asked saw something. Town goers were saying, "No, he was a. priest. You have to look at the. churches. He was a priest." Others said, "No, he was a beggar. There was a. suspicious guy. I think he's the killer. and he was a beggar, but he left town.". knew it's him. A lot of people knew what. he looked like, but they couldn't really. pinpoint him. Oh, okay. I mean he he jumped from. towns. So it's not like he was staying. in one town and Mark is like, "Oh, let. me go find this guy." You know, it's. like now we don't know where he went and. the townspeople are telling me, "Oh, he. was like a beggar. We don't know a name. We don't know anything. This is kind of.
what he looked like. No, he looked like. this." And people are like, "No, that's. the different beggar." It was just so. many different sources. People are like, "Yeah, go go look for people without. homes. He's a beggar on the street.". They're like, "Actually, he's a monk. You got to go to the temples and that's. where you're going to find him." Or. people are saying, "No, you're not going. to find him at all. He works with dark. magic and he's a witch.". It was clear to Detective Mark that the. killer assumed a new identity with every. town that they went to and maybe even. with every person that they met. Who's.
to say that they only had one identity. each time they went to a new town? I. mean, that's the interesting thing. though that Detective Mark realized were. the types of personas he would take on. Priest, a generally respected position. You are in a position of authority. But. then the next town over he'd be a. beggar, a generally looked down upon. position. Not my personal feeling, but. the harsh reality of society. You're in a position of vulnerability. You are likely ignored, discarded.
People don't want to look at you. They. don't want to make eye contact with you. The local crazy man was another persona. he took on. Generally again, another. looked down person in society. And then a practitioner of witchcraft? This one is a mixed position. Either. people will look at you with respect, fear, or they will look down on you. I. mean, I guess depending on their own. personal beliefs. One would imagine that this type of guy. wants to be in a position to be revered. and respected. That's what serial. killers want, right? To have that. immediate authority over people. Yeah.
But no, he chose all sorts of random. personas. And Mark's team initially were. very confused about it, but Mark wasn't. He knew what the killer was doing. All. these personas have a few things in. common. Can you guess? Beggar and the. priest. Ah. People don't want to talk to. them. Is that right? They are held at a distance by general. society. As much as you might respect a. priest or practitioner of witchcraft, you might not want to ask about their. lives. Yeah.
You might not ask questions. You might. not want to be too close to them. Wow. be judgmental. They're a little scary. Beggars, you also don't really want to. hang out with them, right? Typically. society doesn't. I'm not saying like you. don't, right? Same with the local crazy. man. They're always held at some sort of. distance by society. You don't really. ask them, "Hey, what are you doing here. today? Where are you from? Who are you. seeing?" It's a position in society. where a little mystery is expected. And you know, these are positions where.
I don't think a lot of people would. question if they're talking to kids. The. priest of course is talking to children. It's a beggar. He's probably trying to. hustle that kid. That's a madman. He's. got nobody else that listens, so he's. talking to the kids. The practitioner of. witchcraft, I mean, we never know what. they've got brewing, right? Also, it was. later discovered that when he wasn't. using these random personas to go around. and murder children, he was fronting as. a nonprofit employee gathering donations. that he would pocket. Yeah. And at this. point. a serial killer had gone from 10 to 15.
towns following the same ritual to kill. hundreds of little boys. And I'm not the. head of the police force, but I don't. think it takes a professional to. realize, "Hey, something is going on.". But they didn't really put a lot of. resources into this. It took the. constant pleading of Detective Mark. Durham for the higher-ups to even. consider categorizing these murders as. the work of a serial killer. Detective. Mark had nothing but a bunch of guesses. and leads. I mean, there was no way to. narrow it down and it seemed like nobody. else on the police force even cared.
So it's up to Mark to learn everything. about serial killers, sexually motivated. serial killers, and really any category. this monster would fit into. There would be times where parents were. getting fed up finally with the amount. of missing children in their town. They. would gather outside the police station. with all the missing kids' families. There were 50 families gathered in one. night. And the police would still look at Mark. and say, "You know, it's concerning, but. we should just keep an eye on it.". The townspeople were not feeling like. that. They were beyond the point of just.
being concerned. They had dubbed the. serial killer the beast of Colombia. Later he'd be dubbed the monster of. Genoa. And it's wild to me when people. know first that something is really. wrong before the police know because. technically it's their job, right? But I. digress. Now to add some context, the. cops aren't just bad people. I mean, you. could argue that they were, I guess, right? But there's a lot more nuance to. the whole situation. The Colombian. police department as a whole at this. point and probably still now is. criminally underfunded. And the.
organizational power at the time in. Colombia were the cartels. They had. considerable interest to keep the police. powerless. Each town's police force had a plethora. of murder cases on their hands. They. didn't have the resources for outside. help, serial killer profilers. They. didn't even have enough to really fund. any evidence or DNA being tested. They. just had at least a hundred similar. murder cases around eight different. towns, so many bodies, and the. detectives are walking in circles. They had more than a thousand names on.
their suspect list. And not enough. resources to narrow that list down or to. even start investigating any of them. Until the night of the cornstalk. The cornstalks caught on fire. The serial killer had been in a. cornfield assaulting and killing another. victim when he lit his cigarette and put. it out on the ground. It wasn't fully. out. The cornstalks around him burst. into flames. When the police arrive at. the scene, they put the fire out and. they see the body of a victim and they.
know that this is the same serial. killer. The MO, the signature, everything is there. And this is clearly. a recent crime and they've got a few. pieces of evidence. A pair of shoes and. a pair of eyeglasses. Did he rush away? Yes. How much. information do you think you can get. from two pieces of evidence like that? Besides the obvious, what their shoe. size is and their eye prescription. Shoes and eyeglasses. Like if so if a police officer had your. shoes, your eyeglasses, what do you. think that they can tell about you?
Other than, you know, the generic, "His. shoe size is this." Let's start with the. glasses. Obviously the suspect wore. glasses for poor eyesight. They did have. prescriptions in there. But what else. can they gather? The style of the. glasses suggests that the individual had. a liking for older, more classic styles. These styles were probably more popular. 10 years ago. So they're thinking he was. probably in his prime 10 years ago. So. that means he's either in his 20s or. typically for men, they consider the 30s.
the prime. And that was about 10 years ago. So he's. in his 40s more likely. Cuz you you know, you typically have a. peak, they call it, in your lifetime and. you almost hang on to your style when. you felt like you were at your peak. because you're almost clinging onto that. youth, that feeling that you had by. clinging onto these styles and designs. So now they believe that the suspect is. anywhere between 40 to 45 years old. They could actually tell a lot more with. the shoes. Just like the glasses, the. shoes can point towards a more accurate. picture of the suspect's style, their.
attire, potentially even profession. because, you know, most people don't. generally wear work boots unless it's. for work related things. I don't know a. lot of random people that own steel-toed. boots for fun. And it's a very specific. person that wears very specific types of. shoes. So those are given, but they can. actually tell more than that with your. pairs of shoes. Firstly, Luis was. fooling no one. The detectives. immediately knew that the killer was. wearing a size too big of a shoe to. throw them off. His feet in prints were. right there. They were much smaller than.
the shoe. The divots that his feet made. inside. So they took his actual shoe. size and they started measurements. Shoe. size can more or less estimate height. He was about 5'3" to 5'4", which narrows. down the search more because the average. man in Colombia is about 5'6". So now we have height and shoe size. Shoes actually tell profilers a lot. about someone. So my mom and I have the. same exact pair of sneakers and we wear. the same exact shoe size. But I can tell. when I accidentally slip on my mom's.
It's not because they look different or. they're more worn or less worn, but the. sneakers have molded to my feet and so. have the soles. And you would be. surprised at how much your feet can tell. about you. When people distribute their weight. differently, they can tell what your. posture is like. They can tell profilers. what you look like, how much you weigh. potentially, what kind of styles you. would wear, and they can even tell if. you have like anxious personalities at. some points because anxious people tend.
to kind of like rock back and forth. Mhm. And there could be signs of that on. their shoe soles. So it's very interesting. They analyze. the shoes and they realize that it the. soles at the bottom of his shoes, they're uneven. The left sole. looks more worn, which meant this person. must walk with a slight irregular. rotation of the foot and puts a lot more. weight on his left leg. And it's a lot. more. So if it was slight, they could. wonder if maybe their body proportions. lean just more to the left or if it's.
become a habitual thing. But because it. was such a difference in the soles of. the shoes, they're thinking this person. must have a noticeable limp. That's crazy. Yeah. Wow. And with that, they can kind of. guestimate how he walks. These days, okay, so this is this was not happening. in this case, but in 2023, there is. actually a podiatrist who work with the. police forces. And let's say you have a. killer's shoes, they can tell you what. the gait is like, they can tell you how. they walk and judging from CCTV, they.
can match the gait with the shoes. Gait. meaning how you walk. Because the wear of the shoes can. determine how you walk and they're. really good at analyzing how you walk. So even if the killer's face is not on. camera, they can say these shoes belong. to this person based on the way that. they walk. Yeah. That's very cool. So they know that he. has a noticeable limp. The suspect also. fled the scene fast, in such a hurry. that he left his glasses and his shoes, meaning that he must have been surprised. by the fire. But in what situation would.
he have been surprised by the flames and. have his shoes and his glasses off? Shoes are maybe a bit more explainable, but his glasses? They guess accurately that the suspect. was taking a nap. He's the type to smoke. cigarettes while torturing his victims. He should also be the type to lay down. next to a dead victim's body and go to. sleep. There is no further explanation on why. his glasses would have been off in the. first place. Then the fire started while. he's napping. He had to flee so quickly. that he left his shoes and his glasses,
which would likely mean that he's got. second-degree burns to his body. And. this is when the police put together. that the killer has a bad right foot and. had been dismembering the right feet of. his victims. They also check his. prescription, he has pretty bad eyesight. and he was now tending to gauge out the. victim's eyeballs. And the killer's signature, he places. the victim's private parts into their. own mouths. Likely, the killer had been. a victim of some sort of abuse or trauma. growing up. So now they have a lot more to work.
with. They thought this killer has to be. on the offender list because. that just doesn't make sense. Like. you're committing these level of crimes, there's no way. But that registered. offender list consists of more than. 5,200 names. So that's more than a. thousand. Their suspect list was originally a. thousand. They eliminate all the names. that had been charged with assaulting. girls because the victims are all boys. That's 1,600 names left. Then they took. off anyone younger than 40. That's now. 95 names. Then they eliminated anyone that was.
shorter or taller than 5'3-5'4. And now. they had a list of 25 names and they. believed one of these 25 people were. going to seek medical attention soon for. their burns. They were right. Wow, they got so good. all of a sudden. All of a sudden, yeah. They were right. Luis had burns all over. his body. He forced himself to run on. foot for 6 hours despite his burns, which I don't say that sympathetically, I'm saying that to emphasize this guy. really really did not want to get.
caught. When he stops running, he. realizes, I've got second to. third-degree burns all over my body. Second-degree burns, they look a little. bit blistered. Third-degree burns, they. look like charred wood or they looked. really white, like cooked white meat. And and it's not as painful in the. immediate time. It'll later probably. feel like hell, but the nerve endings. are typically destroyed initially for. third-degree burns. Where was he burned? All over his leg and like kind of the. left side of his body. Mhm. Yes. You.
know, Luis, like all other serial. killers that we've talked about, he had. a very strong self-preservation mindset. He knew that he couldn't go to the. hospital for his burns, but he had to. get something. He went to a vet, a vet. clinic and lied, said that he had gotten. into an accident in his fireplace, gave. this very elaborate story, offered to. pay for treatment. They did not ask. questions, they treated his burns. December of that year, every single. newspaper had the same explosive. headline plastered all over it. The.
Beast of Colombia caught. The killer's. face and name were front page on every. major publication in town. And the. shameless killer had the audacity to. deny all the crimes that led to him. He. had an injury on his right leg that. caused him to limp. The shoe quite. literally fit and he was exactly 5'4". tall. He had a history of abusing. minors. He loves cheap brandy and he's. sitting there and he's like, I'm not the. Beast of Colombia. And they're like, you. are despicable, dude. The Beast who had. on average killed two to three kids a.
month for almost a decade and now now. he's sitting there looking cops in the. eye saying, mhm, that wasn't me. What? While the Beast was in custody, Detective Mark received a phone call. Four more bodies were found. And they were recent. They were killed in the same way, same. MO, same signature as the Beast of. Colombia. The person sitting in prison about to be. tried for the serial killings was not. their Beast. Don't get me wrong, he was a. and he should be behind bars, but this.
was not Luis Garavito. They took him off the list and went back. now to a list of 24 names. Detective. Mark went to talk to each of the 24. families of the suspects. One of the. sisters of the suspects did notice. something strange recently. She said, you know what? My brother did stop by a. few days ago and he told me to hold on. to his little bag and not look into it. And I haven't looked into it. They look. into it, it's newspaper clippings of the. crimes. That's how they caught him? Yeah. Huh.
Luis Garavito. Mark looks into this guy. At 15, he was arrested for the first. time for trying to assault a say a. 7-year-old at a train station. He was. caught and let go. He had actually been. brought in years before for murder, torture, assault and beheading of a kid, but they said that they didn't have any. other evidence, so they just let him go. And you would think that since he had. already been brought in for such a. similar crime that once the serial. killer investigation started taking. place, people would be like, oh my. goodness, that's the guy, right? They.
didn't. He was not. Outside of the. crimes, he managed to live a. normal-appearing life. He had a few. girlfriends, never had children of his. own, but his girlfriends who lived with. him had children from previous. relationships. They never noticed. anything odd about him, they said. They. said that he was really good with kids, actually. And even after breaking up, sometimes he would still send money. He's very nice, they said. As Detective. Mark is investigating, a call is made to. his unit. A boy had been discovered in town.
completely shaken up and he said that a. man tried to assault him. He rushes over, puts the boy into his. patrol car and they start driving around. looking for this man cuz they're like, this is going to be the Beast of. Colombia. And they see something. straight out of a horror movie. As. they're driving, they see a man walking. in the middle of the road. And their. patrol car is loud. As they're driving. up towards this man whose back is facing. them, this man does not move, does not. run faster, he just keeps walking at the. same steady slow pace, blocking the way, not even looking back to see who or what.
is behind him. And the kid is like, that's him. That's. him. They pull up and they ask the man for. his name and he very calmly says, oh, my name is Bonifacio. Yeah, that's my name. Okay, it's a very specific name, Bonifacio. What What was your last name? Bonifacio Marrero. Very interesting. While the partner is. asking generic questions like, what are. you doing? Why are you walking? You're. walking to the next town over, that's 55.
miles away. You got lost? Where did you. get lost? Detective Mark looks down and. sees scarred and healing burns all over. the left side of his body. His weight is heavily distributed to the. left side. He's wearing glasses and. suspiciously looks identical to the. suspect photo of Luis Garavito. He was finally arrested. He didn't try. to run, he didn't try to fight, but he. did insist that he was Bonifacio. Okay. Which was not the smartest thing.
because Bonifacio Marrero was a. well-known politician from the next town. over and he kept up this whole stick of. being a well-known politician even. though he looked nothing like the. well-known politician and he looked more. like Luis Garavito and he's like, I. don't know who that guy is. They brought. in Detective Mark and Detective Mark is. kind of like your quintessential. detective that you would see in those. sleepy small-town murder thriller books. He said that he put his whole life on. hold for this case. He sat down in front. of Luis, looked him in the eye and said,
I have followed every footstep. I have. seen every single victim. I have. breathed every breath that you took for. the past 2 years and now we finally. caught you and it's over. Luis calmly asked if he could pray, walked to the corner of the room and. started sobbing while begging for. forgiveness. He also confessed to 221. murders. At one point during the confession, he. leaned over and vomited into the. interrogation trash can. Yeah. He also said in the same breath as.
he's confessing to the murders, he said, really my only problem is my leg. My. psychic health is very good. I've never. had psychic problems. I'm assuming he. meant psychiatric. Most of his. interrogations, at least the ones that. our Spanish researchers could dig up, it's of Luis recounting his crimes. But. there are certain parts that we haven't. covered that kind of stand out. At one. point, the investigator asked him why he. decapitated the boys and he said, I. don't know because I made those. decisions. Possibly, it was because the. boys didn't suffer and they died more.
smoothly, that's why. He's stating that. he was trying to help the boys pass in a. softer way. This is the man that. disemboweled his victims while they were. alive, so. He also kept saying, I don't. want people to look at me like I'm a. monster, I'm a human being. Yeah. Well, he could live out the rest. of his human being life in a Colombian. prison then. He was sentenced for 162. murders. The courts counted up all the. years that he would get for each. individual case, and it came down to. 1,853.
years and 9 days. To give context, the. United States of America has only been. around for 247 years. This man is being. sentenced to 1,853. years. But, Colombia has a max prison sentence. Colombia is one of the countries where. they believe that even criminals should. have the right to life. Life is sacred, and these criminals deserve to have a. light at the end of the tunnel. And to. condemn someone to a life behind bars. without hope is inhumane. Colombia has. something called sentence unification.
If you are sentenced to multiple crimes, then you will only serve the term that's. the worst, that's the longest. It's. basically serving your sentences. concurrently rather than consecutively. So, we kind of have that in the US. So, in Colombia, if you get sentenced to. three crimes, 2 years for one, 5 years. for one, and 6 months for one, instead. of spending 7 and 1/2 years in prison, you'll just spend 5 years. Cuz it's your harshest sentence. And just like that, 1,853. years turned into 40 years.
40. 40 for the worst serial killings in. history, where he kidnapped hundreds of. children, tortured them, dismembered. them, disemboweled them, assaulted them, decapitated them, used their bodies for. satanic rituals that we don't even know. because he won't talk about. 40 years. But people are like, "Okay. Let's have some hope because Colombian. prisons are notorious for being harsh, and Luis was sentenced to the maximum. security prison in Colombia. Probably one of the worst in the entire. country. Which apparently, the prison.
itself was inspired by the US. penitentiary system. So, there's that, but it's really, really bad. People have. stated that the first thing you'll. notice before you even walk into the. prison is the whole smell. I mean, the. place stinks of urine and feces to the. point where even if you walk in covering. your mouth and nose, your eyes start to. water because of the stench. There's. only running water for about 8 to 15. minutes a day and only on the first. floor. Now, there's no guarantee that. you're allowed to go to the first floor. when water is running. If you don't have.
a first-floor cell, more likely than. not, you get access to no running water. It's really bad. Since there's no. running water, there's no toilets. So, the prisoners are forced to relieve. themselves in plastic bags. I'm talking. both types, urine and feces, into. plastic bags. But if they leave these. plastic bags in their cells, it starts. to stink up the entire cell. So, they. toss the plastic bag through the bars of. their cell into the communal space. beneath. And more often than not, these. bags plop, and they splatter to the. ground. And since water is never on,
prisoners basically have water rations. They have water deliveries where the. prisoners are forced to line up shoulder. to shoulder. They're stiff, it's tense, they've got empty jugs in one hand, and. they've got um the guards will pour. their water into those empty jugs. And. then in the other hand, they just have. like a a knife out in the open, an. improvised weapon, like a a shank that. they made in prison. Because usually the violent outbreaks. happen during water deliveries. The cells themselves are jam-packed with. prisoners. Even the hallways of the jail.
are filled with mattresses because of. how many people are in there. It's really bad, and they are exposed to. the elements in most cases. In the. maximum security tower where Luis is a. prisoner, they're allowed out of their. cells for 1 hour a day. The conditions in there are so bad that. some prisoners have taken to sewing. their mouths shut as a protest against. the horrid conditions. Others have made these cocoons out of. their bedsheets. So, they make these. hammocks, and I guess the window bars. are enough for them to get out of their. window.
But they can't really escape because I. guess there's guards everywhere, and. it's completely isolated, right? So, they make these little hammocks that. they tie on the cell window bars. They. get out of the building, and they're. just basically dangling off the side of. the building, but four stories tall. Now, the guards, they don't like it. So, they start cutting little incisions. into the prisoners' bedsheets so that if. they try to do this, their bedsheets. will fall apart, and they will fall four. stories potentially to their deaths. One volunteer stated that he saw. multiple men scaling the inner wall of.
the jail, climbing from the ground floor. to the fifth floor. Someone was pulling. down bedsheets so that they could climb. up while balancing water jugs around. their neck. It's because the top dogs of the fifth. floor wanted some water. So, the bottom people had to go fetch. water. Many of them would slip and fall to. their deaths, and the guards would not. even look. Nobody cared. Ironically, outside the prison, there is. a fish pond with a constant stream of.
running water poured into it. It's interesting. Even visitors were not. safe in the conjugal visit room, which. is where prisoners are allowed to spend. alone time with partners, is typically. filled with blood and used condoms. And recently, in a separate Colombian. prison, but similar, the drain pipes. were clogged. Plumbers came to work on it. They found. the remains of 100 people. in the drains of a prison. Inmates, visitors, nobody was safe. And while he's in here, Luis, people. thought maybe he's going to get killed.
in prison. I mean, a lot of people were hopeful that would. be the cause because they didn't want. him out in 40 years, that's for sure, right? So, a lot of people were hopeful, but he was treated kind of like a king. He got his own isolated cell because. this is such a high-profile case, the. guards were scared that if he was. murdered, their jobs would be on the. line. So, he had like his own personal. bodyguard the whole time. There were. journalists lining up to interview him, and he was like a picky little princess. He would charge a big sum of money to be. interviewed, and that's why we don't. have a lot of interviews with this guy.
And most of the time, he would just. ramble on about nothing in his. interviews. It's very hard to follow. He. never provides much new information that. could help bring closure to families. He. just starts lying in his interviews. At. one point, he straight-up claimed in an. interview that he never essayed a single. victim, and that he does not consider. himself a. He also stated he thinks that he should. be able to get out of prison because.
it's just not fair. You know, he's. learned his lessons, and he's not a. because he has erectile dysfunction, and. if you need proof, you should just go. ask his ex-girlfriends because he could. never get it up with them. Like, this is. literally his thought process. And he's. like, "I need to be let out of prison. because I've got life goals now.". The journalists are like, "What's your. life goal?" "I'm going to be a. congressman, and I want to fight for the. rights of children." I cannot make this. up. He also goes on a rant about how he. sees himself in some of the most. unsavory dictators and mass murderers.
They went to his cell, and it was. decorated with posters of Hitler, Mother. Teresa, Gandhi, and Princess Diana. It. was a very. very strange mix of people. Another interesting thing to note, one. journalist who interviewed Luis directly. in jail said, "There was something about. his eyes where I felt like they were. sucking the energy out of me.". It was terrifying. But it gets worse. Luis receives. multiple sentence reductions, the. largest of which took off almost half of.
his sentence because he did a work-study. program in jail. Yeah, with that. reduction amongst others, Luis's. sentence was now 22 years, and he was. scheduled to get out of prison in 2023. Luis was up for release in 2023, and. everyone was terrified, except for a. Facebook group where he had 170. fans that just loved him. Loved him. Could not wait for him to be free. And. eventually, October 12th, 2023,
Last month? Mhm. Luis Garavito was pronounced dead in. prison. He had leukemia and a very aggressive. form of eye cancer, which a lot of. people believe to be karma because he. had bad eyesight. He gouged out the. victims' eyes, and now he was dead from. eye cancer. Wait, is that true? Yeah. Leukemia and. eye cancer. It wasn't foul play? There. are some suspicions, but But he so he's. about to come out. Yeah. And he died of Yes, he also didn't.
really want to come out. There's mixed. conversations about did he even want to. get out? So, a lot of people were trying. to boycott him coming out. So, they were. writing letters to congressmen, local. officials, to the president, and. everybody was doing everything in their. power to make sure that this man does. not get out on the street. Some sources. made it seem like he wanted to get out. on the street, and he's fighting with. these judicial people. But a lot of. other sources said, "This guy wants to. stay in prison. He's doing okay in. prison, and he knows the minute that he. steps out, he's dead on site." Okay.
Like, who's going to hide him? Who's. Like, he has no power. He's not Pablo. Escobar. Like, where's he going to go, you know? Yeah. So, I don't know. I don't know if it was foul play. It The. official statement is leukemia and eye. cancer. But I don't know if it can even be. considered karma because he took so many. lives. I don't know. I mean, this is. just one of those cases where I keep. thinking about the ripple effect. It's. not just the 400 kids, which already in. itself is an insane number, but it's. their parents, their siblings, their. friends, relatives that are all.
traumatized and impacted. And there are. still rooms full of boxes of bones of. children who are yet to be identified. But I guess it's better dead than free. for someone like Luis Garavito. What are your thoughts on this case? Did you guys know about the story of the. Beast of Colombia and how he was set to. be released this year? Please stay safe, and I will see you guys on Sunday for. the mini-sode. Bye.
