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Pedro López (serial killer)

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Pedro López
López in a c. 1980 police mugshot
Born
Pedro Alonso López

(1948-10-08) 8 October 1948 (age 76)
Venadillo, Colombia
DisappearedSeptember 1999
Other namesThe Monster of the Andes
Criminal statusReleased in 1998
Conviction(s)Vehicle theft, murder, rape
Criminal penalty7-year sentence in Colombia, extended to 9 due to in-prison homicide (1969–1978); 16-year sentence in Ecuador, released after 14 years (1980–1994); committed to mental hospital in Colombia (1994–1998)
Details
Victims110–300+
Span of crimes
1969 – 1980 (possible resumption since 1998)
CountryColombia, Ecuador, Peru
Date apprehended
9 March 1980 (first arrest for serial murders)

Pedro Alonso López (born 8 October 1948[1] – disappeared September 1999), also known as The Monster of the Andes, is a Colombian serial killer, child rapist, and fugitive who murdered a minimum of 110 people, mostly young women and girls, from 1969 to 1980. López claimed to have murdered over 300 people. He is considered by many as one of the most prolific serial killers and rapists in history.

Early life

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Pedro Alonso López was born in Colombia in 1948, in the municipality of Venadillo, Tolima. Pedro López was the seventh of thirteen children born to Benilda López de Castañeda, a laundry worker. Pedro claimed his mother was a prostitute, and had a difficult childhood due to the violence of the household and the absence of a father figure.[2] His father, Megdardo Reyes, was murdered in La Violencia six months before his birth.[3]

López was banished from the house at age eight, when his mother caught him attempting to molest his sister.[2] Homeless, López wandered the streets of Bogotá and was frequently sexually abused.[2] After the incident, he joined a gang of street children for protection. At age twelve, he was adopted by an American immigrant family, but fled after he was sexually assaulted by a teacher.[4]

In 1969, López was sentenced to seven years in prison for auto theft. During this period of incarceration he was raped by three other inmates whom he later killed resulting in his sentence being extended by two years.[5]

Murders

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Upon his release from prison in 1978, López began wandering throughout the northwestern area of South America, eventually arriving in Peru. He later claimed that during this period he had killed over 100 girls, mainly street children from indigenous tribes.[6] While these claims are unverifiable, it is known that López was briefly captured by an Ayacuchoan indigenous tribe in south-central Peru after attempting to abduct a 9-year-old girl.[7] The Ayacuchoans stripped López of his clothes and belongings and buried him in the sand.[8] However, an American missionary convinced the tribe to release López and turn him over to the police.[8] The police did not detain López, and he was instead expelled from the country.[8]

After his deportation from Peru, López resumed his killing spree, and although authorities began to notice an increase of missing persons, more specifically young girls, throughout areas where he travelled, they concluded the disappearances were most likely cases of human trafficking.[8]

In April 1980, the areas surrounding Ambato, Ecuador were hit by flash flooding, unearthing the remains of several young girls who had been previously reported missing. This revelation prompted the police to reopen their investigations and contributed towards López's ultimate arrest later that same year.[8]

Arrest and confession

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Not long after the flooding, a local woman named Carvina Poveda was on her way to the market with her 12-year-old daughter Marie when López attempted to abduct the girl. Local merchants were able to overpower López and hold him until the police arrived.[9]

While in police custody after his arrest, López initially refused to cooperate during his interrogation, choosing to remain silent.[9] Eventually, he began to confess his crimes to police captain Pastor Cordova, who had been placed in the same cell as him while posing as a prisoner.[10] López boasted that in total, he had murdered "Over two hundred in Ecuador, some tens in Peru, and many more in Colombia".[10] He described his modus operandi as first luring the victim away from public spaces with a trinket, before raping and strangling them with his bare hands.[11] He additionally claimed that he would occasionally exhume the victim's bodies from their burial site and have "tea parties" with them.[12] When asked about his motive for the murders, López reportedly said: "I lost my innocence at age of eight. So I decided to do the same to as many girls as I could."[12] Soon after his confession, he directed the authorities to the bodies of 53 victims, and his confessions soon led to the confirmation of a total of 110 in Ecuador.[11]

Later in 1980, López was convicted of murder and sentenced to 16 years in prison, the maximum prison sentence available in Ecuador at the time.[9]

Imprisonment and release

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López served his prison sentence at the Garcia Moreno prison near Quito and was released from prison two years early, on August 31, 1994.[11][13] In an interview shortly before his release, López described himself as "the man of the century" and said he was being released for "good behavior".[14] After his release, López was deported to Colombia and was detained as an illegal immigrant on arrival, before being handed over to Colombian authorities.[13] Prosecutors were unable to make a case against him, and he was instead declared insane and admitted into a mental hospital.[15]

In 1998, López was declared sane and released on $70 bail, on the condition that he would periodically report to the authorities; he almost immediately absconded.[11]

The last reported sighting of López was in September 1999, when he visited the National Civil Registry to renew his citizenship card.[16]

In 2002, Colombian National Police and Interpol issued warrants for López's arrest over a murder bearing some similarities to his modus operandi.[17][18][19] The Interpol warrant was deactivated in 2005, but López remains a fugitive.[18][1] López has also been named as a possible suspect in a homicide committed in Tunja, Colombia in 2012.[20][21]

Coverage

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Editions of Guinness World Records up to 2005 credited López as being the "most prolific serial killer".[22] The listing was removed on newer editions after complaints that it made a competition out of murder.[23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Pedro Alonzo Lopez Biography". biography.com. 31 January 2018. Archived from the original on 10 December 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Pedro Alonso López 'El Monstruo de los Andes'". El Tiempo (Colombia). Archived from the original on 28 January 2020.
  3. ^ El monstruo de los Andes: violación y asesinato de 300 niñas, enterrado vivo y en paradero desconocido Noticias COPE. Consultado el 28 de junio de 2022.
  4. ^ "El 'monstruo de los Andes' que se excitaba matando niñas a plena luz del día: "Es mi misión"". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 21 August 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  5. ^ De 2018, 14 De Noviembre (14 November 2018). "La misteriosa desaparición del "Monstruo de los Andes", el mayor asesino serial de niñas de Colombia". Infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 5 February 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Tiempo, Casa Editorial El (13 November 2018). "Así quedó libre en Colombia el peor asesino en serie del mundo". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  7. ^ El Monstruo de los Andes, el asesino serial que mató más de 300 niñas en Ecuador, Colombia y Perú y desapareció del mapa Infobae. Consultado el 28 de junio de 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d e Pedro Alonso López, el ‘monstruo de los Andes’ que asesinó a más de 300 niñas y desapareció hace 23 años sin dejar rastro Infobae. Consultado el 28 de junio de 2022.
  9. ^ a b c Conoce la Aterradora Historia de “El Monstruo de los Andes” Buenamente.com. Consultado el 28 de junio de 2022.
  10. ^ a b "The Monster Of The Andes". Medium. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  11. ^ a b c d "Pedro Lopez: The world's second worst serial killer who walked free from prison". 9News. 5 December 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  12. ^ a b "The Horrifying Story of Pedro Lopez: South America's Missing Serial Killer". A Little Bit Human. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  13. ^ a b Tiempo, Casa Editorial El (12 March 1994). "QUEDARÍA LIBRE EL MONSTRUO DE LOS ANDES". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  14. ^ "World's worst killers". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 30 October 1999.
  15. ^ Tiempo, Casa Editorial El (6 September 1994). "PEDRO ALONSO LÓPEZ FUE TRASLADADO AYER AL ESPINAL". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  16. ^ Tiempo, Casa Editorial El (17 September 2021). "El misterio por paradero desconocido de uno de los peores asesinos en serie". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  17. ^ Ramon, Carlina; Inde, Maria Masabanda; Jácome, Carlos; Brennan, Pat (2004). The Monster of the Andes. A&E Television Networks. ISBN 0-7670-7897-7.
  18. ^ a b "VIDEO: ¡Cuidado!, "El Monstruo de Los Andes" podría ser su vecino". Minuto30.com (in Spanish). 17 November 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  19. ^ "Why Did They Free Pedro López, the Monster of the Andes?". Criminal. vocal.media. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  20. ^ "¿Quién mató a Andrea Marcela García Buitrago?". KienyKe (in Spanish). 16 November 2012. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  21. ^ Semana (24 August 2015). "Los rostros de los presuntos asesinos de la niña Andrea García". Semana.com Últimas Noticias de Colombia y el Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  22. ^ "Most prolific serial killer". Archived from the original on 16 February 2015.
  23. ^ Regier, Willis Goth (November 2007). In Praise of Flattery. U of Nebraska Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-0803239692.
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