World’s Worst Serial Killers
Five of the world’s most deadliest killers Pt.1
1. Luis Garavito, Colombia
Photo sourced: allthatsinteresting.com
Garavito has been described as the World’s worst serial killer after he confessed to murdering over 300 young boys between the ages of 6 and 16 years over a seven year period.
Known as a sadistic paedophile, he raped, tortured and mutilated his victims before he killed them.
Born on the 25 October 1957, he was the eldest of seven siblings. Garavito later described his father as a violent alcoholic who would regularly beat him as well as his mother and siblings. As a result of his father’s alcoholism Garavito suffered neglect and became prey from two male neighbours who had sexually assaulted him and tortured him.
A young Garavito
Photo sourced: murderpedia.com
Garavito had little schooling and by the time he was 16, he left home and began a drifting lifestyle, traveling around Colombia picking up odd jobs. During his early 20s, he had sunk into a deep depression, and in 1984 a suicide attempt resulted in an incarceration in a psychiatric facility for five years. After he was discharged, he resumed his nomadic lifestyle and begun abusing alcohol. It was around this time that Garavito had begun his spree of terror.
His first known murder occured sometime in 1992. Garavito had taken advantage of Colombia’s political unrest known as La Violencia where thousands of children were left homeless, orphaned and were living on the streets. Paedophilia was problematic and was often left unchecked by authorities. Garavito was aware that no one would notice a child vanish off the street.
He would approach his victims in busy marketplaces in broad daylight, and lure them away with gifts, candy or with the promise of paid work. Garavito often disguised himself as a farmer or labourer to make his offers of paid work sound credible.
Garavito’s many disguises. Source: lawyersupdate.co.in
Garavito then walked with the victim until the child grew weary, where he would then lure them to a secluded area, where he would not be observed. Garavito would quickly overpower the tired child and bind his hands and feet before taking his time with raping and torturing his victim and then murdering them by slitting their throats or stabbing them with a screwdriver.
Remains from a mass grave
Photo taken from: buggedspace.com
Garavito was arrested on 22 April 1999 after he attempted to abduct a young boy in the town of Villavicencio, Colombia where he was intercepted by a homeless man. After an eight hour interrogation by police, Garavito confessed to the murder of more than 300 young boys. He was able to describe the murders with vivid detail and throughout the interrogation, he was calm, collected and showed no remorse for his actions.
Garavito was eventually charged with 172 counts of murder and was found guilty on 138 counts of murder. He will be released by 2022.
2. Pedro Lopez, Colombia
Photo sourced from criminalmindsfandom.com
Lopez is known as one of Colombia’s most prolific serial killers, having confessed to killing more than 350 young girls aged between 8 and 12 years old for a period of 2 years.
Born on 8 October 1947, he was the seventh born child of thirteen. Lopez’s mother was said to be a prostitute who was abusive. On many occasions, Lopez had witnessed his mother interacting with her clients, where some would act abusive toward her.
When Lopez was 8 years old, he was thrown out of the family home after his mother had caught him molesting his younger sister. While he was living on the streets, he was sexually abused by a male who had lured him with food and a place to sleep. Fearing another attack, Lopez sought protection from a street gang, who were known for their use of extreme violence.
During his teens, he committed a series of auto thefts as a means to survive and earn money, and eventually spent seven years in prison for the privilege.
After he was released in 1978, Lopez began drifting throughout Peru, Ecuador and Colombia and it is reported he committed his first murder at this time.
Lopez’s known victims. Source: criminalmindsfandom.com
Lopez abducted his victims from marketplaces, looking for young girls with specific characteristics of innocence. Once he found a victim, he stalked her for 2 -3 days, waiting for an opportunity where the girl was left unsupervised. When that opportunity came, Lopez would lure the girl away to a secluded place with candy or gifts, where he would brutally rape and then strangle the victim.
Lopez was arrested in 1980, after attempting to abduct a girl in Ambato, Ecuador. Carina Poveda took her 12 year old daughter shopping at a local marketplace, where a man picked her up into his arms and attempted to run off with her. Poveda called out for help and merchants of the market had chased him down, captured him and had him pinned down until police arrived.
While in custody, Lopez confessed to murdering around 110 young girls in Ecuador, 100 in Colombia and a further 100 in Peru. The police did not believe his confession initially, until Lopez led them to a mass grave containing the bodies of 52 young girls.
On July 31, Lopez pled guilty to 57 counts of murder and was sentenced to 16 years — Ecuador’s maximum penalty for murder at the time and was released on 31 August 1994.
Today, Lopez is still at large and wanted for the 2002 murder of an unidentified young girl.
Sources:
www.murderpedia.com
www.wikipedia.org
www.criminalminds.fandom.com
https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/pedro-alonso-lopez
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Homicide". Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 May. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/homicide. Accessed 6 May 2021.
