0:00

Love this podcast? Support

0:02

this show through the Acast supporter feature. It's

0:05

up to you how much you give, and there's

0:07

no regular commitment. Just click the

0:09

link in the show description to support now. Tired

0:15

of ads barging into your favorite news

0:17

podcasts? Good news. Ad-free

0:20

listening on Amazon Music is included with

0:22

your Prime membership. Just head

0:24

to amazon.com/ad-free news podcasts to catch

0:27

up on the latest episodes without

0:29

the ads. Some shows may

0:31

have ads. Welcome to the series. Welcome

0:37

to the

0:40

serial killer

0:44

podcast. I

1:02

am your humble host, Tomas Rosland Weyberg

1:04

Foon, and tonight we begin our journey into the

1:18

life and crimes of the world's

1:21

perhaps most prolific serial killer aside

1:24

from Pedro López. The

1:26

man in question was a

1:28

depraved pedophile who hunted, tortured,

1:31

and killed hundreds of little

1:33

boys. As

1:36

with López, the subject

1:38

of this series hailed from and

1:40

operated in Latin America. I

1:43

am of course talking about none other

1:46

than La Bestia, the

1:48

Beast, Luis Garavito,

1:52

and this is his saga.

1:55

Enjoy. This episode likes you. Like

2:00

all other sagas told by me,

2:02

would not be possible without my

2:04

loyal Patreonies. They are. Elizabeth

2:07

Russell Lisa Cassie James

2:10

Cody Kylie Robert Val

2:12

Marilyn Craig Emily Z.

2:15

Douglton's Jonathan Jennifer

2:17

Loonivar Roy Cheryl Richard

2:20

Brad Lorry Manuel

2:23

Haley James Jeff

2:27

and Brenda. You

2:29

are truly the backbone of

2:32

the Serial Killer Podcast, and

2:35

without you there would be no

2:37

show. Thank you. I

2:42

am forever grateful for my elite

2:44

TSK Producers Club, and

2:46

I want to show you that your

2:49

patronage is not given in vain. All

2:52

TSK episodes will be

2:55

available 100% ad-free to

2:58

my TSK Producers Club on

3:01

patreon.com/the Serial Killer

3:03

Podcast. No

3:05

generic ads, no ad reads,

3:08

no jingles. I promise.

3:11

And of course, if you wish to donate

3:13

$15 a month, that's only $7.50 per episode. You

3:18

are more than welcome to join the

3:20

ranks of the TSK Producers Club too.

3:23

So don't miss out and join now.

3:54

Thank you.

4:04

A cliched question after

4:07

nearly every child is what they

4:09

wish to be when they grow

4:11

up. An

4:13

easy question with anything but an

4:16

easy answer. For

4:18

all the million answers children

4:20

have given to this question

4:22

over time, the answer is

4:24

never a remorseless, pedophilic

4:27

serial killer. It's

4:29

unlikely that these individuals were

4:32

born with this intention. Luis

4:37

Alfredo Garavito Cubilos,

4:40

later in life-given nicknames such

4:42

as La Bestia, the

4:45

Beast, Tribilín, Disney's

4:48

Goofy, or El

4:51

Cura, the Priest, was

4:54

born in the small village

4:56

of Genovo in Quindil

4:59

of Colombia on the 25th

5:01

of January 1957, a

5:04

few months before the deposition

5:07

of President Gustavo Rochas

5:10

and at the threshold of a

5:12

decade-long civil war that would ravage

5:15

the country. He

5:17

was the son of Rosa

5:20

Delia and Manuel Antoni, the

5:23

first of seven children to

5:25

be followed by three brothers

5:27

and three sisters. Quindillo,

5:32

the region where Garavito was born, is

5:35

in the central western part of

5:38

Colombia, nestled in the heart

5:40

of the Andes Range. Characterized

5:43

by fertile, coffee-growing lands, splendid

5:46

landscapes, and the languid flow

5:48

of the La Vieja River,

5:51

Quindillo offered idyllic physical surroundings

5:53

for the young Luis. However,

5:57

despite the picturesque environs,

6:00

The socio-economic reality was

6:02

harsh, poverty was

6:04

rampant, and many families

6:06

eked out a living by working laboriously

6:09

in the coffee fields. The

6:13

Garavito household was a

6:15

disheartening manifestation of this

6:17

societal impoverishment. Born

6:20

into a family of seven children,

6:22

Garavito's home was alarmingly

6:25

scarce in both

6:27

physical comforts and emotional warmth.

6:31

Their modest dwelling, cramped and

6:33

meager, mirrored the strenuous struggle

6:35

for daily subsistence. His

6:40

father, Manuel Antonio Garavito,

6:43

was an alcoholic with a

6:45

volatile temper. Trying

6:47

to drown his sorrows in drink, he

6:49

frequently resorted to physical violence,

6:52

subjecting his children to brutal

6:54

beatings. With

6:56

oppressive and hostile atmosphere, the

6:59

young Garavito found little comfort

7:02

or joy. A

7:05

darker facet of his childhood,

7:07

less publicly disclosed, but equally

7:10

crucial in understanding this individual

7:13

was the sexual abuse

7:15

he reportedly endured. The

7:18

precise details of the abuse that

7:20

Garavito endured are, understandably,

7:23

scant and thinly documented.

7:26

What is recognized, however, is

7:29

that the sexual violence perpetrated

7:31

against him was reportedly recurrent,

7:34

beginning from an early young age,

7:37

involved multiple perpetrators,

7:40

and often occurred within his

7:42

family's crumbling walls. Among

7:46

the alleged abusers were some of

7:48

Garavito's own relatives, neighbors,

7:51

and even supposed friends within

7:53

the community. The

7:56

abusers exploited the vulnerability of

7:58

Garavito's circumstances. his family's

8:00

economic challenges, and

8:03

their lack of protective measures. The

8:07

exposure to such recurring sexual

8:09

abuse during formative years would

8:12

have devastatingly profound and

8:14

long-lasting effects on

8:16

Garavito's psychological development. The

8:20

trauma would potentially trigger

8:22

feelings of severe shame,

8:24

guilt, confusion, betrayal, and

8:26

powerlessness. These

8:29

emotional burdens, omnipresent

8:31

in Garavito's psyche, interfere

8:34

with the normal process of

8:37

personality development and

8:39

can lay the groundwork for severe

8:41

mental health issues and

8:43

problematic behaviors. Worth

8:47

noting is that survivors of

8:49

childhood sexual abuse are

8:52

more likely than their non-abused

8:54

counterparts to exhibit various psychological

8:56

problems. These can

8:58

often encompass major depressive

9:01

episodes, anxiety disorders,

9:04

suicidal ideation and

9:06

behavior, antisocial

9:08

personality disorder, and

9:11

substance abuse. In

9:15

line with the working-class realities

9:17

of Genova, Garavito's education

9:21

was an uneven journey

9:23

cut short by familial

9:25

economic constraints. His

9:28

brief stint with formal education took place

9:30

in a humble local school, much

9:32

like countless other schools in rural

9:35

Colombia, a tiny brick-and-mortar

9:37

structure hosting a single classroom

9:40

that clustered children from different

9:42

age groups. Garavito,

9:46

similar to a sizable portion of

9:48

his peers, faced the

9:51

harsh duality of juggling academics

9:54

with manual labor. This

9:56

necessity was rooted in the prevailing

9:59

socio-economic conditions. of Quindillo,

10:02

one of the central zones of the

10:04

Colombian coffee areas. The

10:07

economy of this region, heavily centered

10:09

on coffee farming, required

10:12

all hands, even those as

10:14

young as Garavito, to contribute to the

10:16

family income by working in the fields.

10:21

Those bruising days were spent picking

10:23

coffee cherries under the unforgiving Andean

10:26

sun, where children

10:28

laboring in these vast plantations,

10:31

the rugged glistening hillsides, and the

10:33

canopy of coffee shrubs offered no

10:36

charm. Instead, they

10:38

embodied an intense livelihood struggle

10:42

as part of an economic

10:44

ecosystem that barely rewarded the

10:46

toil of its hardest workers.

10:51

Imagine if you will, there is not a

10:53

following. The day began

10:55

right at the crack of dawn, even

10:58

before the sun had fully risen above

11:00

the horizon. Garavito,

11:02

along with other child laborers and

11:04

field workers, would embark on

11:07

their journey to the coffee fields, armed

11:09

with empty sacks and a

11:12

sense of resignation to the day of

11:14

labor ahead. Their journey

11:16

was usually on foot, traversing

11:19

rural paths leading to the

11:22

sprawling coffee plantations. The

11:24

undulating hills shrouded in a mantle

11:26

of green. Upon

11:30

arrival, a short briefing by

11:32

the Mayordomo, translated in

11:35

English as the Overseer, would

11:37

lay out today's goals. Then

11:39

the workers would set about their tasks. Coffee

11:43

picking, unlike some types

11:45

of harvest, demanded a delicate

11:47

touch and high precision.

11:50

But in the ripest beans, those

11:52

that had achieved a perfect hue

11:55

of deep red were to

11:57

be picked. veto,

12:01

like other workers, was expected

12:03

to sift through clusters of coffee

12:05

cherries, selecting only those

12:07

that were at peak maturity. The

12:10

lush greenery of the plantation

12:12

offered no solace from the

12:14

strenuous focus this task required.

12:18

Ours would pass in this state of

12:20

continuous labor. The only sounds

12:22

piercing the air were the

12:24

rustling of leaves and the

12:26

occasional hushed conversation between the

12:29

laborers. By

12:31

afternoon, after several hours

12:33

in the relentless Andean sun, the

12:36

workers' sacks would be filled with

12:38

coffee cherries. It was

12:40

time to deposit the produce. But

12:43

before the day ended, there was

12:45

still much to be done. A

12:49

significant part of the day involved

12:51

sorting and weighing the cherries. Each

12:54

workers' collection was meticulously weighed

12:56

and logged by the field

12:58

overseer. Missteps

13:00

were poorly received. Workers

13:03

whose beans were not ripe or

13:05

who had not collected a sufficient amount were

13:08

often reprimanded or faced

13:10

a deduction in their meager wages. A

13:15

physically demanding day drew to a close

13:17

in the late afternoon. Exhausted,

13:20

the workers, with muscles aching and

13:23

clothes stained by the crimson juice

13:25

of the coffee cherries, would

13:27

then embark on their journey back home.

13:31

As they tread wearily over meandering

13:33

paths, the setting sun

13:35

cast long shadows over

13:38

the tranquil coffee fields. Garavito's

13:42

work day on the coffee plantation,

13:44

like that of countless child laborers,

13:47

was a grueling experience. The

13:50

repetitive, back-breaking labor under

13:52

the scorching sun belied

13:54

the romanticized image of

13:57

lush coffee plantations. His

13:59

ex-swimming The exhausting daily routine underscores

14:02

the stark reality of

14:04

conditions child laborers endured

14:07

and the intensive labor

14:09

underpinning Colombia's booming coffee

14:11

economy. The

14:15

school was not a sanctuary

14:17

from Garavito's tumultuous domestic life.

14:20

Instead, it became another arena

14:22

underlining his distinct otherness. He

14:26

was often the target of school bullies,

14:29

an ordeal heavily contrasted with

14:31

the wild-held Latin American

14:33

notion of escuela como segundo

14:35

hogar, school as a

14:38

second home. The

14:40

bullying further compromised his already

14:42

flimsy emotional stability, pushing

14:45

him towards isolation. These

14:49

early years of juggling a rigorous

14:51

work schedule with the bitter experiences

14:53

of school and home coerced

14:56

him into premature adulthood.

14:59

The innocence of childhood was

15:01

largely absent for Garavito,

15:04

replaced instead by a

15:07

harsh existence that belonged in

15:09

an adult world. Trapped

15:12

in this suffocating vortex, the

15:15

seeds of a troubled psychology

15:17

later manifested horrendously were

15:19

sown. As

15:22

Garavito trudged into his teenage years,

15:25

his circumstances barely improved.

15:28

Any semblance of normal

15:30

adolescence was a distant dream.

15:34

An unpredictable home environment,

15:36

crushing manual labor and

15:38

stark isolation from peers continued

15:41

to mark his daily life. Welcome

15:46

to your daily affirmations. Repeat

15:48

after me, working with others

15:50

is easier than ever. I

15:53

strive for perfect collaboration. Our

15:55

teamwork keeps getting better. Yeah,

15:58

affirmations are great, but Monday. can

16:00

really get you the teamwork you desire.

16:02

Work together easily and share files, updates,

16:05

data, and just about anything you want

16:07

all in one platform. Affirm yes, to

16:09

start. Or tap the banner to go

16:12

to monday.com. Tired

16:16

of ads crashing your comedy podcast

16:18

party? Good news! Ad-free

16:21

listening on Amazon Music is included with

16:23

your Prime membership. Just head

16:25

to amazon.com/adfreecomedy to catch up

16:27

on the latest episodes without

16:30

the ads. Garavito

16:38

was already demonstrating signs of

16:40

behavior that were alarming, if

16:42

not outright disturbing for our

16:44

young adolescents. His

16:47

prolonged isolation pushed him further to

16:49

the fringes of society. It's

16:52

speculated that his preference for

16:54

solitude was a defense mechanism

16:57

against the relentless adversities he

16:59

faced in interpersonal

17:02

relationships. Concurrently,

17:06

as Garavito was battling his personal

17:08

demons, Colombia too

17:11

was in the throes of tumult. These

17:14

were the pivotal years when the

17:16

country was spiraling deeper into socio-political

17:18

violence, leading to a

17:21

long protracted internal conflict. During

17:25

this period, predominantly the late

17:27

1960s and the

17:29

1970s, Colombia witnessed

17:31

the rise of various

17:33

guerrilla groups fueled by

17:35

ideological differences and

17:37

the battle over lucrative drug trafficking

17:39

routes. The famous,

17:42

or rather infamous, FARC,

17:46

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

17:49

consolidated its power during these

17:51

years, further exacerbating

17:53

the historical tensions between

17:55

the state and the

17:57

various communist guerrilla groups. While

18:01

these events unfolded mostly in the

18:04

remote parts of the country, they

18:07

added to the narrative of

18:09

fear, instability and violence that

18:12

seeped into the society's collective

18:14

psyche, including in places like

18:17

Quindillo, Garavito's home.

18:20

This tension-steeped environment likely

18:23

imprinted itself in Garavito's

18:25

already troubled psyche, possibly

18:28

offering a grim preview of

18:30

the violent path he would tread later.

18:35

The turbulent framework of Garavito's

18:37

adolescence and the social, political

18:40

unrest of Colombia during this

18:42

time played definitive roles

18:44

in shaping his transition into

18:46

adulthood. This period

18:49

marked a fundamental shift not

18:51

only in Garavito's life, but also

18:53

across the landscape of the

18:55

nation that was about to witness a terror like

18:58

no other. Garavito

19:02

ubiquitously carried the scars of

19:04

his childhoods and adolescence, a

19:07

history of abuse, neglect, poverty

19:09

and isolation, into his

19:11

adulthood. This period of

19:14

his life was less of

19:16

a transition and more of a

19:18

continuation of his earlier adversities with

19:20

new grim complexities. With

19:23

no viable support system, Garavito's

19:26

life began to unravel rapidly.

19:29

He fell into chronic destitution, sometimes

19:32

resorting to homelessness and

19:35

transient jobs. This

19:38

dire state rendered him

19:41

a societal pariah, projecting

19:44

him further into the margins. As

19:47

he drifted across towns to stay afloat,

19:50

Garavito began consuming alcohol heavily,

19:53

a futile attempt to smother the

19:55

torment of his past and

19:58

the bleakness of his present. This

20:01

alarming pattern was

20:04

starkly reflective of his

20:06

father's behavior, repeated in a vicious

20:08

cycle. Simultaneously,

20:11

Colombia was grappling with the

20:13

surge in political violence and

20:16

drug trafficking through the 1980s,

20:19

escalating societal unrest.

20:23

Violent crimes swept through the nation,

20:25

often masked under the broader conflict.

20:28

The national crisis, coupled

20:30

with an ineffective social

20:32

protection system, offered

20:35

Garavito a distorted advantage.

20:38

His crimes went unnoticed

20:40

amidst a larger turmoil

20:43

and frequently misattributed to

20:45

the political strife that

20:47

monopolized the nation's attention.

20:52

As a country that has been immersed

20:54

in political and social strife for the

20:56

past 50 years, Colombia struggles

20:58

to provide even the most basic

21:01

security to its citizens. It

21:04

is this chaos of incessant

21:06

political unrest that created,

21:08

in the shadows of

21:11

every impoverished neighborhood, the

21:13

perfect victim pool. For

21:16

as crowded as Colombia's streets are,

21:19

one specific group of people will

21:21

remain forever unseen – its

21:25

street children. This

21:28

continuous political strife has bred

21:30

a subculture of anonymous children.

21:33

Garavito, carefully selected his

21:36

prey from the children

21:38

of low-income households, were

21:40

more vulnerable to the charms of

21:42

a wandering peddler or a

21:44

pleasant priest. As

21:47

the anonymity meant a low risk of

21:49

discovery, this was a

21:51

significant factor in Garavito's crimes going

21:53

for so long undetected.

21:58

And so it was. But

22:00

on 22 April 1999, it

22:03

was just another day at

22:05

Los Cantaros Park via

22:08

Vicencio. Located

22:11

in eastern Colombia, the park itself

22:13

was part of the regular route

22:15

for an impoverished young boy named

22:18

Ivan Sabugal, who

22:20

sold lottery tickets to help fund

22:22

his schooling. Ivan's

22:24

abduction, or rather as

22:26

it was then noted, disappearance, was

22:29

not discovered until later that evening,

22:32

when his mother realized he had not

22:34

returned home by the assigned time. Terrified,

22:38

Ivan's mother contacted the police

22:41

and pleaded with them to take on

22:43

her son's case, hoping to be able

22:45

to convince them that there

22:47

was indeed something sinister about

22:49

Ivan's not coming home that

22:51

day. In a country like Colombia,

22:53

as Ivan's mother had little to no

22:56

power to exert, his

22:58

abduction could easily have been glossed

23:00

over, and probably would

23:02

have been had it not been

23:04

for the prosecutor Fernando Ayá. Ayá

23:08

had already been investigating

23:10

the disappearances of thirteen

23:12

other young children over the span

23:14

of six months. Ayá

23:18

had discovered several mass graves

23:20

just on the outskirts of

23:23

via Vicencio and identified a

23:26

pattern in Ivan's case that

23:29

was consistent with previous disappearances.

23:31

Via Vicencio was

23:34

not the only village affected. Thousands

23:36

of kilometers away, in the heart of Colombia's coffee district,

23:41

another set of mothers were desperately trying to

23:43

appraise the authorities of the city. Meanwhile,

23:46

a regional court

23:54

was called in to be yours. It

24:00

Years before this, dead children were

24:02

being discovered all across Columbia in

24:04

mass graves. One

24:06

such discovery took place in the

24:09

quaint little town of Nacoderos, where

24:11

the tortured bodies of fourteen

24:14

children ranging from eight to

24:16

fourteen years old were unearthed,

24:19

baffling the Colombian police. What

24:22

was even more shocking was the state of the remains.

24:25

These were not recently deceased bodies. The

24:28

bodies being unearthed were already

24:30

decomposed to the point where there

24:33

was almost no way of individual

24:35

identification. All that was

24:37

recoverable at this point were the

24:39

bones and teeth. Surprisingly,

24:43

the dental records did initiate

24:45

a major breakthrough. None

24:47

of these children had had work done

24:49

on their teeth, indicating that they

24:52

could not afford it, which

24:54

put them in the same

24:56

economic subgroup as the missing

24:58

street children. Mario

25:02

Artung Duaga, Colombia's

25:04

most renowned forensic

25:06

reconstructionist, began working on

25:08

the bones of the children that

25:10

were recovered. It

25:13

was here that the forensic team

25:15

hit their first major roadblock. The

25:18

team soon realized that the diagnostics

25:20

they were used to working with

25:22

would not apply to these cases

25:25

because the subjects were children as opposed

25:27

to grown adults. The

25:29

malleable nature of their bones and the

25:31

way in which their craniums were constructed

25:34

called for a major adaptation in

25:37

process. Artung Duaga

25:39

realized that he would have to create

25:41

his own methods, and so he

25:43

did. Mario

25:46

Artung Duaga's involvement in

25:48

the case of Luis

25:50

Garavito was pivotal. As

25:53

the chief engineer of the

25:55

Luis Carlos Galán Forensic Institute,

25:59

it was through Artung Duaga. tongue duaga's

26:01

diligence, expertise, and tenacity

26:04

that a detailed and cohesive

26:06

picture of labestia began to

26:08

emerge. Taking

26:11

note of the recurring abnormality

26:13

in Colombia, a spate

26:15

of disappearances and murders of young

26:18

boys from impoverished backgrounds, Artung

26:21

Duaga began compiling all available

26:23

data to identify any common

26:25

links and patterns. From

26:27

victim's age, physical description,

26:30

clothes, to the precision

26:32

and pattern of the wounds inflicted, the

26:35

proximity of the victim's laughs in

26:37

location, to places of public interest,

26:40

everything was meticulously examined and

26:43

recorded. Artung

26:46

Duaga, along with his team

26:48

and cooperative law enforcement agencies,

26:50

painstakingly put the jigsaw

26:53

pieces together, which eventually

26:55

led to a significant break in the

26:57

case. They concluded

26:59

that the victims, often lured

27:02

with small gifts or the promise of

27:04

odd jobs, were the victims of

27:07

a single predator. Extensive

27:10

forensic studies conducted under Artung

27:13

Duaga's leadership confirmed the curialities

27:15

in the case, including

27:18

specific patterns in the manner of

27:20

slaughter and item usage,

27:22

bottles of brandy, signs of

27:24

bondage, and similar types of

27:26

knives that pointed toward

27:29

a serial killer's existence. As

27:34

Artung Duaga worked, the

27:36

authorities began to chase down every lead

27:38

they could. Theories

27:40

ranged from satanic cults to

27:42

drug traffickers. Every

27:45

scrap of evidence was considered

27:47

and reconsidered. The

27:49

only thing they could be sure of was

27:51

that whatever they were dealing with, they could

27:53

not afford to miss any clues. Back

27:57

in Villa Vicenciu, when Aya

27:59

was looking for evidence in

28:01

his initial investigation, he

28:04

decided to go and stake out the

28:06

points of disappearance, hoping that

28:08

this would allow him to reconstruct the

28:10

crimes and understand how

28:12

the abductions took place. Once

28:15

he arrived at the disappearance

28:17

points, Aya was confounded.

28:20

Each one was located in a heavily

28:22

populated area. How could

28:24

the abductions have gone unnoticed? Why

28:27

had the stench of the bodies not been

28:29

reported? Aya and his

28:32

team decided to do some groundwork in an

28:34

attempt to figure out exactly how this happened.

28:37

Very soon, Aya and his

28:39

team began to realize how easy it

28:42

was to miss an abduction in that

28:44

region. Despite

28:46

the high population, the area was

28:48

covered in thick vegetation and

28:50

the terrain much too difficult

28:52

to walk through, making it

28:54

very difficult for an abduction to have been

28:57

detected. In another end of

28:59

the country, Detective Aldamar

29:01

Duran, who had previously

29:03

investigated three similar murders, recognized

29:06

similarities with other cases all

29:08

around the country. He

29:10

cross-referenced the murders

29:12

against homicides and abductions of

29:14

a similar nature dating from 1991 to 1998.

29:21

This hunch became another important

29:23

key to unlocking the mysteries of

29:26

Garavito's modus operandi.

29:32

And with that, we come to the

29:34

end of part one in this series

29:36

covering Luis Garavito. Next

29:39

episode will feature part two. So

29:41

as they say in the land of radio, stay

29:44

tuned. If

29:56

there's one thing that my family and friends

29:58

know me for, it's being an amazing gift-giver.

30:01

I owe it all the Celebrations Passport

30:03

from 1800flowers.com, my one-stop shopping

30:05

site that has amazing gifts for every

30:07

occasion. With Celebrations Passport, I get free

30:10

shipping on thousands of amazing gifts and

30:12

the more gifts I give, the more

30:14

perks and rewards I earn. To learn

30:17

more and take your gift-giving to the

30:19

next level, visit 1800flowers.com/ACAST.

30:22

That's 1800flowers.com/ACAST.

30:26

Tired of ads barging into your favorite

30:28

news podcasts? Good news. Ad-free

30:31

listening on Amazon Music is included with

30:33

your Prime membership. Just head

30:35

to amazon.com/ad-free news podcasts to catch

30:38

up on the latest episodes without

30:40

the ads.