Famous Serial Killers — “La Bestia” Luis Garavito
In my novels, I write about serial killers. Sometimes I let real murderers inspire myself. Now I’m writing about these killers here. Today I’m talking about the Colombian Luis Alfredo Garavito Cubillos, called “La Bestia.” He killed 140 to 300 children.
Path of life
Like many other serial killers, Garavito had a childhood marked by violence, abuse, and neglect.
His mother, a prostitute, was beaten and abused by Gravito’s father. The father was a heavy alcoholic and also abused Geravito and his siblings. He is also said to have forced the boy to watch his mother when she had intercourse with clients.
In short, Gravito’s childhood was a nightmare.
When he was old enough, he ran away from home. But instead of finally being free and safe, he came across a pedophile who promised to give him food and shelter. In reality, however, he brought Gravito to a house where children were made available to men for sex.
Gravito also fled from there and joined a youth gang. He then traveled all over the country to be where there was work for him.
So Gravito’s childhood and youth were marked by brutality, abuse, crime, and insecurity. In his life, there were no fixed reference persons and no one to tell him what was right and what was wrong.
However, he had a girlfriend at the time he was traveling through the country. She had a small child with whom Gravito handled very well and lovingly, as she later reported. But even this ray of hope in his life did not prevent him from becoming the monster known today as “La Bestia.”
The Murders
Gravito committed his murders in Colombia between 1991 and 1999.
He was committed to a particular type of victim. They were always boys between the ages of six and sixteen — mostly from the street.
His approach was also always the same. Gravito assumed different identities to make contact. Sometimes he disguised himself as a priest, then as a drug dealer or street vendor. He approached the children and promised them sweets or money if they came with him. He often pretended to have a job for them.
Gravito used to lead the boys to remote areas and rape them, torture them, and finally murder them. In order not to fear any resistance, he only attacked them when he had made them tired by long walks. Then he attacked the children and tied them up so that he could abuse them undisturbed.
His murders were sexually sadistic. There were always clear signs of brutal sexual abuse on the bodies of the victims. Gravito inserted objects anally into the boy’s body, resulting in severe injuries.
In many cases, he cut off the testicles of his victims and stuffed them into their mouths.
Empty bottles of liquor and tubes of lubricant were often found next to the bodies.
The agony Gravito’s victims must have endured must have been unimaginable. He did not know pity.
Persecution, arrest, and conviction
When in 1992, numerous children suddenly disappeared in Colombia, the authorities did not yet establish any connections between the individual cases.
Colombia was already an insecure country due to civil war and civil unrest, and violence was part of the order of the day. One disappeared child here, and two disappeared children there did not ring any alarm bells at that time.
But then more and more mass graves with children’s corpses appeared, which all showed traces of severe maltreatment. Now it was clear that a serial killer was up to no good, and a nationwide investigation was initiated.
Because the victims were found all over the country, investigators assumed that the perpetrator could be a traveling salesman or a migrant worker.
For a long time, however, there were no usable traces or witnesses. More and more children disappeared, and new victims of “La Bestia” were found again and again.
Then in 1998, there was a breakthrough in the investigations. Three dead boys were found, and at the scene, the investigators were able to recover the murder weapon as well as a document with an address. This paper could have come from the murderer. Possibly he had lost it during his crime on the spot.
The address belonged to Gravito’s girlfriend at the time. When the investigators turned to her, she told them about Gravito and gave them the belongings that he had left with her. She testified that she hadn’t seen him for months.
Among the things, Gravito’s girlfriend had handed over to the police were photos of little boys, records of his murders, and of where he had left their corpses.
Now it was clear that Luis Alfredo Garavito Cubillos was the man the police were looking for. They rushed to Gravito’s home address but did not find him.
He was apparently on his way again to look for new victims. As a migrant worker, he could be practically anywhere. The trail seemed to be cold, and the investigators had no other clue for their search than a name.
As is so often the case, the chance finally came to the aid of the investigators.
Gravito was arrested in April 1999 for attempted rape. A homeless person had observed the assault and informed the police.
The police arrested Gravito. The officers were convinced that Gravito would have killed the boy had the homeless man not intervened. Therefore, they questioned him about some of the child murders in the area. Soon they concluded that Gravito was indeed “La Bestia” — the killer the police had been hunting all over Colombia for years.
When investigators confronted Gravito with the details of the murders they accused him of, he collapsed and confessed.
But the police didn’t have to rely on his confession alone. DNA had been found on the victims that could be attributed to Gravito. Also, other traces at some crime scenes could be assigned to him without any doubt.
After Gravito was accused of 172 murders, he confessed 140 of them. Finally, he could be found guilty in 138 of 172 cases.
He was then sentenced to 1853 years in prison. This sentence is symbolic, however, because the highest possible prison sentence in Colombia is 40 years. Also, Gravito confessed and led the investigators to the mortal remains of his victims. This theoretically reduces the penalty to only 22 years.
Gravito could be released as early as 2021.
However, it is unlikely that Colombia’s worst serial killer will leave prison during his lifetime. There is also a law in the country that criminals whose victims were children are not entitled to state benefits. Such perpetrators must expect prison sentences of at least sixty years.
The limitation of imprisonment to 40 years and the mitigating circumstances, which would theoretically reduce his sentence to 22 years, is regarded as such privileges. Therefore, Gravito is realistically imprisoned for about 80 years.
La Bestia will, in all probability, never leave prison again.
Sources
http://wiki2.benecke.com/index.php?title=2004-02-05_Express:_Besuch_bei_der_Bestie
https://historycollection.co/luis-beast-garavito-worst-serial-killer-history/
https://allthatsinteresting.com/luis-garavito
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Garavito
https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/kolumbien-el-loco-ermordete-140-kinder-a-49921.html
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