Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - "The Monster of the Andes" Pedro Alonso López

Episode Date: July 8, 2021

Some serial killers’ reigns of terror are cut mercifully short, due to careless mistakes or careful police work. Pedro Alonso López was not one of those killers. The number of his victims is staggering — but the way his story ends is perhaps the most terrifying of all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions about the sexual abuse of minors, murder, rape, and sexual assault that some people may find disturbing. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. On March 9, 1980, 31-year-old Pedro Alonza-Lopez strolled into a marketplace in the small mountain city of Umbato, Ecuador. To the casual observer, Pedro looked like your average window. shopper, someone who roamed the stalls, glanced at the items, but never actually bought anything.

The recent Pedro never made a purchase wasn't due to lack of funds. He didn't bother because he wasn't interested in what the vendors were selling. No, Pedro was on the hunt for something you couldn't buy. He was shopping for people, specifically children. As he walked up and down the aisles, Pedro saw a young girl he liked. Twelve-year-old Maria Poveda had accompanied her mother to do groceries that day. She'd been told to stay close to her mom. Wandering around the market wasn't safe anymore. Everyone knew that.

But all the warnings in the world weren't going to keep Pedro from what he wanted. Once he set his sights on a girl, he would stop at nothing to snatch her up. Pedro knew that Maria couldn't stay glued to her mom. all day. So he waited patiently, watching for the moment she decided to walk away. When it happened, Pedro appeared in front of the little girl within seconds. He bent down, flashed Maria a smile, and told her he had a trinket for her in his car. Then he stuck out his hand and asked her to take it. Maria stared at this strange man, unsure of her next move. She'd been ordered to steer clear of strangers, but he seemed harmless, even nice, and he had presents for her.

What was the harm in taking a free gift? What's the worst that could happen? I'm Greg Poulson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parcast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today we're taking a look at Pedro Alonso Lopez, the sadistic child murderer, otherwise known as the monster of the Andes. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers

and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. In the first part of this episode, we'll discuss Pedro's traumatic upbringing, his time living on the streets, and how it contributed to his transformation into a hardened criminal. Later, we'll detail how Pedro managed

to lure hundreds of young girls away from their family, and examine the bizarre twists in his case that led to his story's terrifying end. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Bonnie and Clyde, the lonely hearts killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These are infamous criminal duels. But you don't need to break any laws to find your perfect business partner

because you have Shopify. It's the commerce platform that can help you with literally everything. website design, marketing, shipping, and more. So start your business today with the best partner, Shopify, and get that. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash killers. That's Shopify.com slash killers. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Whether you're hiring for a role or searching for a killer, the hunt can be exhausting.

When detectives looked and searched to find any kind of evidence to find the person they were looking for, like Jack the Ripper, the Golden State Killer, the Unit Bomber. It's tedious work to find what you're looking for. So if you're hiring, I've got news for you. You can skip the lengthy investigation and the tiresome process of sorting through hundreds of resumes. Just use ZipRecruiter. Try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash killers. Because not only does ZipRecruiter have the technology to match you with potential candidates quickly,

it also just added a new feature that pushes candidates who are qualified and interested in your role to the top of the list. They can even tell you why they're interested, making it easier for you to get a sense of who they are. Cut through the standard

and get to the standouts with ZipRecruiter. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. And now you can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash killers. That's zipRecruiter.com slash killers.

Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history.

Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th. Don't pass go and own it all. Only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details at yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Pedro Alonzo Lopez is often referred to as the monster of the Andes. Not only because of his horrific crimes, but because of just how many he managed to commit. Pedro kidnapped, raped, and murdered over 300 young girls in South America. The 2006 Guinness Book of World Records named him the world's most prolific serial killer.

and technically, based on numbers alone, that designation is accurate. But it still feels wrong to categorize Pedro as merely a serial killer. To speak his name in the same breath as those who have killed three or even 30 people doesn't quite compare. The sheer number of Pedro's murders makes him seem like a villain from a storybook or a creature dreamt up in a nightmare. And considering the circumstances into which he was born and the horrific events of his young life, it seems Pedro had little chance of turning into anything but a monster. Pedro's life was off to a rough start before he even left the womb. In April 1948, when his mother

Bonilda was three months pregnant, tragedy struck both their country and their family. The leader of the radical faction of the Colombian Liberal Party was assassinated that month, and riots kicked off all over the nation. Pedro's father, Medellé, Mardo was killed in the mayhem, leaving his widow a single mother. In addition to the baby she had on the way, Benilda and Medardo had six other children she now had to raise on her own. In order to provide for her children, Bonilda was a sex worker. Benilda took a break to give birth to Pedro in October of that same year, but returned to sex work as soon as she could, desperate to keep her children fed.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to shield her kids from the danger and violence that accompanied her job. Because Benilda had to work out of her home, some of Pedro's earliest memories were seeing his mother physically and sexually abused by her clients. For years, Pedro and his sibling slept in one bed behind a thin, drawn curtain, while his mother entertained Johns on the other side.

They listened helpless as she tried to fight off men who wanted more from her than she was willing to give. As a result, young Pedro became preoccupied with both sex and aggression. He even started touching his sister inappropriately. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but we have done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg.

In 1988, psychiatrists Robert S. Pinus and Kathy Nader published a study on this very topic. They examined 10 children who had all witnessed the sexual assault of their mothers and focused on their traumatic responses. They found that all of the kids exhibited various forms of post-traumatic stress, but those younger between the ages of 5 and 8 appeared to be affected the most. Their participation in normal activities decreased significantly, as did their impulse control. They also dealt with the emergence of recurring intrusive thoughts and an inhibited range of emotions. While the girls in the study all had repeated nightmares of being assaulted,

most of the boys identified with their mother's attackers. In their playtime with siblings or friends, they took on the role of an assailant, and some also engaged in sexually stimulating activities, such as humping or rubbing. So according to this study, Pedro's upsetting behavior with his little sister was within the spectrum of normal reactions

to witnessing his mother's abuse. He was dealing with the post-traumatic stress of that situation and didn't know how to respond appropriately. Benilda didn't seek proper psychiatric help for her son. In 1956, when she heard that he had attempted to fondle his sister, Benilda kicked eight-year-old Pedro out of her house for good. From there, details about Pedro's movements are scant. But we know he made his way to Bogota by bus,

where he became one of the thousands of street children known as Gamines. Most of the Gamines have been cast out by their parents, but some were born into homelessness. They grow up learning how to survive by any means necessary. As a result, theft, drug use, and violence are a commonplace on the city streets. Pedro spent two years roaming the streets of Bogota. The civil war that had killed his father eight years earlier was still raging, which made the already dangerous city even more perilous,

especially for a child. From 1956 to 1958, Pedro slept on sidewalks, smoked lots of cocaine, and got in plenty of fights. He learned to strip cars down to the chassis and pawned the parts. He watched girls' own age sell their bodies for money. It was a bleak existence. Most Gamines never got the opportunity to turn their lives around, But in 1958, that's exactly what happened for Pedro.

An American couple on vacation spotted the malnourished 10-year-old begging for food and took pity on him. They brought Pedro to a nearby school for orphans, where they promptly paid for his tuition and housing. Pedro was ecstatic. He had a roof over his head, food in his belly, and he was attending class again. For the first time in his life, he was living a relatively normal, stable existence. but this blissful situation didn't last long. In 1960, when Pedro was 12 years old, he was sexually assaulted by a male teacher. Traumatized and upset, he no longer felt safe at the school.

So he ran away, returning to the streets of Bogota and the perilous lifestyle of the gamines. He remained in Bogota for the next six years, surviving off the money he made selling stolen car parts. But after spending so much time as a thief, it seemed almost inevitable that the law would eventually catch up with him. And in 1966, that's exactly what happened. 18-year-old Pedro was arrested for car theft and thrown in prison. Unfortunately, he was no safer behind bars than he was on the streets. Shortly after his incarceration, Pedro was raped by either three or four other inmates. As a child, his reaction had been to run away from his abuser,

but that wasn't an option for him in prison. It was terrifying. And the longer he remained trapped with his assailants, the angrier Pedro became. He was desperate for revenge. He wanted the men to suffer the way he had. He needed to prove that he was stronger than they thought. So Pedro started to craft a weapon.

At night in the privacy of his cell, Pedro fashioned a makeshift knife and made a plan to kill each of the men who'd run. raped him one by one. Over the next several days, Pedro snuck up behind his assailants and slit their throats before they knew what was happening. Almost overnight, Pedro transformed from a sad, victimized teenager into a cold-blooded killer, and he loved how it felt.

He knew immediately that he wanted to do it again. But he wasn't interested in committing any more prison homicides. The murders earned him an extra two. years behind bars, Pedro knew he needed to behave well in order to get released. Then once he was out, he could murder on his terms. He could savor it. It's unclear when Pedro's sentence ended, but at some point in the early to mid-1970s, the 20-something became a free man. When he was released, he didn't return to the streets of Bogota. No, Pedro had a new plan in mind. He was going to Peru. As soon as Pedro arrived in Peru, he targeted young girls from indigenous communities.

Perhaps he thought that because they were raised in close-knit communities, they rarely encountered strangers, making them quite trusting of new people. He could then lure them away without much effort. Perhaps he also thought that the police didn't seem to care about the disappearances of these girls. Due to consistent struggles between the government and the indigenous population, Peruvian authorities rarely focus. on issues plaguing those particular communities. Even though the problem at hand involved scores of missing children,

the police rarely investigated the complaints bombarding their offices. First, they claimed they didn't have much information to go off of. No witnesses, no suspects, no evidence. Second, according to journalist Ron Leitner, police thought that the girls, who were usually from lower-income communities, were kidnapped to work as maids. They therefore believed the girls were, quote, better off. As a result, Pedro was able to abduct, rape, and murder with impunity,

and he not only took advantage of this situation, he abused it. No one is sure how or for how long Pager operated in Peru, but he claimed to have raped and killed over 100 young girls by 1978. And much to everyone's frustration, he stayed completely under the radar. Everything about this monster was a mystery, except his target demographic. and its relentless pursuit of his prey. During his trek through the Andes Mountains, Pedro ended up in the southern region of Ayacucho.

Like many of the other places Pedro visited, the indigenous communities in Ayacucho were tight. Everyone looked out for each other, and they had heard through the grapevine that they needed to be keeping a close eye on their children. So when locals suspected Pedro of kidnapping their daughters, they decided to do something about it. They tied Pedro up and brought him back to their village, where they debated what to do with him.

They certainly didn't trust the Peruvian authorities to properly punish Pedro. After all, the police had ignored his activity for years. So they decided to deliver their own form of justice, and it was going to hurt. Coming up, the Peruvians forced Pedro to answer for his crimes. The CIA, they're the first line of defense. for the United States, analyzing intelligence to thwart any possible threats and keep us safe. Some of their involvements are made public, and others aren't. Hi, it's Carter from Parcast, and in honor of America's birthday, we're uncovering the cases

you were never supposed to know about in the new series, Conspiracy Theory's CIA Edition. From international assassination plots and mind control experiments to catastrophic cover-ups and secret societies fit for film, sift through the agency's most questioned and controversial affairs. Each week, conspiracy theories CIA edition exposes the covert operations intended to protect us from conflicts, but end up creating conspiracies. Where does the truth lie? Where do the lies end? and how much do we really want to know?

Follow the new Spotify original from Parcast, conspiracy theories CIA edition. Listen every Thursday, free and only on Spotify. It's Daredevil. I'm right here. Don't miss the return of Marvel Television's Daredevil born again. So what's next? We're to take this city back.

All new season now streaming only on Disney Plus. They're hunting us. It's time we started hunting them. This should be tons of fun. Marvel television's Daredevil, Born Again, now streaming only on Disney Plus. Now back to the story. Around 1978, Pedro Lopez was suspected by locals of abducting young indigenous girls in the southern region of Ayacucho, Peru.

The locals who captured him wanted to punish him in accordance with their own laws. There are several conflicting reports detailing what exactly Pedro's punishment was going to be. Some say the Peruvians planned to bury him alive. Others assert that he was to be beaten, tortured, and swiftly executed. Pedro himself, in an interview, claimed that they were going to cover him in syrup and leave him to be eaten by ants. But none of those grim fates came to pass. Instead, an American missionary, whom we'll call Mary, came upon them as they were tying Pedro up and discussing what to do with him. Somehow she convinced them to let her take Pedro to do.

the police. Perhaps the Peruvians hoped that the authorities would actually listen to an American woman, or maybe they lost steam in their efforts to penalize Pedro. We may never know the reasoning behind their decision, but they ended up tossing Pedro in the trunk of Mary's Jeep, trusting her to drive him straight to the police. Mary either didn't ask or didn't understand why the indigenous were so furious at Pedro. She seemed to have no idea what he'd done. That might be why she untied Pedro as soon as they were away from the village and offered

to drive him to the border where he could return to his home country. And Pedro was more than happy with the arrangement. Luckily, Mary was too old to attract Pedro, so he didn't feel any impulse to attack her. The pair drove north for several uneventful hours up to the Colombian border, where Mary waved goodbye to Pedro. As she watched him walk away from her Jeep, Mary may have have thought that she'd done a good deed by freeing an innocent man. However, Mary had just let one of the worst serial killers in history go free.

Paterat already raped and murdered over 100 little girls, and he had no intention of stopping. But he did plan to leave Colombia as soon as possible. While the Civil War had technically ended 20 years prior, the country was still in the throes of conflict. paramilitary death squads roamed the street, and they were willing to take justice into their own hands. After being captured by members of a local indigenous community, Pedro realized he wasn't omnipotent, and he didn't want to risk getting caught again.

The next time, he might not be so lucky. The neighboring country of Ecuador seemed like a far better target to Pedro. Not only was there no civil war, there was also no capital punishment. In fact, the maximum sentence a person could receive for any crime was 16 years. So he made his way to the border. Once in Ecuador, Pedro got straight to work. We don't know much about his life there, but we know he was methodical about his murders,

both in preparation and in practice. First, Pedro sought out hidden spots all over the country, places he could dig graves in complete privacy. He got these shallow pits ready for burials. And then he went hunting for victims. Pedro found almost all of the girls he abducted in crowded public spaces. Just like in Peru, outdoor marketplaces were a favorite hunting ground. He slunk through the aisles, keeping one eye on the vendors while searching for girls he liked. Most often, Pedro zeroed in on innocent-looking girls who worked alongside their mothers.

He dreamed of the day when he got the chance to kidnap young blonde tourists. But they never seemed to leave their parents' sides. But the local girls usually had a little more independence. So Pedro returned to the markets day after day, from the shadows as mother and daughter teams set up their stands to sell their goods. He waited quietly for the moment when the child finally went exploring by herself. And when that time came, Pedro was always prepared. Without fail, he had some sort of shiny trinket in his pocket.

like a necklace or a mirror, which he would offer to the girl as a gift. Then he told the girl he had a gift for the girl's mother back in his car. Then he led his victim out of the marketplace and over to the edge of town, where he shoved her into his vehicle and sped away. Pedro took his captives to the secret grave sites he had repaired hours away from the markets. Once they arrived, he held the girls tightly in his arms through the night, waiting for the first sign at morning. Pedro only killed during the daylight hours.

He later said, It was only good if I could see her eyes. It would have been wasted in the dark. But with the first rays of the rising sun, Pedro attacked. He raped the girls, then strangled them to death. According to Pedro, this was his favorite part. He described the moment he began throttling his victims as wonderful and divine. And it felt even better the rougher he got.

His satisfaction was all that mattered then. Pedro's murders didn't take long. He claimed it usually took between five and 15 minutes to kill his victims. But despite their brevity, he found the whole experience extremely pleasurable, and their ritual didn't end with death. Unlike most other serial killers, Pedro didn't simply dump his victims into graves and walk away. Not at first anyway. No, he collected the bodies of the girls he killed

and set them up in tableaus for his enjoyment. Pedro never offered many specifics about this, but explained the bizarre ritual by saying, My little friends like to have company. I often put three or four girls in a single hole and talk to them. It was like having a party. The psychological community asserts that thanatological crimes, otherwise known as crimes committed to the body after death are exceedingly rare.

Sociologist Clifton D. Bryant published a report on Thanatological Crimes in 2003, in which he proposed that there are four distinct motivational categories behind this kind of behavior. The first is functional or instrumental, which includes activities like cannibalism. Next comes profit or economic advantage, which involves selling or displaying victims, or their body parts for money. The third category is pathological or compulsive, which is when the culprit engages in irrational or sex-related behavior with dead bodies.

And the fourth and final motivator is amusement or malicious mischief. This would apply to Pedro who kept his victim's corpses just for the fun of it. Soon, though, Pedro became easily detached from his relationships with the dead. After a day or so, Painter always grew bored with his victims. So he went out in search of new ones, and he never failed to find them. He was committing murder multiple times per week, and he continued to do so undetected for years.

That's not to say that people didn't notice that scores of young girls were going missing. The entire country was on high alert, petrified of the boogeyman who kept mysteriously stealing their children. But because he was so skilled at avoiding detection and always seemed to move around, police had no evidence they could use to search for him. So it was up to the families to find their daughters. Parents plastered their towns with posters and took out newspaper ads, begging anyone with knowledge about the girls to come forward. Personal pleas were made, rewards were offered, and still nothing happened.

Meanwhile, bodies started popping up. In February of 1980, a river overflowed near the city of Ambato, and the corpses of four girls washed up onto the shore. After a few years and hundreds of missing and dead girls, Ecuadorians were devastated and exhausted. It seemed impossible that this monster had evaded capture for so long. But they held out hope. They knew that something had to give. And a month later, it finally did.

On March 9th, Pedro was at a marketplace in Ambato and set his sights on the wrong girl. 12-year-old Maria Povera had tagged along to do groceries with her mother, Carvina. Carvina noticed Pedro hanging around them, staring at her daughter. But Maria stayed close to her side and never seemed to take notice of the creep, so Carvina didn't say anything at first. But whenever Carvina's back was turned, Pedro tried his best to get Marribe Maria to come closer. He beckoned her with an outstretched finger and took out a small mirror from his pocket that he said he wanted to give her. Maria was easily fooled. She took his hand

and began to walk away with the deceivingly nice man. But when her mother turned and saw her daughter head off with a strange man, Carvina screamed. Horrified, she knew instinctively that this was the predator who had been eluding the authorities. Pedro watched the realization Don on Carvina's face and started to run. Carvina grabbed a couple of other vendors and told them to chase him down. She screamed that this was the man who'd been kidnapping and killing their girls, and they needed to catch him. The vendors caught up to Pedro just outside the market and pinned him to the ground.

Then they dragged him back in and tied him to a chair while they waited for the police. Just about everyone shed tears of relief together. They were sure that their national nightmare was flying. finally at an end. Now they just had to wait for Pedro to receive justice. When the cops arrived, Pedro was detained for questioning. The authorities asked him about his intentions with Maria, as well as his connection to the other missing and murdered girls. But Pedro refused to say a word. After hours of interviews and even some reported beating and torture, he still wouldn't talk. To the police, this silence seemed a sure sign of Pedro's guilt.

They were sure they had the right man. They just needed to get him to confess. It was growing increasingly clear that he wouldn't open up to an officer of the law. He might, however, chat casually with a fellow inmate. So the authorities sent an undercover detective named Pastor Gonzalez into the prison and made him Pedro's new cellmate. Detective Gonzalez likely hoped that Pedro would be easy to befriend and that he would start talking soon.

But Pedro remained quiet. So Gonzalez settled in for a long con, praying he didn't get on his new roommates, bad side. Coming up, Detective Gonzalez coaxes the truth from Pedro. Now back to the story. In March of 1980, Pedro Alonzo Lopez had a new cellmate. Detective Pastor Gonzalez was sent him to prison undercover

in the hopes he could elicit a confession from the man police suspected of murdering countless children. But Pedro didn't open up to Detective Gonzalez at first, which worried the police. They didn't want one of their men living with a monster for long, and Detective Gonzalez wasn't exactly thrilled about his situation. In fact, he was terrified. He was often too scared to sleep, afraid his cellmate might kill him in the middle of the night.

So he slept with a towel wrapped around his neck, hoping it would prevent Pedro from strangling him. Despite his intense fear, Detective Gonzalez was determined to see his mission through, and his persistence paid off. It took almost a month, but eventually Gonzalez gained his cellmates trust. Pedro not only started talking about his murders, he boasted about them, nonstop. He bragged about the hundreds of girls he had abducted, raped, and killed. Not just in Ecuador, but in Peru and Colombia, too.

Police estimated that Pedro may have murdered more than 350 girls. After hearing his confession, Gonzalez said, It was beyond my wildest nightmares. Pedro told me everything. Once he'd heard all the stories, Detective Gonzalez revealed who he truly was. And surprisingly, Pedro decided to cooperate after that. He didn't seem to care that he'd been fooled. He was just excited to help with the investigation.

Eager to see his little friends again, Pedro offered to take the police to some of his gravesites, where they could collect the bodies of his victims for identification. However, rumor has it, Pedro's case had become so widely publicized that authorities were worried that bringing him out of his cell could be dangerous. Understandably, the people of Ecuador wanted Pedro's head on a platter. If he was spotted walking around, even in the company of the police, someone might try to attack or even kill him. kill him. So they apparently decided to dress Pedro up like a police officer, hoping that he would

blend in with the rest of the group. In this disguise, Pedro took authorities to several graves across 11 Ecuadorian provinces. Pedro remembered exactly where he had buried his victims and each of their identities. With every body the officers uncovered, Pedro had a story to tell. He could recall where he snatched the girl, what he'd used to lure her away, and how it felt to murder her. Even more disturbingly, Pedro consistently requested that he'd be photographed with the corpses. Without asking permission, he would hop into the graves, pull out body parts, and begin posing with them.

Both his tails and his behavior sickened the officers, but they pressed on with the work. In total, Pedro helped the police unearth the bodies of of 53 girls. Coupled with his confession to Detective Gonzalez, the authorities were able to officially charge him with 110 murders, just a third of the children Pedro claimed to have killed. As Pedro awaited his trial in an Embato prison,

he was moved to a cell located in what was usually an abandoned section of the compound, completely isolated from the other inmates, both for their safety and for his. Rumor had it that there was an unofficial reward out there for anyone who managed to kill Pedro. The families of Pedro's victims raised the equivalent of $31,000 U.S. dollars, and they were happy to hand it over to whoever managed to pull off the hit. But it would have been a difficult feat.

Other than the occasional guard, the only person who ever visited Pedro's cell was freelance photojournalist Ron Leitner. It's not clear why Pedro chose to speak with Ron, nor do we know why he never granted anyone else the opportunity. Whatever the reason, after passing three levels of security checks, Ron was allowed to meet Pedro. The journalist was accompanied by several armed guards, the prison warden, and the warden's 26-year-old daughter,

who was to act as an interpreter between English-speaking Ron and Spanish-speaking Pedro. When Ron stepped into Pedro's cell, he casually went in for a handshake. Pedro gripped Ron's hand so tightly that his fingers began to swell up with blood. Pedro eventually released Ron's swollen hand and flashed the reporter a big grin. Then he said he would be happy to give an interview, but he had one condition. He wanted a chance to touch the hands of the prison warden's daughter. He told everyone that they didn't need to worry about him attacking her. She was far too old for his taste.

The warden initially refused, but his first daughter said it was okay. She bravely stretched out her hands and allowed Pedro to feel them. Ron and the warden held their breath as the monster felt her wrists. Then after a moment, he let them go, sat down, and started to speak. Pedro told Ron everything. He talked about getting kicked out of his house, about how he attacked girls across Colombia and Peru before coming to Ecuador and the enjoyment he felt when committing murder. He also spoke about his plans for when he was released from prison. Pedro and Ron both knew that even if he received the maximum sentence for his crimes,

Pedro would only have to serve 16 years behind bars. Ron expected the killer to at least feign interest in becoming an upstanding citizen once he was out. But Pedro wasn't interested in pretending. Instead, he told Ron, someday, when I'm released, I will be happy to kill again. It is my mission. Despite this chilling admission, not to mention the grisly homicides he'd already committed, there wasn't much to be done about Pedro's fate.

Even though the entire country wanted him dead, they couldn't change Ecuador's laws overnight just to punish one person. So in July of 1980, Pedro pled guilty to 110 counts of murder and received his 16-year sentence. Ecuadorians were incensed. they wanted the government to lynch him, not house him. But of course, that's exactly what they did. Pedro remained in the Embato prison until August 31, 1994.

That was when he was released, two years earlier than he was supposed to. But he didn't spend long on the outside. The Ecuadorian authorities were ready with a new plan to keep their people safe from Pedro. Less than an hour after he left prison, Ecuadorian police arrested Pedro. and charged him with being an illegal immigrant. They promptly deported him to Colombia, where he was charged with a 20-year-old murder. But rather than sending him to jail,

Colombian authorities placed Pedro in the psychiatric wing of a hospital in Bogota. They wanted to see if he was sane enough to stand trial. For a country plagued by civil war, Colombia's approach to treating mental health was surprisingly sophisticated. According to an article written for the British Journal of Psychiatur,

Colombia's mental health laws were written and adapted to reflect the significant amount of violence that its citizens have had to witness. The government seemed to recognize that years of armed insurgencies, community violence, gender-based violence, and high homicide rates would take a toll on their citizens. In 1992, just two years before Pedro was sent back, a resolution was passed that significantly focused on the rights of people with mental illness. and in 1995, the country adopted an entirely new and progressive mental health policy. So the doctors examining Pedro were working under new conditions that insisted they thoroughly examined the confessed child serial killer. They were to treat his obviously fragile mental health with extra care. And they did.

After an exhaustive process, psychiatrists declared Pedro legally insane, which meant that he would be institutionalized instead of standing trial. The public was then assured that he wouldn't be released until the doctors were sure he was rehabilitated. Most people felt comfortable with this.

Based on Pedro's past contact, they couldn't fathom a world in which he would ever be stable enough to leave. So while many wanted Pedro dead, they could at least rest easy knowing that he wasn't out on the streets coming for their daughters. They were safe from the mom.

Until late 1998, that is. After a few years in the hospital, Pedro was given a clean bill of health and released on $50 bail. And to this day, no one is quite sure how Pedro earned the diagnosis. Some have suggested he learned to fool the doctors, telling them what they wanted to hear. It's also possible that Colombia's expanding mental health laws played a part. Whatever the reason, Pedro was finally allowed to hear, was finally allowed to walk free, and he knew exactly what to do next. After his release, he immediately headed back to his childhood home. He wanted to see his mother Benilda for the first time

in over 40 years. It seemed at first, like Pedro may actually have been reformed, that perhaps he wanted to reconcile with his mom and say a proper goodbye before she passed. But of course, that wasn't the case. Pedro only wanted Benilda's money. When he discovered, he discovered, he that she didn't have any, he sold his mother's few remaining possessions and left her house for the last time. Where he went after that remains a mystery to this day. The life of Pedro Alonso Lopez reads like a dark, evil fairy tale. He never felt love, rarely knew kindness. It's no wonder that he turned out less human and more animal. It also seems fitting that Pedro's story ends with a disappearance. the monster vanishing into thin air never to be seen again.

It only adds to the sense of mystery that surrounds him, like flies over a corpse. But the chilling sight of that mystery is the terrifying unknown. For all we know, Pedro may still be out there lurking somewhere within the South American mountains. It's chilling to think that maybe his final chapter hasn't been written yet. The monster of the Andes could be alive and well, biting his time. Then again, after all these years, perhaps he only lives on in nightmares.

Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers. We'll be back soon with a new episode. For more information on Pedro Alonso Lopez, amongst the many sources we used, we found Ron Leitner's interview with the killer himself and A&E's biography on Lopez extremely helpful to our research. You can find more episodes of serial killers and all other spot. Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. Have a Killer Week. Serial Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast.

Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound designed by Michael Motion, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Trent Williamson, Carly Madden, and Bruce Kitovich. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Ellie Reed, with writing assistance by Tony Goodman and Joel Callan, fact-checking by Adriana Romero and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood.

Serial killers stars Greg Poulson and Vanessa Richardson. Hi, it's Carter from Parcast. Every Thursday on Conspiracy Theory's CIA edition, we're uncovering secrets hidden deep within the archives of the Central Intelligence Agency to bring you a special collection of episodes from shows across our network. Follow the new Spotify original from Part

Podcast, Conspiracy Theory's CIA edition. Listen free only on Spotify. Want to hear something spooky. Some monster, it reminded me of Bigfoot. Monsters Among Us is a weekly podcast featuring true stories of the paranormal. One of the boys started to exhibit demonic possession. Stories straight from the witnesses' mouths themselves. Something very snake-like lifted its head out of the water.

Hosted by me, your guide, Derek Hayes. Somehow I lost eight whole hours. Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up getting ready for bed is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcasts this year, but they're not crime beat. Search for and follow.

Follow the award-winning podcast Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.