Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “The Narcosatanist” Adolfo Constanzo Pt. 1

Episode Date: May 17, 2021

Schooled in the darkest corners of his family’s Afro-Carribean religion, Adolfo Constanzo decided to make his fortune using magic granted through animal sacrifices. In Mexico City, he grew his power and esteem — but he wanted something more. He wanted revenge. 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 of animal sacrifice, murder, domestic violence, body mutilation, and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. It was stuffy in the small dark room, clusterphobic.

Cigar smoke hung lazily in the air, thick and odorous. As the woman waited patiently, sitting cross-legged on the floor, She felt a wave of nerves wash over her. This just didn't feel right. She'd come here seeking help, needing magical guidance and protection to get her life back on track.

More than one person had whispered excitedly to her about the fortune teller, Adolfo Constanzo and his powers. But now that she was here in Constanzo's home, she wasn't so sure. Fortune telling was one thing, but casting spells was another. She'd even heard rumors that there'd be some kind of animal sacrifice,

and she didn't like the thought of that. Just as she made up her mind to leave, she heard the door open behind her. It was Constanzo. Even in the dim light, his white clothes seemed to shine, and his shoulder-length hair framed his face like a dark shroud. He sat across from the woman, his expression blank, unreadable. Before she could say anything, he told her what he could do,

for her, what his magic could bring. He didn't want much for the privilege of his help, he said, a few thousand U.S. dollars to start. And easier but far more costly, a promise. Accept the devil instead of a Christian God, he suggested. Give me your soul. Then I will help you. I'm Greg Paulson. Welcome to the first episode on Adolfo Constanzo and the Narcosso.

Satanists, part of a special crossover event between serial killers and cults. I'm here with my co-host Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers, cults, and all other Spotify originals from podcast for free on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. In today's episode, we're taking a look at Constanzo's childhood, when he was introduced to the religion that served as the basis for his murderous cult. We'll also watch his shift, from spiritual guide to money-hungry drug

trafficker and eventually to vicious killer. Next time, we'll witness Constanzo's rapid as he and his growing cult make bloody human sacrifices. In a seemingly lawless border town, the narco-sateness killed with impunity until one gullible follower made a mistake that brought their whole world undone. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. 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,

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Want to support your gut health? Take Activia's gut health challenge by enjoying two Activia yogurt a day for two weeks and see if you feel a difference. With billions of probiotics and 20 years of scientific expertise, Activia is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to start your gut health ritual. Try Activia today. Enjoying Activia twice a day for two weeks as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle may help reduce the frequency of minor digestive discomfort, which includes gas, bloating, rumbling, and abdominal discomfort. The story of the Narco-Satainists starts long before Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo was born. And to be a lot of the Be fair, there are any number of places where we could begin this episode, but we're going

to pick things up in Africa, where two sister religions originated, Santa Ria and Pollo Maioombay. For the most part, Santoria is a peaceful religion, which encourages balance, spiritual peace, and tolerance for other beliefs. Palomioombay is the less popular incarnation of similar practices, and its corners are darker than those of its sister. Both religions feature hundreds of gods and lesser deities, all of whom require animal sacrifices from practitioners. Aside from this divine spilling of blood, there's little violence in their mainstream practices

and beliefs, but there are outliers in every belief system. Some who practice Palomioombe believe they can harness the will of their gods to earn power for themselves and bring death to their enemies, whereas Santero typically seeks luck and good favor for themselves and their kin. A Polaro extremist is concerned with revenge. Through the years, both religions went through various transformations, spurred by the forced migration of enslaved people. The religions were brought from Africa to countries like Cuba, Haiti, and Spain. In the Caribbean, the polytheistic religions were fused with Christian imagery to allow believers to worship their gods and avoid persecution.

Non-Christians often faced bloody death, so both Palo Maiobe and Santeria followers kept their traditions cloaked in secrecy. For centuries, the shroud of mystery persisted, keeping both religions in the shadows, but very much alive. Over the centuries, followers of both Paulo Maimbe and Santaria grew in number, with some believers dabbling in both. Eventually, the practices crossed the sea once more, arriving on the shores of North America, with hopeful immigrants. Immigrants like Dahlia Aurora Gonzalez del Valle, who came to the United States from Cuba, bringing her beliefs with her.

We don't know much about Dalia's life, but we do know that her relationship with her faith was important to her. It was such a big part of her life that in 1963, the 15-year-old apparently brought her six-month-old son to see a priest, Apollo Maioombé Padrino. We don't know this man's name, but for clarity we're going to call him Augustine. He was originally from Haiti, and he definitely leaned into the darker aspects of Paulo Maioombay.

It's possible he recognized some darkness in Dalia's infant because he declared Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo a chosen one. Dahlia, a Santa Maria priestess, accepted the news without question. With the doting, perhaps misguided delusion to which most parents are predisposed, among all the children in the world, her son was special. 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 she has done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg.

After hearing this prophecy, Constanzo could do no wrong in Dalia's eyes, but overvaluing one's child can actually have a negative effect on development. According to research by doctors Brad Bushman and Eddie Broomelman, parents who overvalue their children might, be creating future narcissists. That's not to say that parents who shower praise and ego-boosting compliments on their children have ill intentions. Typically, a parent who overvalues their child is simply trying to bolster the youngsters burgeoning self-esteem. However, the study suggested that

higher self-esteem correlates with parental affection and warmth, more than it does with praise. Their research showed that praise, earned or not, was more likely to result in a child's who showed narcissistic traits at the end of the study. Unfortunately, once Dahlia heard that her son was chosen, nothing could shake the idea from her mind. When Padrino Augustine made this declaration, he also offered to teach young Constanzo in the ways of Palomio Mioombay to be his guide through the religion's finer points,

its darker corners, and who was Dalia to refuse such a generous offer? So from the age of 10, Constanzo worked closely with his Padreno, We don't know much about the man himself, but we do know that he favored Palo Maimbe's more violent practices. It was a tendency that reflected his harsher personality. He taught Constanzo, yes, but he also beat the boy. And in his book Buried Secrets, Edward Hume's claims that Augustine was also a pedophile,

who regularly raped his young apprentice. He reportedly boasted to the boy that in his youth in Haiti, He sacrificed men for his various spells. Animals were easy, everyday sacrifices. But humans? Only the strontas claimed human lives for their spells. He spoke of the sheer power that came from murder, not just in the taking of another's life,

but in feeding that spirit to his Ngonga. The Enganga is a Padrino's sacred cauldron, which contains the trapped spirit of a human being. Alongside that spirit, a Padrino pour the blood of sacrifices, various animal parts, and 28 sacred sticks. According to some Palo Maimbe lore, the more rotten and odorous and Ngonga's contents, the more potent its power. Most Padrinos claim spirits for their Ngonga by robbing a fresh grave to steal a skull in its brain. It helps if the person in question died in a violent or accidental way. It's especially

beneficial if their life was also violent, but it's not essential. Once a human's spirit is trapped in the Anganga, it's forced to do the bidding of the Padrino who cast it there. In the simplest terms, the spirit is the magic force behind a Padrinos' spells. Constanzo's mentor, however, taught his protege that a human sacrifice offered directly to one's Nganga is the most powerful of all. Despite his claims of great power, Augustine used his skills for seemingly menial tasks in Miami. He made money by mostly offering his services to the city's drug dealers, giving advice about the future and performing protection rituals.

But even though he took their money, Augustine held nothing but contempt for his drug-slinging clients. They polluted their bodies with drugs, a choice that would mean certain death if Apollo-Myombe spirit ever entered them. Their use of drugs wasn't the only reason he hated the gangs, though, and he passed that hatred to his apprentice. Constanzo grew up believing that anyone outside his religion was little more than an animal.

It was a lesson Constanzo took to heart, one of just many Palomiobe teachings that shaped his childhood, and his religious education wasn't restricted to his time with the Padrino. His mother, who mixed her practice of Santeria with Palomioombi, kept her own Anga in the house at all times. Dalia wasn't the tidiest of tenants, and kept countless live animals inside her home at any time for use in her rituals. As he grew up, she rewarded Constanzo for good behavior by allowing him to sacrifice one of the animals,

a chicken most often, but perhaps a goat or cat, when a ritual called for one. With all the animals running around and dead ones piling up, the smell from Dalia's home was stomach-churning. As such, they were hardly popular with their neighbors. Constanceo was sometimes teased by other kids. and ran into his mother's protective embrace. Incensed that anyone would dare insult her precious chosen one, Dalia taught him how they could get back at their enemies. Neighbors who supposedly slighted Dalia and her children

often woke to find headless animals on their doorstep or stuffed into their mailbox. Attached to the gruesome offerings were scribbled curses, the family's way of striking out. Whether any of these cures had the intended effect is unclear. but people quickly learned to avoid Dalia and her brood. Young Constanzo probably grew up believing people feared his mother and their magic, but it seems more likely that they just wanted to stay out of the way of her particular brand of peculiarity.

Like so many kids, Constanzo didn't think his mother was odd. He worshipped her. He loved her stories about the Palo Mayombay gods and their powers, like the one about former U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulhencio Batista, who fought Fidel Castro with magic during the Cuban Revolution, Batista openly practiced Santeria and apparently used magic to escape while Castro's forces stormed the presidential palace, freezing them in place as he boarded a helicopter.

The story was Constanzo's proof of his religion's power. Well, more proof, because he could also experience that power for himself. By 13, he could reportedly travel outside his body and use a form of telepathy to know things he otherwise shouldn't. He and his mother were proud of his burgeoning abilities, confirmation that he was the chosen one, and boasted about them to anyone who would listen. To hear them tell it, the teenager could communicate with the dead,

heal the sick, and read minds. Unfortunately, there was no one to temper Constanzo's growing ego. The two biggest influences in his life showered him with praise and taught him that vengeance is the, the best medicine. It was a heady cocktail that undoubtedly influenced the teen's personality. He was a mama's boy who hated almost everyone else. Well, not everyone.

As Constanzo came into his power, he also began frequenting Miami's gay bars. We don't know if he formed any significant relationships during these years, but it seems unlikely. Constanzo had rumored his heart for little else besides his religion. It was what his mentor had been waiting for, and by 1983, 21-year-old Constanzo was finally ready to be initiated into Palo Mayombay. He would become a pedronome in his own right. But first came the initiation ritual. It began a week before the big day.

Constanzo had to spend seven nights sleeping underneath the Sabah tree, which is sacred to Polaro's. During that time, he also had to bathe using herbs, prepared specially for the ritual. Once that was done, he retrieved his clothes from a nearby cemetery where they'd been buried

for three weeks. The white outfit was his uniform for the ceremony, which took place in Augustine's backyard Shedcom Temple. It was the first time Constanzo had been allowed

into the sacred space, the first time he'd ever seen as Padrinos putrid blood-filled Anganga. Once inside, he was blindfolded. He then announced that his soul was dead, that he had no God. With that, Augustine cut a symbol into

Constanzo's shoulder, marking him with the sacred mark of his chosen deity, Cadium Pembe. It's not a direct correlation, but Cadiombe is perhaps closest to Christianity's figure of the devil. Needless to say, it was a dark choice for a patron. But Augustine had made the same selection for his guide, and it seemed Constanzo was eager to emulate his men. At the end of the ceremony, when Kadiem Pembe's spirit was joined to his own, Constanzo received a gift from his beloved Padrino. It was a Kisengue, a polished and smooth human tibia that practicing Polaro's wheeled as a scepter. With that, Constanza's initiation was complete. He was at last ready to fulfill his destiny as the chosen one.

Coming up, Constanzo sets out into the world and gathers his first eager disciples. Wayne Simmons spent 27 years undercover for the CIA. When he retired from spy work, he got a big break. Terrorism analyst on Fox News. Then he met Kent Clisby. So I'm a real CIA guy. This is total nonsense. I'm Alex French, and I'm here to figure out who's telling the truth.

Was Wayne Simmons a spy, or was he nothing? but a con man. Imposters is a Spotify original from Parcast, follow and listen exclusively on Spotify. Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound terseptitide may be able to help. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity, or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15 milligram injection. Zepound contains terseptide and should not be used with other terseptide containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepound

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Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-99-9 or visit zepbounds.lily.com. Now back to the story. In 1983, 21-year-old Adolfo Costanzo was initiated as a pedrino in the Afro-Caribbean religion of Palomaiombe. While the religion isn't typically concerned with ideas like good and evil, the branch of the religion that Constanzo and his family practiced was focused on revenge and power. When he was just a baby, Constanzo had been declared a chosen one, and his ascension to the

priest-like rank of Padrino set the stage for his intended glorious destiny. But, as any 21-year-old will tell you, figuring out what you're supposed to do with your life is hard, even when you're not burdened with the weight of great expectations. As far as we know, Constanzo floundered a little. He reportedly enrolled in a community college, but dropped out before he finished. his first semester. He also talked a big game about becoming a model, to capitalize on his striking good looks, but it seemed he never did anything to pursue that half-hearted aspiration. It was like Constanzo was ambivalent about his future, and to be fair, all his life he'd been told he was chosen for a greater purpose. So what need did he have for a career? He could use his

magical abilities to support himself. However, there was only so much demand for mystical art in Miami, so he looked elsewhere. In 1983, Constanzo traveled to Mexico City, which he decided was the perfect place to profit from his brand of magic. Specifically, he took to haunting the city's red light district, zona Rosa, where fortune tellers, artists, sex workers, and street performers peddled their wares. It was a bit of a tourist trap, but one where mysticism and magic were believed in and revered. In other words, it was the perfect launching pad for conventional. Constanzo's career as a working Padrino.

Within months of his arrival, the 21-year-old had built a reputation for accurate card readings, seemingly impressing everyone who sat down at his table. He also found romance, taking up with 19-year-old Martin Quintana Rodriguez. The young lovers were inseparable, and Martine often sat nearby as Constanzo impressed his clients with his skills. American tourists were easy pickings for the handsome fortune teller. With his light skin, unaccented English, and keen fashion sense, timid, perhaps xenophobic travelers, got a thrill from sampling what they assumed was authentic Mexican culture.

But locals came to Constanzo, too. One day in the late spring of 1983, two men sought out the Bruja, the witch they'd heard so much about. 17-year-old Omar Francisco Orea Ochoa was immediately taken with Constanzo. Not only was he attractive, he was also undeniably magical. From a young age, Omar had been obsessed with the mystic arts. It was a fixation made stronger by a fortune teller who once told him he would meet a powerful man who would shape his future. She told him to beware that man. It was advice the teenager kept in mind as he sat down at Constanzo's table,

but the charming and beguiling older man put Omar completely at ease as he read his cards. It was incredible just how much Constanzo seemed to know about Omar's life, what the cards revealed to him. Without being there, it's impossible to know just what Constanceo said to Omar that so impressed him. But given what we know, it seems likely that he was employing a form of cold reading. This is when a so-called psychic makes calculated guesses about their customer's background and then uses the reactions those guesses provoke to tailor their reading. If this is what Constanzo did, it's hardly a revolutionary trick, and it relies on one very simple, very human fallacy, the Barnum effect.

Also known as the Forer Effect, it's the tendency people have to believe that personality descriptions apply specifically to them. For example, when reading a newspaper horoscope, the general statements feel more true because they're supposedly about the reader. We call this the Barnum effect because of iconic entertainer P.T. Barnum, who is famously misattributed as saying, a sucker is born every minute. Waiting in the wings for those suckers, swindlers employ this technique to great effect. It works best when cold readers and astrology writers make general but complementary statements. In 2012, researchers at the National Institute for physiological sciences, Nagoya Institute of Technology and the University of Tokyo found that compliments stimulate the same part of our brain that activates when we're given money.

So when Constanzo performed a reading for Omar, or for any of his clients, it's possible he used vague statements and generalized predictions that made people feel good about themselves. He stroked their ego, and they paid him for it. It's interesting to note, though, that according to author Edward Humes in Buried Secrets, Constanceau knew all about the fortune teller's prediction to Omar. He told the teen that in meeting Constanceo, Omar was fulfilling a prophecy from his youth and reminded him of the woman's instructions. Beware. Whether this is true or not, we'll never know.

But if it is, it's a story we can't explain away with science. Either way, that day in the Zona Rosa, Omar was completely one of the one of the world. over by Constanzo. The 17-year-old had arrived with his older roommate slash lover, Jorge Montes. But after a few minutes, he only had eyes for the long-haired mystic. The four men sat together for hours, Constanzo holding court, telling the others tantalizing tidbits about his mysterious religion, about the powers it gave him. As far as we can tell, the three men, Martine, Omar, and Jorge were Constanzo's first followers. It was the birth. of a cult.

Soon after that first meeting, Constanso took young Omar as his lover. But it was a relationship with restrictions. He reportedly told the team, Martine will be my man, and you, Omar,

will be my woman. During his teenage years spent frequenting Miami's gay bars, Constanzo explored a fondness for dominating his sexual partners. What forms his experimentation took is unknown, but it seems that his controlling

impulses resurfaced in his new relationships. It seems he liked to play his lovers against one another, and they fell into the roles of romantic rivals easily enough. Omar was besotted, enamored by Constanzo's seemingly magical ability. He knew things about the teenager's family, their careers, and the past. Omar wasn't happy to be sharing Constanzo with Martine, and the feeling was mutual, but neither of them wanted to deny their lover what he demanded of them. If they did, he might cut them out, cut them off from his affection, his power. If they stayed by a side, however, they would become powerful, invincible. The future Constanceo promised was bright. He just needed to take his time

getting there. So for the rest of 1983 and much of 1984, Constanceo steadily built his customer base in the Zona Rosa district, earning money through card. readings and spiritual cleansings. By the end of 1984, Constanzo and his two lovers were living together, a situation neither Martine nor Omar's families approved of. Whether they disliked Constanzo because he was gay, or they sensed that he was perhaps dangerous, is unclear. Either way, they were powerless to intervene. Omar's sister tried to have police arrest Constanso for corrupting her underage brother. In response, Constanzo threatened to kill her.

Likewise, he promised violence to Martine's family if they ever tried to intervene in his relationships. He told Martine's brother that he would cut out his heart as an offering to the spirits. Setting aside the familial tensions, it was mostly smooth sailing for Constanzo. He had Omar to play homemaker, taking care of meals and cleaning, while he and Martine ran his growing business. Still, things were far from perfect. If Martine ever disobeyed one of Constanzo's orders, he'd beat him, often scaring Omar so much that the teenager hit under the bed. Occasionally, the abuse got bad enough that Martine left to stay with his brother.

Constanza would inevitably show up and scream that what they had was true love. He demanded that Martin come back, or else he'd kill Martin himself or both. It was a cycle of abuse typical of countless relationships, one that Martine couldn't break free of. And so, Martine always returned to the chaotic, loving, abusive home to his increasingly successful boyfriend. Success was certainly coming fast. At first, Constanzo relied on referrals for the majority of his business.

Omar's friend Jorge, who was in his 50s, also worked as a brouha and sent some clients Constanzo's way for a spell. But eventually, Constanzo's reputation outgrew Horace. Jorge's, and their roles were reversed. The younger man was sending the established mystic his excess customers. In time, Jorge began working as Constanza's assistant and started learning about the beliefs, customs, and ritual spellwork of Santoria, including the sacrifices. At first, it seems Constanzo didn't tell any of the men in his life about Palomioombae,

and spoke only about Santoria, the more vanilla of the two religions. Vanilla or not, Constanzo's Santoria rituals, cleansings, spells, and readings were great business. At first, he charged clients a few thousand pesos for his services, but demand grew to such a level that he was able to demand U.S. dollars instead. First, hundreds, then thousands. Within a year of his move to Mexico, he was wealthier than he'd ever imagined, and he wore that wealth just as you might expect a suddenly rich 20-something wood. He draped himself in gaudy clothes and glitzy jewelry. He was impossible to miss, which was just the way he liked it. But it wasn't just money Constanzo acquired. He was also collecting ardent, repeat customers. Like a real estate broker who

came to Constanceo in early 1985, desperate for advice that would help him turn his fortunes around, Constanzo charged the man $4,500 for a reading and advised him to purchase a derelict property in downtown Mexico City. Convinced of Constanzo's power, the man did as he was told. Then, six months later, an 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck Mexico City, flattening much of the city's infrastructure, but not that building.

So the broker was able to sell his formerly worthless building to the government, pocketing a tidy $250,000 profit in the process. Another convert was a woman named Maria del Rosio Cuvas Guerra, who visited Constanzo for a psychic reading in the winter of 1985. During a break in their session, Constanzo stepped out onto the balcony for a cigarette, and Maria watched in horror as the 22-year-old toppled off the third-story ledge. Sure, she'd find his crumpled bloody body on the concrete below. Maria rushed downstairs, only to see Constanza walking back into the building, as if nothing

out of the ordinary, it happened. According to people who witnessed the accident, he'd fallen onto a car parked below the balcony, then stood up, brushed himself off, and went back inside. Of course, stories like this are difficult to prove, but both certainly contributed to his growing reputation as a witch whose services were worth every penny. Maria herself happily paid Constanzo's $6,000 for a reading and followed his instructions when he told her that a deity ruling her head was causing the issues in her life. Once he'd replaced the spirit with another one, he gave her a new name, Carla. It was surely an odd change for those who knew Carla, but it was a fairly harmless example of El Padrinos' influence. So far, with the exception of the way he treated his lovers,

Constanzo's activities in Mexico City had been fairly innocuous, but But Constanzo hadn't spent his youth training under his padrino just to spend his life telling fortunes and casting simple protection spells. He'd learned how to exact revenge, and it was a talent he didn't want to waste. He just needed the right opportunity. One day, a local nightclub performer known as Damien, sometimes Damiana, when on stage in drag, came to Constanzo for help, for revenge. The owner of a local bar had refused to pay Damien for their performances, and when they insisted, the bar owner had Damien beaten by his bouncer.

After listening to Damien's story, Constanzo performed some rituals of his own. Then gave the drag artist careful instructions. They were to leave bloodied letters and a dead chicken on the bar owner's doorstep, and that would usher in Damien's vengeance. In a way, it did. When the older man found the disturbing offerings at his door, he was frightened, superstitious and alcohol. he started drinking more than usual and had a heart attack within weeks. He died soon after.

Damien was vindicated, but Omar, Martine, and Jorge were troubled. They'd helped carry out the rituals that Constanceau performed for Damian and felt like they'd committed murder. But Constanzo shook off their concerns. What they did wasn't murder. After all, they hadn't used any weapons. They'd just called out for justice, and the gods granted their request. Perhaps because of their doubts about what they'd done, Constanzo decided Martin Omar and Jorge needed to be better acquainted with his true religion. In similar ceremonies to the one his Padrino performed with him back in Miami,

he initiated the trio as Raiado, followers of Paulo Maioombay. As far as we can tell, the ceremonies weren't quite the same. After all, the men hadn't gone through the years of training that Constanzo had and weren't worthy of the same rank as him. He told them, I am your God now, and said they were to call him Padrino, Godfather. Based on our research, being Apollo Maumbe believer doesn't usually require such a ceremony, but by this stage it seems as though Constanzo was actively blurring the lines between the religions he'd practiced growing up, and with them, smudging the boundaries that separate legitimate worship

from the activities of a cult. In essence, he was making his own hybrid religion. Just like his renown in the Zona Rosa district, Constanzo's customers swelled in number. Some even earned their own initiation rituals. Damien, Carla, and the real estate broker were among these riotos, but his first three inductees remained the closest, the most trusted. As Constanzo's wealth and influence grew, his patience for practicing Sontaria magic waned, and he decided it was time to make the transition to Palo Miombo. rituals alone. His Padrino had once told him he would create the most powerful

Nganga ever, that he was ready to get started. The cauldron itself was easy enough to procure, but filling it with the right ingredients was trickier. He and some of his loyal Raiados visited a graveyard to rob a fresh grave for the key pieces of the recipe, a human skull, and brains. They made sure to target someone who died violently. As a An offering to the spirits they disturbed. A chicken was sacrificed atop the grave. Its blood spilled onto the overturned dirt. Completing the pavement was a small tower of pennies.

With that done, Constanzo and his followers headed back home. There in his makeshift temple, he placed the pilfered remains at an altar and began the ceremony. He lay on the floor, covered by a white sheet, and surrounded by candles. He was welcoming the spirit into his body. His startled followers watched on as his voice, face, and posture were changed by the possession. Their apprehension gave way to relief when the spirit, bent to their Padrinos' iron-like will, agreed to serve him. Afterwards, Constanza ordered the stolen remains be placed into the cauldron alongside various other Nganga necessities,

animal carcasses, blood, peppers, coins, all to make sure the captured spirit would flourish in a its new home. And the final flourish, 28 sticks were stood in the cauldron, cut from specific trees in their own sacred ceremonies. With that, Adolfo Constanzo seemed finally on his way to fulfilling his destiny. He was the chosen one. And with his first in Ganga, there was no limit to what he could accomplish. Coming up, Constanzo sets his sights on more money and power, and doesn't care who's bloody spills to get it. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session.

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gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Now back to the story. By 1985, Adolfo Constanzo's renown and wealth had grown so much that he could afford to buy a condo for himself and his two boyfriends, Martin and Omar. The trio moved into the apartment in the fashionable Colonia Roma district in Mexico City. By this stage, people from across the city were flocking to Constanzo, eager for it taste. of his power, the secrets he could share, the magic he could perform. Minor celebrities, fading pop stars, wealthy businessmen. All were excited customers of the 23-year-old known as El Padrino, the Godfather.

Eventually, people in the criminal world heard of Constanzo's power, too, and some decided it might be just the edge they needed over the competition. Drug traffickers sought out the young brujo and paid handsomely for the protective spells he offered them. As with most Centuria and Palomionbe rituals, Constanzo's magic called for animal sacrifices. A chicken was most common, but it seems that larger or rarer animals

could be used to work more powerful magics, and those sacrifices came with heftier price tags. Eventually, Constanzo developed a set price list for his clients to let them know just how much their ritual sacrifice would cost. It reportedly included offerings like boa constrictors, zebras and lion cubs. Just how many and what animals Constanceau sacrificed and how he procured the rarer species is unclear,

but his clients weren't likely to ask questions. All they cared about was results, and it seems most left happy. Interestingly, it wasn't just drug traffickers who caught wind of Costanzo's abilities. Even high-ranking members of law enforcement paid visits to the handsome Polaro, seeking magical protection and guidance.

Biden. Florentino Ventura Gutierrez, the deeply superstitious head of Interpol for Mexico, was one of the most powerful figures in Mexican law enforcement. He paid Constanzo thousands over two years. In exchange, he received spells of protection and tantalizing glimpses into his future. It's interesting to note that such a high-ranking government official could be so influenced by superstitions and promises of magic. However, as unusual as it sounds, such beliefs are far from uncommon.

In countries all around the world, it's rare for high-rise buildings to have a 13th floor. Most skip that number when drawing up plans. Even today, people will search for a piece of wood to knock on when they say something that tempts fate. According to a 2018 article written by scholar Fatigue Baron Mandal, and published in the International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, superstitions have roots in our ancestry and provide a calming effect. In trying to better understand and process the unexplainable or uncontrollable parts of our world, superstitions can give back a sense of safety.

It's not a stretch to understand how a successful career cop like Ventura might crave the sense of security his superstitions brought, and he was willing to pay for that safety blanket. Of course, Ventura might have paid with more. than money. There were rumors that he sometimes offered information instead of cash, tips about patrols, incoming shipments, and when authorities would be looking the other way. If this is true, it might explain how Constanzo was so successful in assisting drug traffickers. Pretending to ask the spirits for guidance, he disguised his inside information as mystical foretellings

about when it was safe to move product. Constanceo had more than one law enforcement contact, including a man named Salvador Vidal Garcia Alarcon. They met sometime in 1985. A happenstance arranged by Jorge Montes, their mutual friend. He told Constanzo that Garcia, a member of the federal antinarkotigos, believed he was possessed by three conflicting spirits that they took over his body sometimes. When Jorge told Garcia that Constanzo could help him,

he jumped at the chance. During their session, El Padrino used the information Jorge fed him to impress his new client. The Mexican federal police were shocked when the mystic correctly identified each of the three spirits he believed recited inside him, and never guessed he was being tricked. Garcia was so impressed with El Padino's powers that he pledged his loyalty immediately. Suddenly, Constanzo had an inside man among the Mexican federal police's ranks, and he knew just how to use the connection. First, he initiated Garcia into his growing group of Riados

and assigned him a patron god, Sieti Rios. According to Constanzo, Garcia's soul was now tethered to the god of justice, lightning, and fire. Through the Federale, Sienti Rios would enact his divine vengeance, and he would communicate only through El Padrino. In other words, Constanzo turned Garcia into his own personal enforcer for any situations that needed extra muscle or bullets.

And violence wasn't all he was good for. He also connected his pedrino with people he knew through his work as a narcotics agent. Constanzo was eager to follow in his old mentor's footsteps, earning more money by offering protection to the community's ne'er-do-wells. Things started small. Local growers and smugglers from rural areas were more easily swayed by the promise of magical divine assistance. Once they retained Constanto's services, he made a show of consulting the spirits and his Nganga,

giving advice on when to ship drugs and what routes to use. Then he had Garcia slip bribes to certain officers within the force, paying to ensure all his predictions came true. Routes were clear when he promised they would be, and things almost always went off without a hitch. In the event of any hiccups, he simply blamed his clients for failing to perform their part of the ritual as instructed, it was never Constanzo's fault. Once he'd made believers of the smaller underworld fish, his reputation among the bigger players

likewise flourished. With demand for his magical abilities increasing, he could charge whatever he wanted for his surfaces, and the money ran like a river. One of his heaviest clients was Guillermo Arturo Calzada, patriarch of a gang of cocaine smugglers, using his usual information from Garcia, 23-year-old Constanzo ingratiated himself with Calcada, making a believer out of him in September of 1986. Convinced of El Padrinos' powers, Calcada was happy to fork out hefty fees for various protection spells and cleansings. Before long, he was consulting Constanzo every day and for every shipment of cocaine. By this stage, it seems Constanzo was less obsessed with his once-all- consuming religion, with his own destiny, and was now laser-focused on the accumulation of

vast wealth and the flashy markers of it, cars, jewelry, houses. And anyone who tried to slow him down or back out of a potential payment paid in other ways. Spoiled his whole life, Constanzo didn't handle rejection well. Most clients came to him in a small temple in his apartment, a dark, windowless room lit by candles and filled with the stench of his Anganga. Their customers were at his mercy, watched over by Constanzo's boyfriends and Rayados. Those who turned down his offer to perform more services or who tried to break off the professional relationship drew his wrath.

Using his ceremonial knife, he cut these people cruelly, perhaps feigning a slip of the hand or blaming the actions of a vengeful God. Then he sent his ungrateful clients from the room with muttered curses that surely terrified his bleeding subject. It was clear to those closest to him that Adolfo Constanzo was not to be crossed. Woe betide the person who stood between El Padrino and the things he desired. But still, though he lost some clients because he was unable to handle rejection, it didn't diminish his income, which was good because the young Padrino had expensive taste.

Constanzo quickly acquired several more properties around Mexico City, setting Apollo Maio Mabe alters in each one. and filling the homes with the latest electronics. He shopped with his boyfriends at expensive boutiques and insisted on always wearing all-white ensembles, his signature color. Though it certainly seemed like Constanzo paid attention to little else than his growing wealth, he was also carefully watching how his clients operated in the drug business, and as far as he could tell, it wasn't that hard,

especially not with all the help he gave them. help, he decided, they should be paying more for. In particular, he thought Guillermo Calada owed him half of his gang's profits. He told his followers as much that his and their magics protected the Calada cocaine deals. Sometime in early 1987, when he'd sufficiently worked himself up about it, he took his proposal to the patriarch. It went down in Calada's living room. 24-year-old Constanzo calmly explained his reason. and asked for 50% of everything that the Calas made.

The older man refused, and Constanzo was livid. He returned home already plotting his revenge, but this time he wasn't content to leave vengeance in the hands of the gods. This time, he wanted to extract the pound of flesh for himself, literally. In April, he called Calada to apologize. He explained that another witch had cast a spell on him, that it was the curse speaking when he demanded half of Calasada's money, to make up for the misunderstanding,

and to ensure that any lingering traces of the other Bruho's magic were swept away, he offered to do a cleansing ceremony for Calada's whole family free of charge. Calada accepted the offer, and Constanzo made the arrangements. When he was ready, he showed up at Calada's home and insisted that everyone take part, even the family's servants and body card. The magic wouldn't work otherwise. In the end, seven people gathered to take part in the cleansing. What came next was a ceremony like so many others Constanzo had performed over his career,

except halfway through, Martine and another follower burst into the room, brandishing machine guns. That's when the killing started. It was a bloody massacre, Constanzo's ultimate revenge. He and his loyal subjects made Gierma Calcata and his family pay with their lives. And with their souls. When the slaughter was complete, El Padrino thrust a knife into Martine's hand and ordered him to help in the harvest. Together, the men cut fingers, hearts, and genitalia from the family's corpses,

even a spine and two brains were removed from the still warm bodies. Constanzo forced Martine to carry the body parts back to their apartment. It was a punishment for his lover, who was apparently startled by the murder, and who had cried throughout. Constanzo was disgusted by him. Not by the murder, though. The memory of it filled the 24-year-old with ecstasy. He later described it to his followers as a deeply religious experience. It wasn't evil, he argued, because the spirits of the dead would live on inside his envisaged.

Ganga. Indeed, that's where the harvested organs were placed, supposedly increasing its magical power. In the aftermath of the massacre, Costanzo likely reflected on his own Padrino, Augustine, who had boasted of the strength human sacrifices offered. All his life, he learned that his religion would enable him to seek revenge against his enemies. But for a man like Constanzo, enemies is a flexible concept. All he cared about was spilling blood. That was the key to his power, and he'd turn rivers red, if that's what it took. Thanks again for tuning in to this serial killers and cult's crossover episode. We'll be back soon with part two of this Adolfo Constanzo series.

Next time, Constanzo's ambition grows along with his bloodlust. We'll watch as Constanzo exerts his influence over a small-time family of drug traffickers, transforming them into his loyal, bloodthirsty subject. For more information on Adolfo Constanzo, amongst the many sources we used, we found Buried Secrets, a true story of serial murder by Edward Humes, extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of serial killers, cults, and all other 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 design by Anthony Valsick, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Trent Williamson, Carly Madden, and Bruce Kitovich. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Joel Callan, with writing assistance by Abigail Cannon, fact-checking by Haley Milliken, and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood. Serial Killers stars Greg Polson and Vanessa Richardson. 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.

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