Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “The Vampire in the Window” Florencio Fernández

Episode Date: April 15, 2021

Born in 1935, Florencio Fernández grew up in a region of Argentina nicknamed the “fortress of folklore.” As a teenager, destitute and alone, he watched a film at a local theater that would change his life — and inspire his crimes. That film’s name? Dracula. 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 murder, assault, and suicide that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. Northwest Argentina, March of 1953. While the sweltering sun shone outside, 18-year-old Florentio Fernandez slumbered inside a mountain cave. There, in total darkness, he slept, building up his energy. for a night on the town. After sunset, Fernandez awakened and dressed himself in his usual attire, a black shirt, pants, and a cloak. He emerged from his hideout and walked into the nearby town

of Monteros. He was on the hunt for the perfect woman, but instead of searching for her at a nightclub or a bar, he looked for her at her home. After peeking inside various windows, he eventually found a seemingly lonely woman. Fernandez watched her house, observing her eat dinner and wash the dishes. All the while, he remained on the lookout just in case someone arrived to join her. After a few hours, she started getting ready for bed, and he realized no one else was coming to join her. The woman was everything he was looking for, vibrant, healthy, and single. But Fernandez wasn't looking for love or sex. He wanted to drink her. blood. Hi, 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 delving into the life and crimes of Florentio Fernandez, also known as The Vampire in the Window. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from podcast for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. In the first part of this episode, we'll take a look at Fernandez's early life in Montaros and the surprising influence behind his killings. Later, we'll examine Fernandez's demise and how his legacy fits into local folklore tradition. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us.

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Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. For centuries, vampires have been important and terrifying figures in folklore. Immortals forever looking for blood they can. can drink from others to sustain their own life. Thanks to popular culture, society mostly associates them with Gothic castles in Eastern Europe. What few realize is that the idea of these monsters didn't just exist in Transylvania. Across the seas, Latin America had its own frightening, yet seductive, mythical blood-sucking creatures.

The ancient Mayans ruled across today's Central America and Mexico. As mighty as they were, the Mayans feared the Kamasats, an evil cave-dwelling being with a bat head. Of course, he wasn't the only one. The Nawa people in East Central Mexico beard a vampire witch hybrid called the Tuawalpucci. These vicious female creatures suck the blood of infants and hypnotized adults into taking their own lives.

But those stories paled in comparison to the most infamous of bloodthirsty villains, a real serial killer named Florenton. Florendez. There's little known about his life beyond his deadly crimes, but Argentina has embraced and debated his story for years. Born in 1935, Florentio Fernandez grew up in a poor family in Monteros, a small town in the Tuchuman Province. Located in the northwest of Argentina, the region is nicknamed The Fortress of Folklore.

In particular, Tukuman Province is famous for folk music and a type of folk dance called La Samba. The hypnotic choreography involves a man and woman who use scarves to make flirtatious moves in a romantic display. Those performances are accompanied by Tukumann's soundtrack, filled with melodic tales of heroes and villains. And like much of Latin America, Tukumon had its own mythology of frightening creatures. For instance, there was Mikilo, a half-human, half-dog hybrid who attacked people, skinned animals, and then sorrowfully cried at night. Like many of the best myths, parents used this frightening legend to convince their children to behave. So Fernandez grew up in a region that loved stories. Whether they were portrayed in dances, put to music, or designed to

scare the easily frightened, such fables probably provided an escape, while Fernandez and his family lived in abject poverty amid the global depression of the 1930s. The Fernandez's were penniless and couldn't afford anything beyond the basics, especially when it came to medical care. So when a prepubescent Florentzio started to display erratic behaviors, his parents took him to the doctor, hoping for a quick and cheap remedy. Instead, the doctors came back with an unexpectedly serious diagnosis, psychopathy, what we now call antisocial personality disorder.

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. Fernandez's diagnosis may have been premature and was probably a misdiagnosis. Back in the 1930s, the world didn't know as much about mental disorders as it does now, and this was especially true in rural Argentina. By the time Fernandez was showing signs of mental illness, the country's medical experts were only just delving into the world of psychotherapy. But doctors know a lot more about psychology today, and Argentina actually has the most psychotherapists per capita in the world. Looking at modern benchmarks,

it's likely that Fernandez was misdiagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Today, the DSM-5 states that the minimum age for diagnosing the disorder is 18. This is likely because it's extremely difficult to identify mental illnesses and children. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms differ by age, and kids often aren't able to articulate how they feel. For this reason, Fernandez's prepubescent diagnosis probably wasn't fully conclusive. Unfortunately, none of this information was available to his parents, and they were likely ill-equipped to deal with what must have seemed a frightening, untreatable diagnosis. So instead of helping their son, they abandoned Fernandez, forcing him to fend for himself. With nowhere else to go, Fernandez lived on the streets.

He begged for money and stole what he could. According to the Argentine newspaper La Nation, he regularly harassed people and allegedly sexually assaulted an unknown number of victims. It was while struggling to survive on the streets of Monteros that Fernandez had a life-changing experience, a moment that sparked his imagination more than any of the folk tales he grew up with. In 1950, the Montero's,

movie theater premiered a film that introduced the fortress of folklore to another mythical creature. It was Dracula, starring Bella Lagosi as the supernatural titular character. Though the film was made in 1931, it took two decades to make it to the small Argentinian town. But when it did, the destitute 15-year-old Fernandez somehow found his way into a screening. Fernandez was likely familiar with Mikilo and other vampire-like legends floating around to Kuman, but this was probably his first exposure to Dracula, and from the moment the iconic villain rose from his coffin, Fernandez was hooked. Bella Lagosie's seductive performance defined how society and Fernandez pictured the capped bloodsuckers for decades.

In the film, the world feared Dracula's power, but also considered him a pariah. And it's quite likely that Fernandez related to the count, for the fear he struck into the people around around him. But there was also something to admire about him. He had the power to turn women into undead lovers. It was a powerful metaphor. The vampire took back control by feeding on people's blood and converting them into the very thing they wanted to destroy himself. It's hardly surprising Fernandez related to a mysterious outsider with an incurable condition. According to the American Psychological Association, teenagers commonly experience social anxiety and fear being excluded.

Compounding those common emotions, Fernandez was cast out of his own family for what they saw as a terrifying personality disorder. If an outsider like Dracula could flourish for centuries, Fernandez may have thought he could do the same, even if Dracula's world was fictional and Fernandez's wasn't. Like many people who watched the movie, 15-year-old Fernandez was enthralled by the film,

but instead of frightened, he probably, left the theater inspired and empowered. Dracula became the folk hero he admired the most. His story was an escape from his bleak life on the streets. Unfortunately, it seems Fernandez was incapable of separating fact from fiction. And two years later, the 17-year-old blurred fantasy with reality, and he began to think that he was a vampire too. The daydreams became delusions, false beliefs that someone holds to be real.

These can be a symptom of delusional disorder or of other conditions, such as schizophrenia, bipolar, or dementia. That said, it's hard to say exactly what was going on in his mind. But based on what we know about him, Fernandez's behavior seemed to align with a specific type of delusion. According to the DSM-5, there are five types of delusions. Eratomanic, jealous, persecutory, somatic, and grandiose. Most likely Fernandez had the last one, grandiose.

These delusions cause a person to believe they have special powers or abilities. And because Fernandez believed he was a vampire, his delusion eventually evolved to incorporate a craving for blood. By now, he'd convinced himself that he needed to follow in Dracula's footsteps, and that meant he had to drain the blood of the living. Up next, Florentio Fernandez, terrorizes the women of Monteros. The internet, what would we do without it?

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Ask your doctor about Ebglis and visit abglis.com or call 1800 LilyRX or 1-800-545-979. Now back to the story. In 1950, 15-year-old Argentinian boy, Florentio Fernandez, was a destitute teenager living with an untreated mental illness. But his life changed forever when he watched the movie Dracula. After that, he began fantasizing about the famous vampire's mysterious existence. It seemed he related to the power Dracula had over people, despite being shunned by society. However, two years later, Fernandez's daydreams had. developed into a delusion that he too was a vampire, and in due course he started acting like one.

Fernandez claimed he had photophobia, a painful aversion to light, just like the undead creatures he admired. It's unclear if Fernandez actually had the condition, or if he only believed he did as part of his growing delusion. Either way, he modified how he lived in Monteros. Fernandez stopped sleeping in the streets at night and relocated to a cave in the town's outskirts, a few miles away. The spot was likely in the green foothills of the Akunkiha mountain range, a spur of the Andes. There in the wilderness, Fernandez slept during the day to avoid the painful sunlight. Legend has it that once darkness descended, Fernandez awakened and donned a black cape, just like Dracula. Then he walked from his cape to Monteros, where he lurked in the shadows,

watching the townspeople sleep. About a year after his vampiric act started, he was no longer content to just observe people from the shadows. Fernandez felt his first urge to feed, and he needed to satisfy that desire. So in March of 1953, 18-year-old Fernandez left his cave with a thirst for blood. Summer was drawing to a close in Argentina, but it was still a warm evening in Monteros.

And as Fernandez walked through the streets, he noticed something that would make satisfying his desires easier than he anticipated. Most residents kept their windows open during the hot summer evenings, even after they went to sleep. Fernandez likely delighted at the thought of having unfettered access

to a town full of potential victims. The lack of security would make it easy to find a healthy young woman just like Dracula's concubines, Lucy and Mina. But he took his time. He wanted a woman who was alone so that no one would interrupt his feast.

Fernandez staked out several homes, just watching and waiting. Eventually, his eyes landed on a woman, and in particular, on the smooth, supple skin on her neck. We don't know this woman's name, so we'll call her Catalina. For several hours, Fernandez kept an eye on Catalina, watching as she ate dinner and washed her dishes. But he wasn't interested in the mundane minutia of her nightly routine. He wanted to make sure that no one else was home. As he watched Catalina brush her teeth, Fernandez felt sure that she was going to sleep by herself. No one else was coming home to her.

So, armed with a club, he sprung into action. He climbed into the bedroom through the open window and waited. When Catalina finally strolled into her bedroom, Fernandez struck, thrashing her with the club. Immediately she fell to the ground unconscious. Now it was finally time for Fernandez to drink. He leaned down and sunk his teeth into her flesh. As far as anyone could tell, Fernandez didn't actually drink Catalina's blood like a true vampire would. Given what we know from accounts of the attack, it's possible that his thirst for blood may have been sexual rather than nourishing.

According to the newspaper La Capital Mardal Plata, just sinking his teeth into Catalina's neck caused Fernandez to orgasm. If this is true, it's likely Fernandez had hematilagmia, or a sexual blood fetish. This meant that he became aroused at the sight of blood. According to a 2017 interview, sex therapist Galen Fuse explained that hematelagnia deals with both primal instincts and intimacy. However, the fetish may also be connected to self-harm and having unresolved emotional issues, which would elevate it from a simple fetish to a harmful paraphernal. At the same time, Fernandez's behavior seems to align with another psychological condition, clinical vampirism, also known as Renfield syndrome.

The latter designation was named for Dracula's ghoulish assistant, Renfield. A 1983 study published in the South African Medical Journal defined clinical vampirism as periodic compulsive blood drinking, affinity with the dead, and uncertain identity. Interestingly, clinical vampirism is not a condition approved by the American Psychological Association, likely because its contemporary moniker, Renfield Syndrome, started out as something of a joke. In 1992, clinical psychologist Richard Knoll described Renfield syndrome in his book, Vampires, Werewolves, and Demons. It seems that Dr. Noll meant the text to be a parody of the diagnosis checklist,

typically found in the DSM in the 80s. Despite its nicknames humorous and relatively recent origins, researchers have been studying clinical vampirism since at least 1892. Again, it's difficult to say with certainty what exact issue affected Fernandez, but it's possible there were several compounding problems. Unfortunately, his untreated conditions had deadly results for the women of Monteros. That first night, he viciously bit Catalina's neck, then fled the scene, leaving her to bleed to death.

In April of 1953, a month after he murdered Catalina, Fernandez repeated his new routine. He drifted back into Monteros at night on the prowl for his next victim. But this time, Fernandez was willing to be patient. He selected his victim but didn't strike immediately. Instead, he spent several evenings watching her, making sure she would be completely alone when he finally attacked. When at last the time felt right, Fernandez climbed through the woman's open window and tore out her trachea with his teeth. Once again, just the act of biting his victim's neck so savagely was enough to arouse the 18-year-old. As far as we can tell, he didn't consume any of this woman's blood either.

He simply fled into the night, leaving his victim to bleed to death. Fernandez got away with killing women like this again and again. And as the bodies piled up around Monteros for the next several years, local police were left completely baffled. All they knew was that the killers seemed to prey on women of all ages, usually in the summer. He beat them and then bit their necks, though it was anyone's guess as to why. He rarely deviated from his routine, though some accounts add extra details.

In Miguel Gomez-Aracil's book, Vampiros, He wrote that Fernandez sometimes tied women to the bed before biting them. And though he usually ripped out his victim's wind pipes, a few had their carotid artery destroyed too. Even so, coroners found no sign of sexual assault on the corpses. Additionally, Fernandez rarely left any physical evidence behind, which made tracking down the bloodthirsty culprit even harder. So the murders continued to confuse investigators

who were inexperienced when it came to serial, killers. They seemed reluctant to admit they were in over their heads and carried on with the search for the so-called vampire. In a time before criminal profiles were commonplace in investigations, a local detective tried his best to predict the killer's personality, theorizing that the killer was an intelligent man of high status. With that as their best guess, authorities chased down all leads that led to men fitting this description. Not once did they consider a mentally ill young man who lived in a cave outside of town was the killer they hunted. It seemed that no one remembered the troubled young teen, discarded by his family. And so Fernandez was able to continue his

killing spree unchecked, claiming more lives as the years ticked by. However, everything changed in the mid-1950s when the murders became a national story. Newspapers across Argentina declared that Monteros had a vampire on the loose who had killed 13 women. But unlike the local legends about mythological beasts, this evil being wasn't just fodder for a child's nightmare. He was real, and he was slaughtering actual people. In Monteros itself, the town's deep folklore tradition gave the news story a life of its own. Residents seemed more than willing to believe a supernatural creature was behind the string of horrific murders. Suddenly, witnesses made outlandish claims that they saw the murderer flying into windows. Others claimed they'd seen a capped creature lurking in the streets.

Before long, Florentio Fernandez had earned the nickname, the vampire in the window. Locals grew to fear the Monteros vampire so much that they took extra precautions, realizing that their open windows were as good as an invitation to the vampire. Most people kept them. firmly shut, even on balmy nights. That wasn't enough for everyone, though. Some people also sought to thwart the vampire with spiritual weapons and invited the neighborhood priest to sprinkle holy water around their homes. Still more armed themselves with protective knowledge from the film that inspired it all, Dracula. In the film, Professor Abraham Van Helsing was the only person able to defeat the Count, and his techniques served as inspiration for Montero's residents,

fearful of their local demon. They hung large crucifixes on their houses, and some prepared sharp wooden stakes to drive through the bloodsucker's heart should he appear at their bedside. In all likelihood, Fernandez noticed the town catching onto him, especially as the windows suddenly became closed and locked. Still, he probably only saw this as an inconvenient obstacle.

But not one that could stop him from killing. Indeed, in November of 19th, In 2015 9, 24-year-old Fernandez managed to sneak into a home and murder his 15th victim. When they discovered the corpse, local police felt utterly helpless. Despite the town's best efforts, women kept turning up dead in Monteros, victims of the mysterious vampire. Their investigation had brought them nothing but dead ends, and they had no idea what to do next. The truth was, their inexperience in tracking down a serial killer might potentially cost. more lives. So the cops asked for help from those better equipped to solve the case.

They called in Argentina's federal police, the PFA, to assist. The PFA investigators traveled hundreds of miles north from Buenos Aires to Monteros and got to work. The big city detectives mapped all the homes the vampire had attacked and noticed a strange pattern. They were equidistant from a spot in the foothills on the town's outskirts. Until now, local police and townspeople believed the killer only targeted single women who lived on their own. But now it was clear. His targets were also chosen for their location. It was the breakthrough investigators had been waiting for.

The PFA detectives predicted that the killer would continue choosing houses in this manner. So for the rest of the summer, they staked out several homes the vampire might hit and waited. Three months later, on February 14th, 1960, 25-year-old Fernandez celebrated Valentine's Day by searching for his 16th victim. As he often did, he strolled the streets lurking in the shadows, studying potential targets. He had no idea his life as a vampire was about to end. Up next, the vampire in the window is unmasked at last. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th,

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Wherever that is, because the only thing better than a great playlist is a great trip. Life's the trip. Make the most of it at Best Western. Book direct and save at bestwestern.com. Now back to the story. By early 1960, 25-year-old Florentio Fernandez had killed 15 women in the town of Monteros, Argentina. Since he was a teenager, he'd held the delusion that he was a vampire. So for seven years, he lived in a cave, emerging only at night, to stalk women in town before biting their necks and leaving them for dead. On February 14, Fernandez searched for his 16th victim.

That night, Fernandez followed his usual routine. He staked out a few houses until he found a woman who lived alone. When the coast seemed clear, he climbed through an open window. However, locals had lived in fear of the so-called vampire in the window for years. So when his intended victim saw Fernandez in her home, she screamed. Stardled, Fernandez made a hasty exit, fleeing into the night. Earlier in his killing spree, Fernandez might have escaped to kill another day, but that night he wasn't alone on the streets of Monteros.

Argentina's federal police, the PFA, were prowling the town in case the vampire struck. A PFA officer heard the woman yell and spotted Fernandez running away. Carefully, the investigator followed the shadowy, cloaked figure out of town to the cave where he slept. Fernandez settled into his home and fell asleep before sunrise, unaware that a horde of PFA agents were gathering outside. As a new day dawned, officers stormed the cave and swiftly arrested Fernandez. According to the newspaper La Nacione, he didn't resist or protest. In fact, he seemed relieved.

The only time Fernandez became violent was when he was dragged out into the daylight. Whether genuine medical condition or just part of his delusion, the 25-year-old still claimed the light caused him pain. Once he was in custody, investigators explored his cave, but while Fernandez likely chose the cave to emulate Dracula's lair, his own hideaway displayed the stark reality of his delusion. The cave floor was littered with rotted animal carcasses and feces. Although Fernandez's delusion caused him to believe killing women sustained him,

he actually lived on the wild animals he hunted in the wilderness. In short, his dank cave looked nothing like a seductive vampist. Empire's hideout. Though they had no physical evidence tying Fernandez to the vampire murders, authorities were confident they'd solved the case at last. The seven years of terror were finally over. Naturally, the townspeople rejoiced. However, many people believed that Fernandez was possessed by the devil,

and they wanted him to be exercised. To their disappointment, Fernandez faced his crimes in court instead. But before going to trial, a judge ordered him to undergo medical testing. After examining the 25-year-old, doctors diagnosed Fernandez with schizophrenia. According to the DSM-5, illogical thinking, delusions, and hallucinations are key symptoms of schizophrenia. This diagnosis seems to line up with what we know about Fernandez, as schizophrenia usually appears in men when they're in their late teens or early 20s.

In other words, exactly when Fernandez started believing he was a real vampire, and it's likely that because he wasn't able to seek treatment, his symptoms progressed quickly. A 2015 study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry examined patients with schizophrenia who had never received treatment for their condition. The investigation found that after 14 years, less than 30% of untreated participants went into remission on their own. In comparison, nearly 60% of treated individuals saw a reduction in symptoms. While it seems like untreated mental illnesses would be a thing of the past, it's not uncommon, even to this day. According to the World Health Organization, over 69% of people living with schizophrenia haven't received adequate care. Additionally, 90% of individuals who are untreated live in middle and low-income areas, like rural Argentina. There are two likely explanations for this.

Those citizens have less access to treatment, and people living with untreated schizophrenia are less likely to seek help on their own. Sadly, in Fernandez's case, a lack of treatment had deadly consequences. His vampire delusion also took a toll on him physically. Doctors discovered that after spending years living in a cave, Fernandez was malnourished and had poor hygiene. After the exams, doctors announced that Fernandez was inimputable, which translates to unimpeachable. According to Argentina's national penal code, the term meant Fernandez wasn't able to understand his crimes or the consequences.

Because of that, he didn't receive a trial or jail time. Instead, authorities admitted Fernandez to a mental hospital in San Miguel de Tucumon, around 35 miles north of Monteros. There, Fernandez lived quietly, hopefully receiving the long-needed treatment for his schizophrenia, and it's possible that his vampire delusions faded away as time went on. However, he never emerged from the hospital for people to find out. While Dracula's demise was caused by wooden snake through his heart, Lorenzo Fernandez died in a less dramatic fashion. At least as far as we can tell, in 1968, at just 33,

Fernandez died at the hospital under mysterious circumstances. The Argentine newspaper La Gazeta Mercantil reported his death was due to natural causes, and strangely there was no record or death certificate confirming the report. In the years following his arrest, the myth of the vampire in the window persisted. Of course, in a legend-loving place like Montaros, there's another layer to the story. Over the years, Fernandez's killings were reported. in several Argentine newspapers and even some books, yet there are some locals who believe that his crimes

were more legend than factual history. From 2016 to 2019, Argentine newspapers showed renewed interest in Fernandez's crimes. Why exactly is a mystery? But three major papers, La Gazeta mercantile, La Nation, and La Capital Mardeau-Plata, all published articles about the murders.

By the end of that resurgents, one reporter in particular took issue with La Nacion's account of the story. In November of 2019, local journalist Gustavo Rodriguez wrote an article dissecting the paper's account and its inconsistencies. For starters, he pointed out one glaring problem. La Gazeta Mercantile, the Tuchamon paper of record, didn't publish any reports about Fernandez's killings in the 1950s. While that certainly is curious, it's possible the crimes were covered by, other newspapers at the time. However, Rodriguez wasn't done.

He also poked holes in the tale's simple logic. He reasoned that it would have been impossible for 15-year-old Fernandez to watch Dracula at the local cinema. Back in 1950, theaters were frequented only by members of society's upper class. How could a homeless teen possibly make it inside undetected? Those problems with the story seem easier to explain a way than some others. For example, Rodriguez found several local residents who had no recollection of Fernandez or the vampire murders. Some Montero citizens even disputed the fact of Fernandez's cave dwelling.

Rodriguez interviewed a local who knew the area around the town extremely well. He said that while there are caves in the foothills, they were impossible to reach by foot in the 1950s. The area wasn't as developed back then, making the wilderness much more challenging to navigate during Fernandez's. reign of terror. If Fernandez did live in a cave, he argued, the closest, most accessible ones weren't on the town's outskirts. They were three or four hours walk away from Monteros. If Fernandez did walk that route every time he attacked, it would have given him only a few

dark hours to stalk and kill women. But such a long hike, and making it back to the cave before sunrise, may not have been possible for someone as malnourished as he was. Of course, there's also a theory that Fernandez wasn't in poor health at all. Rodriguez discovered a photo of Fernandez believed to be taken when he was in his late teens, and he looks perfectly healthy. Even more surprising, the photo shows Fernandez at a local soccer field during the day. It's hard to say whether the picture really is Fernandez or if it's just a lookalike,

but if it is Fernandez, then it supports the theory that he wasn't malnourished, nor did he have a genuine aversion to light. It's also feasible that Fernandez wasn't a homeless teen at all. He may have been a typical adolescent who never murdered anyone and didn't die in a psychiatric hospital. That's certainly what one Monteros historian recalled. Retired teacher Arturo Celaya claimed that as recently as the 2010s, he interviewed Florentio Fernandez for a book on the local school. Celaya told La Gazeta Mercantil that Fernandez's life was just twisted into a grandiose vampire myth. He said, the idea that he was a serial murderer is real madness.

According to Celaya, Fernandez was actually a bricklayer. He made a modest living, but he wasn't destitute. People saw Fernandez walk the streets of Monteros all the time, even during the day. Allegedly, Fernandez enjoyed boxing and was nicknamed Congrejo or Crab. Despite disputing many of the most popular details, Celaya recalled that at least one part of the of the Fernandez legend was true. He did crawl into homes through open windows, but not to bite or kill the women inside. Apparently, Fernandez propositioned them. In fact, some of Ontario's single ladies may have welcomed the nighttime visitor. Celaya told La Gazeta Mercantil, I still remember that years ago, those situations generated a joke among the inhabitants of the

city. They said that single women, over 50 years old, hung up little signs saying they were alone for him to enter. So there's a chance that Florentio Fernandez was just the local Don Juan, and the story of the cave-dwelling vampire who terrorized the town of Monteros was another local fable that slowly evolved from romance to terror. But while the truth about Fernandez's life remains in question, one thing remains clear. Folklore is still very much part of Monteros's culture, like the best stories passed down through the ages, it's a patchwork quilt of different tellings with stitching, hiding the

ragged edges, and hastily concealed holes. Whatever the truth is, the vampire in the window just might be the most complicated local myth of them all. Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers. We'll be back soon with a new episode. You can find more episodes of serial killers and all are the Spotify Originals from podcast 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 Scott Strannic, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden, and Bruce Katovich. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Mallory Cara, with writing assistance by Joe Gera and Joel Callan,

fact-checking by Haley Milliken, and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood. Serial Killers stars Greg Polaro, Olson and Vanessa Richardson. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business. From designing a website to marketing to selling and beyond,

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