‘La Bestia’: The Most Prolific Serial Killer in Colombian History
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It was November 7th, 1998. A group of boys in Pereira, Colombia, were playing soccer in the street. One of them missed a kick, and their ball rolled away and over the side of the road. They chased it into an empty lot, where the ball stopped rolling near a skeleton.

From the looks of things, the dead body couldn't have been much older than them. About a week later, police discovered more bones in a different part of the city. Sadly, this was a common sight, as Colombia was still in the grasp of a brutal civil war. The federal government faced off against far-right paramilitary groups, far-left guerrillas, and the merciless cartels that kept the drug money flowing.

According to historical studies, roughly 220,000 people died during the conflict between 1958 and 2013. Of them, upwards of 80% were civilians. Dead children in vacant lots was just another Tuesday.

Authorities began paying attention when they stumbled upon a mass grave in Pereira with as many as 36 bodies. They were all young boys with signs of binding, mutilation, sexual assault, and prolonged torture. Within weeks, police in the Colombian department of Risaralda had found the bodies of 41 children, 27 of which had gone missing from the same impoverished neighborhood.

Mothers of missing children crowded the morgue to see if their babies were among the bones. Some bodies were so badly decomposed that it was difficult, if not impossible, to tell. And it wasn't like these local cops were running extensive DNA tests. This wasn't the work of leftist guerrillas or right-leaning paramilitary outfits. The drug cartels were ruthless, but they had no reason to rape and murder dozens of children.

At first, police thought it was the work of a satanic cult. Some bodies had their throats cut, others were positioned together and decapitated. Their genitals were severed and stuffed in their mouths, and all their hands were bound by the same nylon rope. It had to be the devil's work, no man could be so evil. But soon, a picture formed, and police got on the trail of a walking abomination.

Newspapers called him "La Bestia" or "The Beast". They believed he was responsible for the rape, torture and murder of over 100 children across Colombia. The scary part is they were wrong. The total figure was likely north of 200.

His name is Luis Garavito. He's the worst serial killer in Colombian history and the most prolific modern murderer of all time when you exclude evil doctors, contract killing groups, and people like Hitler and Stalin. He's responsible for the sexual assault of over 200 young boys. He confessed to killing roughly 193, but claims there could be 30 more. He killed so many that he simply lost count.

In 2001, he was convicted and sentenced to nearly 1,900 years in prison. However, Colombian law at the time limited the maximum sentence one could receive to 60 years. Because Luis helped police find the rest of his victims' bodies, they reduced his sentence to 40 years, making him eligible for parole under Colombian law in 2023.

What drives somebody like Luis Garavito to assault, torture and murder so many young boys? What happened in his past to turn an average kid into la bestia of war-torn Colombia? Part 1: A Monster is Born

Luis Garavito was born in January 1957, in the small coffee bean town of Genova. He was the oldest of seven children born to an abusive, alcoholic father and a neglectful mother. Luis always described his father as a violent womanizer. He was extremely sexist and drank brandy-like water. His parents fought every day, often physically.

His mother would be on the losing end of his father's relentless fists. Luis could only watch and cry. His other siblings were too young to understand. Violence was a constant theme in his life. The civil war crept into their neighborhood, forcing the Garavito family to move for safety. They resettled in the Ceilan district of northern Valle, where Luis finally enrolled in school.

According to his teachers, Luis was an enthusiastic child. He paid attention, followed the rules, and didn't shy away from the other kids in class. But as he got older, the gravity of his violent home life took a significant toll on his mental health. He went into a shell and stopped interacting with other kids. He preferred to play alone at recess and would lash out when other kids made fun of him.

They called him "garabato" or "squiggle" because he wore glasses. Despite the teasing and feeling of inferiority, school offered Luis an escape from his dysfunctional home. Then, in the fifth grade, his father pulled him out and forced him to work. Now that he was older and home more often, Luis understood that his family was drastically different from the other kids at school. The following comes from an interview with Luis Garavito post-conviction:

He described his father as very rigid. Luis's mother showed him little love or affection as a boy. Some of his earliest memories are of his father hitting and cutting his mother. He'd drag her from the house and throw her in the mud outside. His mother was so severely beaten that she was lame while pregnant with one of Luis's brothers, Luis said. "I had the misfortune of being in a family that spent its time arguing, fighting, and throwing words of great caliber.

Luis's father forbade him from having friends. He fell in love with a girl as a teenager, and for that, his father called him a bitch, bastard, and imbecile. He never felt like somebody's son. He was just a being who existed to work and run errands for his father. Work and errands soon turned into sexual favors.

Luis claims that when he and his father fought, it was due to his homosexuality. It's unclear if Luis was referring to his own homosexuality or his father's repressed homosexuality.

When Luis was 12, his father took him for a routine vaccination. The doctor and local phlebotomist was a friend of his father's. According to Luis, the doctor leveraged that friendship to abuse the preteen. He allegedly tortured, beat, and raped young Luis. He bit the boy's private parts, burned him with a candle, and tied him to the bed.

From there, he forced Luis to perform sexual acts that even the beast wasn't comfortable talking about later in life. All he wanted to do at that moment was kill himself. When it was over, Luis says he found two small birds and stoned them to death. He then cut open their bodies and ripped out their guts. The abuse continued for nearly two years as the doctor kept coming around the family farm. All the while, Luis never said anything.

His father would never believe him, and he'd likely catch a worse beating for accusing the upstanding doctor. Luis believes his homosexuality and future pedophilia stem from the doctor's abuse. When his brothers and sisters were young, he'd convince them to get naked and lie in bed with him. He claims he would caress them, and insists that nothing further ever happened. His first inappropriate interaction with a child occurred when Luis was 15 years old.

He claims he lured a young boy behind the local train station and touched him. The boy began screaming, which caught the attention of nearby police officers. That marked the first time Luis was ever taken to jail. While in jail, he thought about the interaction with the boy and why he liked it so much. He enjoyed the struggle. The screams turned him on. He claims the beast was born at that moment.

Then, police let the beast go because they couldn't prove anything illegal had happened. Luis's father kicked him out of the house after he learned about the arrest. He wasn't mad that Luis got caught though. He was mad that Luis got caught assaulting a young boy instead of a young girl. He left the farm and never saw his parents again. From there, he roamed from town to town, winning the affection of other farm owners when he offered to work for food and shelter.

All the while, he harbored resentment for his mother and a burning hatred for his father. He went to sleep at night, dreaming of the day he would return home and kill him. His code name's Jackal. He's an exceptional assassin. Streaming now on Peacock. He will kill again, unless we stop him. Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne. You're paying me to kill him. I am charging you for getting away.

The Jackal's here. Look at the exits. BAFTA award winner Lashana Lynch. I will find him and I will kill him myself. I like to win. So do I. The Day of the Jackal. Streaming now only on Peacock. Part 2. Going Abroad.

Where would you be if you were kicked out of your parents' house at 16 years old? You have no money, you live in a war-torn country, and you've been raised to believe violence, especially toward women and children, is acceptable. There's a chance the Beast could have course-corrected before his 20th birthday. He began working in a bakery in Armenia, Colombia, where he learned everything he could about the trade.

He started going to church and even fell in love with a girl 10 years older than him, though she only ever saw him as a friend. On his days off, Luis would visit Alcoholics Anonymous to try and quell his drinking. Let's just say the beast never got his first chip. One beer would turn into two or three. Soon, Luis would be guzzling half a bottle of brandy as he worked up the courage to engage a young boy.

He'd venture to Valencia Park, which was known for child prostitution. According to Luis, he knew what he was doing was socially unacceptable. Come morning, he'd fiercely beat his chest and pray as a form of repentance. Luis's urges and violent tendencies crept into his work life. He got into regular fights with coworkers, employers, and customers. He lost his job and his small social circle, which only exacerbated his drinking.

To his credit, he tried talking to a psychiatrist in 1979. He told the doctor he wanted to kill himself because his life was worthless. He never mentioned his lust for young children. Luis soon landed a grocery store gig that required him to work long hours each week. His only days off were half-shifts on Thursdays and Sundays. During those hours, he would travel to the neighboring town of Quimbaya, where young children were easily accessible.

At first, he'd tie them up and molest them. When that didn't quench his perverted thirst, Luis introduced razor blades, candles, and lighters. He'd force them to do unspeakable things. He'd bite them, burn them, and beat them like his father used to beat him. Soon, he learned that the more violent he was, the more intense his orgasms were. Torture became his favorite tool.

Louise kept a small blue notebook on him at all times. It was his diary, where he'd write about each drunken rape and torture session in great detail. Next to them, he'd write psalms from the Bible. He desired a spiritual answer for his depravity and believed quoting the holy book would make him feel better. When the Bible wasn't helping, Louise turned to a different book, Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. "I admired Hitler a lot," Louise said.

I wanted to be like him, to gain power and be respected. Like Hitler, Luis wanted to be seen as important. He wanted to be on television and liked the idea of people talking about him. I wanted to take revenge on many people. I thought that anyone who looked at me badly should be shot. In Pereira, Colombia, Luis began stalking children as they left school. Once, he lured two away by posing as a farmer who needed help with his calves.

He offered them 500 pesos, which was more money than these kids had ever seen. They went without batting an eye. They followed Luis to a coffee plantation far from the public sphere. There, he stripped them, tied them up, and raped them. Luis carried out his attacks in remote wooded areas and coffee plantations. Their remoteness meant nobody would ever disturb him. Until now, Luis hadn't killed anybody.

He'd let the children go after raping them, knowing there was a slim-to-none chance that he'd get in trouble. On the rare occasion that somebody recognized him, Luis would pack up and move elsewhere. His vagrant lifestyle allowed him to operate with impunity. Between 1980 and 1992, Luis raped at least one child each month. Some months, he claims, he assaulted as many as three or four.

He became a master of disguise, posing as priests, school teachers, and street benders. Sometimes, he'd make himself up to look like a hobbled old man. The disguises helped him lower his victims' defenses and prevented them from identifying Luis later on. He did wind up in jail at one point during this stretch, but it didn't have anything to do with raping children. He allegedly stole a woman's necklace, and she reported him to the police.

It's wild to think the most prolific serial rapist and murderer in South America was behind bars for petty theft. It's unclear how long he spent in jail, but we don't believe it was an extended stay. In 1986, Luis became obsessed with Campo Elias Delgado, the man responsible for the Pizzetto massacre, the deadliest mass murder by a lone gunman in Colombian history.

On December 4th, 1986, Delgado walked into Pizzetto, an upscale restaurant in Bogota. He ordered dinner and several drinks before opening fire on the patrons. By the time police arrived, Delgado had shot 32 people, killing 20 of them. The spree only ended when a police officer entered and shot Delgado between the eyes. The story was on every TV and in every newspaper.

By December 6th, 1986, Campo Delgado was Luis Garavito's favorite person. "I focused a lot on Campo," he said. "I loved it because it caught the attention of the whole world." By the late 1980s, Luis had made the city of Pereira his home. It's where he'd ultimately rape and murder the bulk of his victims. Here, he lived a double life. To many, Luis Garavito was a working man with a close-knit social circle.

he met a woman named Graciela Zabaleta and weaseled his way into her home. To Luis and his victims, La Bestia stalked the streets of Pereira, abducting and raping over 80 young boys. Two of his friends suspected Luis was up to something but never said a word. After Luis got caught, one of those friends told the police that Luis drank a lot of liquor and had boys of 12 and 14 years old keep him company in his room.

One night, Luis got drunk and began playing with a Ouija board. He claims he entered a state of psychosis during which the devil asked if Luis wanted to serve him. Luis said he would, so the devil told him to kill. With killing, many things will come. Having abducted and raped over 200 Colombian boys between 1980 and 1992, La Bestia was ready to raise the stakes. He made a deal with the devil

And the devil wanted his due. Part 3: La Bestia On October 1st, 1992, a young boy in Bolivar, Colombia was selling sweets and cigars by the roadside. Luis approached, drunk on brandy, and attempted to lead the boy away. There was a wooded lot behind a nearby motel. He knew he could rape and kill the boy without anybody hearing him scream.

But as Luis led the child away, the police spotted and stopped him. The officer allegedly clobbered him over the head with his revolver. At the station, Luis claims they stole 1000 pesos, a ring, and his watch before letting him go. As for the little boy, he had no idea how close he'd come to being La Bestia's first murder victim.

Three days later, Luis was drunk at a park in Jamundí, Colombia, when he spotted 13-year-old Juan Carlos walking by. Luis followed the boy and watched him stop to play in the park. That's when Luis popped into a nearby store to prepare himself. He bought a butcher's knife, two meters of rope, and the cheapest liquor bottle on the shelf.

Then, just as Juan Carlos was getting ready to leave, Luis approached and offered him 500 pesos to help him with something. Like the other children, Juan's defenses lowered at the thought of so much money. Luis led Juan to a nearby pasture and followed the railroad tracks until he was convinced they were far enough away from civilization. La Bestia drew his blade and began cutting Juan Carlos to ribbons. He remembered what the devil had told him: "Kill!

With killing, many things will come. Six days later, when police found Juan's body, it was mutilated beyond recognition. According to the inspector's report, Luis had knocked out some of the boy's teeth. He cut off the boy's penis and carved out his rectum. The former was found stuffed inside Juan's mouth. Luis claims that he blacked out while killing Juan Carlos. When he awoke, he didn't understand why he was covered in blood.

Then, he looked and saw Juan Carlos' mutilated body. He began to cry and ask, "God, what did I do?" He felt worse days later when Juan's picture and story appeared in the papers. This, of course, could be La Bestia pining for sympathy. If killing Juan made him feel so guilty, why did he do it upwards of 200 more times?

Feeling pressured, Luis fled about 86 miles north to Trujillo, Colombia, to stay with his sister, Esther. Of all his family members, Esther was the only one he stayed in touch with. They were close, but not close enough for Esther to know what her brother was up to. Along the way, Luis stopped in Tuluá, a small town outside Trujillo. He arrived around 10 am and immediately began drinking.

By lunchtime, Luis was sufficiently drunk and ready to claim his next life. He was sitting and listening to music when 12-year-old John Alexander walked by. Suddenly, an unquenchable lust came over Luis. He stalked the boy, lured him away, and murdered him. Before he left, Luis took John's big toe and kept it as a trophy. This ritualistic display, taking the big toe,

became La Bestia's calling card. From his sister's house in Trujillo, Luis went north to La Victoria district, where he lured eight local children away from school over several days. While they were still alive, Luis cut into their bellies and destroyed their digestive tracts. "I felt pressure doing this to the children," he said. "They appeared with their intestines outside. I called it 'Silence of the Lambs.'

Luis loved the movie and claimed to have seen it five times. Fearing that well-trained bloodhounds would find him, Luis got rid of his tow collection and fled 220 miles east to Bogota. There, he raped, mutilated, and murdered seven more children from the city's poorest districts.

Over the next few weeks, Luis bounced between Tolua, Pereira, and Quimbaya, a small town in the Quindío department, about an hour east of La Victoria. He'd stalk and kill children as they left school, sometimes timing his arrivals to kill multiple on the same day. His 1993 killing spree ended with the death of 13-year-old Mauricio Mejia.

When police finally found his body, it was in an advanced state of decomposition. They also refused to comment on the child's injuries. According to one report, Mauricio showed signs of strangulation. Others suggest he was severely cut and burned. It's unclear if Luis spilled his guts and took his toe.

His first kill of 1994 came after finding a 12-year-old boy from Bogota who'd fallen asleep on the bus. He wound up in Tuluá, where Luis lured him away and plied him with cheap brandy. They arrived at a secluded ravine, where Luis stripped the boy naked. That's when a horrible odor overcame them.

Luis investigated the smell, only to find a skull and the remains of a child he had previously killed in this exact location. And they weren't the only ones. Luis and the 12-year-old from Bogota were currently sitting on a mass grave of La Bestia's victims. The child used the distraction to grab Luis's blade and slash at him. He cut the tendons in Luis's left hand, but it wasn't enough to escape.

La Bestia overpowered and had his way with the boy before killing him and leaving him with the others. Luis continued this pattern of moving and killing for several years. Between 1992 and 1999, it's believed he killed upwards of 200 children between a dozen different towns and cities. Authorities believe that, in 1998, Luis traveled abroad to Ecuador, where he killed two boys from the town of Chone,

14-year-old Abel Velez had worked every day since he was eight selling newspaper. He'd shine shoes and run errands, anything he could to raise money for his family. On July 20th, 1998, Abel left home and was never seen again. His mother still remembers putting dinner on the table and waiting for Abel to return. While the police couldn't prove Luis's involvement in his death,

or the death of 12-year-old Jimmy Anchundilla, their respective mothers believe La Bestia was responsible. He admitted as much after his capture in 1999. He also claimed to have killed a boy in Venezuela, though information around those reports is foggy. Part 4: Surviving La Bestia Few children ever crossed paths with Luis Garavito and lived to tell the tale.

Among the youngest was nine-year-old William Trujillo from the Valle del Cauca region of western Colombia. In 1979, he saw some other boys sliding down a hill on a piece of cardboard and wanted to join. As he ran, 22-year-old Luis snatched him and held him tightly around the neck. He flashed a machete and told the boy to be quiet. "Don't make noise, don't scream, don't do anything because I'll kill you," he said.

Luis took William to an abandoned house where he raped and tortured the boy for 12 grueling hours. When he sensed somebody lurking outside, he'd grab William's mouth and tell him to keep quiet. According to William, Luis finally let him go around 5 o'clock the following morning. Other sources claim Luis passed out drunk and William managed to escape.

Carlos Alberto, a 10-year-old boy from Quindío, crossed paths with Luis in the early 1990s. He claims Luis offered him several gifts and 200 pesos in exchange for work. Instead, he led the boy to a secluded hill where he bound, raped, and tortured him. When it was over, Luis asked Carlos if he enjoyed it. Carlos nodded and said he did, fearing that Luis would kill him if he said otherwise.

Luis untied him and left, saying, "See you next week." The next surviving victim was Brand Alvarez, a 16-year-old boy who helped his father run a cockfighting ring, which is legal in Colombia. Luis saw Brand tending the roosters one day and approached him with a knife. He took the teen to a secluded spot, where he bound and assaulted him. He stabbed Brand seven times with a screwdriver and beat him into submission.

Somehow, Brand found the strength to untie his ropes and fend Luis off. He escaped with his life and returned to his father's cockfighting ring. We believe he was among the last of Luis's victims. La Bestia's last victim ultimately led to his capture. It was April 22nd, 1999. Twelve-year-old John Sabugal was selling lottery tickets in the city of Villavicencio.

Drunk on brandy, Luis approached John and introduced himself as a local politician. When the boy relaxed, Luis brandished a knife and told him to be quiet and do everything he said. They got into a taxi and Luis had the driver take them outside of town. From there, he forced John to climb a barbed wire fence leading to a remote hillside. He tied John up and began screaming obscenities while masturbating over him.

In the distance, a homeless 16-year-old heard the struggle and went to investigate. He saw Luis and began hurling rocks at him. The distraction allowed John to escape, and both boys fled as a drunken Luis stumbled while chasing them. The boys escaped into a farmhouse and locked the door behind them. There, they met a 12-year-old girl who was willing to cover for them.

She bravely approached Luis when he arrived and told him the boys had run off into the woods. He ran off and ultimately got lost. Meanwhile, the boys contacted the local police. A search ensued, and officers found Luis walking out of the woods later that night. John, the homeless teen, and the 12-year-old girl all positively identified Luis.

Police arrested him on the spot for attempted rape, not knowing they had just captured one of the worst serial killers in human history. Part 5: Hunting La Bestia Colombian authorities realized they had a serial killer on their hands in 1998 when they discovered the mass grave of 36 children in Pereira, Colombia. Soon, they began piecing together similar reports about dead bodies in other states.

Their killer had a distinct modus operandi, or MO. It helped police rule out drug cartels and guerrilla fighters. This was the work of a sick and twisted individual. La Bestia targeted young children from poor and humble backgrounds. They were easily manipulated with the promise of money, gifts, candy, or work. Ironically, Luis was terrified of the dark.

So, unlike most killers, he struck in broad daylight. It may have worked in his favor, as people tend to let their guard down during the day. Furthermore, Luis disguised himself as people these children would inherently trust. One day, he'd be a priest. Another, he'd be a school teacher. He'd even use makeup to appear as an elderly man. One by one, he'd lure young boys to the same secluded location until that site became a mass grave.

He'd get them talking about themselves and their family, all while drinking about half a bottle of brandy. Once he was sufficiently drunk, Luis would bind, rape, and torture them to death. Some victims showed ritualistic signs, leading police to believe the killings were the work of some satanic cult at first. While they were still alive, Luis would cut off their genitals and stuff them in the child's mouth.

He'd cut their bellies and spill their guts, all while committing borderline necrophilia. In some cases, police found the bodies impaled through the anus and out the mouth. Others were stabbed dozens, if not hundreds, of times while still alive. Many had their big toes removed. But Luis kicked that trend sometime in 1993. Police determined that the killer would only climax after decapitating the child while they were still alive.

He then leave behind containers of lubricant, nylon cord, and empty bottles of cheap brandy. All three items told police that this was the work of one man. In February 1999, outside the town of Palmyra, police found three dead children in a severely burned sugarcane field. Their hands were bound, and all three showed signs of sexual abuse.

Later, they learned that Luis had passed out naked and drunk at the crime scene with a cigarette in his hand. It fell and set the sugar cane field on fire. Luis later awoke to find himself badly burned. He panicked and fled the scene, leaving his clothes, glasses, and money behind. Police also found a note with a local address scribbled down. Though badly burned, the items were valuable clues.

From the glasses, police determined that their killer was a middle-aged man with astigmatism in his left eye. His shoes suggested the killer was between 5'4" and 5'6". From them, police also determined that their killer walked with a limp. The address on the note led them to the Pereira home of Graciela Zabaleta. They learned that Luis Garavito had been dating and living with her for some time.

She told them about his alcoholism and that he displayed certain antisocial behaviors. Unfortunately, she hadn't seen Luis since December of 1998. He did, however, leave a black cloth suitcase in her possession. She had never opened it but thought the police might be interested. It proved to be the best piece of evidence they could have ever asked for.

Inside, police found several pictures of young boys, presumably Luis's victims. They discovered his blue notebook in which Luis had detailed every murder. It's unclear if police in Villa Vicencio had been holding Luis since the April incident. Reports suggest that he gave a fake name to dissuade them, but nothing seems to confirm his whereabouts between April and July when police finally arrested him for the murders.

While Luis was in jail, police scheduled an eye exam for the entire prison. They did so to make it appear routine, so that Luis wouldn't lie during the exam. In reality, it was all a ploy to prove the glasses found in the burned sugarcane field were, in fact, Luis's. While Luis was away from his cell, police swabbed his pillow and living space for DNA. It matched the samples found on his victims, proving Luis was their killer.

With a mountain of evidence against him, police brought Luis in for questioning in October 1999. He denied the killings at first, but began breaking when officers presented the DNA evidence and his notebook. Luis finally collapsed when one of the officers began reading detailed reports about how some of the bodies were found. Luis couldn't stand the sound of it and confessed to everything. According to reports, he didn't stop talking for 12 straight hours.

He asked the police for a map on which he detailed every mass grave around Colombia. He circled the cities he hunted in and tallied the victims from each one. By the end, police were looking at over 140 dead bodies, and those were just the ones Luis was willing to talk about. "Every time I drank alcohol, I would go looking for a child," he said. He told police that a strange force overtook him and convinced him to find new victims.

He told them he made a pact with the devil to justify the torture and mutilation. To wrap it all up, he blamed his father and the abuse he allegedly suffered as a child. Remember, all those stories about being sexually assaulted are from Luis's mouth and have not been confirmed by police or other outside sources. Part 6: The Trial and Death of La Bestia

As he awaited trial, Luis Garavito displayed a tendency toward depression and suicidal thoughts. Colombian authorities placed him in a high-security facility under constant supervision to prevent him from hurting himself. His trial began in December 2001. It's unclear who his attorneys were and what kind of defense they tried to mount.

If we had to guess, they likely leaned on Luis's alleged childhood trauma, his alcoholism, and his mental health disorders. Meanwhile, the prosecution laid out their case, painting a monster who knew damn well what he was doing. Sure, he was drunk while doing it, but his actions during and after the murders suggest Luis was aware of his crimes, and sometimes regretted them.

In the end, Luis was found guilty of killing 138 out of a suspected 172 young boys. He was sentenced to 1,853 years and nine days in prison, the longest sentence ever handed down in Colombian history.

However, under Colombian law, the maximum time someone can spend in prison is 60 years. And, no matter what, they'll be eligible for parole after serving three-fifths of their sentence. That changed in 2020, when Colombian President Ivan Duque passed a constitutional amendment stating that life sentences could be handed down for those found guilty of raping and murdering children.

We believe Luis was grandfathered into the old maximum sentence laws. Because he helped police find his victims' bodies, Colombian authorities reduced his sentence to 40 years, meaning he'd be eligible for parole after the first 24. Luis was also a model prisoner whose good behavior knocked a few more years off his sentence. Colombia was up in arms when reports came out that Luis could be paroled as early as 2023.

In 2021, the National Prison Institute asked a judge to release Luis because of his exemplary behavior in prison. The judge denied the request because Luis hadn't paid a fine for his victims.

How much was that fine, you ask? About $41,000. $41,000 for 138 confirmed young lives, 172 suspected young lives, and possibly over 220 lives in general, including those of several adults. Still, Luis remained hopeful that he'd become a free man again.

He expressed plans to become a member of Colombian Congress and enter the church as a Pentecostal pastor. He wanted to get married and start a charity to help abused children upon release. Thankfully, none of those aspirations came true. Luis's health began failing in the late 2010s. He developed leukemia and severe eye cancer, which left him blind and weak.

He spent his last few years in the medical ward of Vajaydupar's maximum security prison, making tiny necklaces and earrings. He ultimately died on October 12th, 2023, at 66 years old. It's unclear if Colombia would have paroled him had he lived a few more months. As for the victims and their families, 200+ murders might seem incomprehensible. The reality is more upsetting.

According to former BBC journalist Timothy Ross, kids disappear all the time in Colombia, especially those from poorer regions. Since 2000, Ross has dedicated himself to working with juvenile prostitutes and young drug users in the Bogota area. La Bestia thrived in an environment where nobody asked questions when a child went missing. Even now, the numbers are sickening.

Almost two minor children are killed every day in Colombia as of 2020. More than 22,000 were victims of sex crimes in 2019, of which 708 suffered violent deaths. Colombia may have changed the laws to crack down on child predators, but do those changes matter if the perpetrators are never caught? "These were poor kids that nobody cares about," a local street vendor said after Luis's arrest.

If it had been rich kids disappearing, the cops would have been on top of the case from the beginning. Another woman, Blanca Perez, said: "They should take him out and execute him in public." Her son used to sell newspapers on the streets of Pereira before he went missing in 1996. "They should slice him up, just as he sliced up so many of these children." It's unclear if her son fell victim to La Bestia or the corrupt conditions that helped him thrive.