A couple known as the “monsters of Ecatepec” — they admitted to killing at least 20 women in México state — have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a 13-year-old girl in 2012.
Juan Carlos Hernández Bejar and Patricia Martínez Bernal, arrested in Ecatepec, México state, in October 2018 while wheeling a baby carriage containing human remains, have now been sentenced for 10 crimes including nine femicides.
A district court judge in Ecatepec, a sprawling municipality that is notorious for crime, agreed that evidence presented by the México state Attorney General’s Office was sufficient to prove their guilt in the murder of the girl, a neighbor of the couple.
Hernández and Martínez were also issued with a fine of 311,650 pesos (US $15,250). The victim was lured into the couple’s home on April 12, 2012 and Hernández attacked her with a sharp object, causing her death.
He then mutilated the girl’s body and together with Martínez placed the various parts in plastic bags and a sack that were dumped on a vacant lot.
The couple, who confessed to eating the remains of some of their victims, were first sentenced in April 2019 to 15 years’ imprisonment for the murder of a woman whose baby they sold.
In May 2019, they were given an additional 4 1/2 years in jail for human trafficking, namely the selling of the baby to another couple.
The couple were given several separate prison sentences between June and October 2019 for the murder of seven woman and a child. The sentences added up collectively to more than 300 years in jail.
An additional 40 years were added to the couple’s jail time in March 2020 for another femicide while the latest life imprisonment ruling was handed down on Wednesday.
Investigators found that Hernández, a self-declared misogynist, and Martínez lured women to their apartment on the pretext of selling used clothes and other items. Some of the women were sexually abused before they were killed and Hérnandez maintained a relationship with one of his victims before Martínez grew jealous and ordered her murder.
Prosecutors said in 2018 that both Hernández and Martínez had been subjected to psychiatric testing.
The former was found to have both psychotic and personality disorders while the latter has suffered from mental retardation since birth and also presented signs of delirium. Both, however, know the difference between right and wrong, the testing determined.
Source: El Universal (sp)
