A couple suspected of killing at least 10 women and selling the baby of one of their victims has been arrested in México state, authorities said yesterday.
State police detained the man and woman Thursday after they left a house in Ecatepec, a densely populated municipality in greater Mexico City that is notorious for crime including femicides.
México state Attorney General Alejandro Gómez said in a video posted to Facebook that the couple came under investigation after reports were filed relating to the disappearance of three women in Ecatepec in April, July and September this year.
“From our investigations, we have been able to establish that the three women reported as missing had . . . some kind of relationship with this couple,” he said.
One of the women disappeared along with her two-month-old baby daughter.
Gómez said the couple was placed under surveillance and observed Thursday in the neighborhood of Jardines de Morelos with a baby carriage inside which police hoped to find the missing baby.
Instead, investigators found a black bag containing human remains that the couple intended to dispose of in a nearby vacant lot, the attorney general said.
Police are working to recover more body parts from the vacant lot and two other addresses in Jardines de Morelos that were allegedly used by the couple to hide their crimes, Gómez said.
The remains will be subjected to forensic testing for identification purposes. The motive for the killings is unclear.
According to a report in the newspaper El Universal, the detained man, identified only as Juan Carlos N., lured women to the couple’s home in the neighborhood of Jardines de Morelos under the pretext of showing them clothes, mobile phones and wine for sale.
To allay any concerns the women may have had, he also provided them with the telephone number of his wife, identified as Patricia N.
Once inside their home, Juan Carlos killed the women and then, along with his wife, cut their bodies into small pieces before disposing of them in a vacant lot near their home or burning them, authorities said.
Questioned by police, Juan Carlos admitted to killing at least 10 women but said the number could be as high as 20. He expressed no remorse for his actions, police said.
The couple also admitted to selling the missing two-month-old baby, reportedly for 15,000 pesos (US $800).
Based on the information they provided, the infant girl was found and the couple who “purchased” her were arrested, Gómez said. She has now been returned to her grandmother “safe and sound,” he added.
There were at least 2,585 murders of women in Mexico in 2017, according to official statistics, and of the total México state recorded the highest number.
Source: El Universal (sp)
