Agustín Salas del Valle
Agustín Salas del Valle (born 1964) is a Mexican serial killer, it is believed that he murdered more than 20 women in the Central Zone between 1989 and 1993; although he was only condemned for one of the homicides. He was known as "Jack the Strangler", "The Women Strangler" and "The Mata-Meretrices". Modus operandi. He intercepted his victims in the streets (all women between 20 and 40 years old, mostly sex workers), driving them to hotels in Mexico City's Central Zone. He would rent a room, threaten the women and strike them, later violating  them; finally, he murdered them, mainly by strangulation with improvised objects in the room (the killer's clothing, the victim's own clothing, drapery cords, cables for household appliances, etc.), although he sometimes stabbed them. He left the half-naked bodies abandoned in the room, usually wrapped up in covers and hidden under the bed. Sometimes he would leave messages written on mirrors and walls. Unresolved cases. At the end of 1989, the corpse of a strangled woman appeared in the Hotel "Magnolia" on Magnolia Street, Guerrero Colonia, Mexico City. This crime was considered an isolated incident, but in a  short time, at the beginning of 1990, a second woman died in very similar conditions, followed by another 2 in September of the same year. It was evident that there was a link between the crimes, and the evolving method of murder of the perpetrator and their episodic character, suspicions of a serial killer came up. The crimes continued until 1993, when del Valle was arrested for the murder of a sex worker, and after his arrest he became the main suspect in all the cases. But his guilt could not be proven, in total 27 of the 30 cases  attributed to "Jack the Strangler" were unresolved and became cold cases. In addition, several details made the authorities firmly believe that it was the work of either copycats of multiple serial killers. Suspects. Before the arrest of Agustín Salas, the police arrested several men that were suspected of being the strangler: the first was Jaime Meza Roque on December 14, 1990, after the murder of the ninth victim after hitting a prostitute, but his involvement in the crimes could not be proven. In addition, during Roque's imprisonment, the Strangler continued to attack. He was only prosecuted for the physical  aggression inflicted on Rocío Pérez Hernández. On September 9, 1992, sex worker Raquel Cisneros was murdered in the style of the "Mata-prostitutes" after being raped and strangled with the strap of her purse. At first the crime was attributed to the serial killer, but this time the murderer behaved sloppy because he let many people see him leave the hotel with the victim and going out alone, leaving fingerprints and DNA samples all over the room and the body. It was evident it was the Strangler's doing. On September 25, José Luis Ornelas Angulo was arrested, sixteen days  after the crime, who was convicted of this homicide. On October 10, 1992, the body of Martha Martínez García, a 25-year-old sex worker, was found. As in Ornelas' case, the perpetrator made rookie mistakes. The crime scene was a copy of the Strangler's first murder. It even took place in the original murder location, the "Magnolia" hotel. In addition, that same day another woman was killed but the refined and violent details attributed to the Strangler. Thirteen days later, on October 23, José Enrique Martínez Morales declared himself the Strangler, but no matter how much tried to  prove it, he could not describe the crime scene correctly due to his knowledge being from the media. He was a simple imitator anxious for recognition and he was detained for the aforementioned homicide. On April 14, 1993, Filadelfo Miranda Rivera was arrested for trying to strangle a prostitute, but had verified alibis for most of the crimes of the Strangler, and it could not be proven that he was connected to any of them. He was only convicted for attempted murder. Arrest of Agustín Salas. On April 6, 1993, the body of a sex worker was found in a  hotel. The details of the crime were shocking: the woman was brutally beaten and stabbed, raped and killed by strangulation with a tie (which was later proven to belong to the murderer); the heart was removed with surgical precision, and the body was left on the bed with arms and legs extended, covered in blankets; the perpetrator had drawn a pentagram and a circle, along with the acronym "CO" and several scribbles. Witnessed gave a description of a man who entered with the victim. On August 7, 1993, after the Strangler had killed two other victims, Agustín Salas del Valle , a 29-year-old accounting student, was arrested. Testimonies that affirmed his entrance with the woman and his later exit alone, in addition to forensics exams, made Salas accept his fault. He never confessed, nor could it be proven that he had connections to the other murders, but the crime on April 6 (which brought several aggravating circumstances) was enough to condemn Salas to 50 years in prison. After his arrest, the crimes stopped.