Question: who was the character hannibal lecter based on
Answer: Several reporters and investigators have traced the records and whereabouts of the Mexican prison doctor in later years and discovered that `` Salazar '' was in reality Alfredo Ballí Treviño , a physician from an upper - class Monterrey family who was found guilty of murdering a close friend ( and lover ) and mutilating his body ; he was also suspected of killing and dismembering several hitchhikers in the city outskirts during the late 1950s and early 1960s .