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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | February 2006 
Mexican Judge Orders Serial-Killer Suspect Held Over for Trial
 Associated Press
| | In this undated photo, suspected Mexico City serial killer, Juana Barraza _ who prosecutors describe as the 'Mataviejitas,' or 'Little Old Lady Killer', is seen in her wrestling uniform when her stage name was 'The Silent Lady,' in Mexico City. Barraza, who has been linked to the deaths of at least 10 elderly women, worked as a female professional wrestler, police say. (AP |
Mexico City – A Mexico City judge ordered a female wrestler to stand trial on homicide charges for the Jan. 25 strangulation killing of an 82-year-old woman; authorities suspect her in about 10 other killings, but have not yet brought formal charges in those cases.
The trial will apparently be held in a courtroom at Mexico City's Santa Martha Acatitla prison, where suspect Juana Barraza, 48 – who prosecutors describe as the “Mataviejitas,” or “Little Old Lady Killer” – is currently being held, the government news agency Notimex reported.
Prosecutors have suggested Barraza acted out of anger, apparently because her mother abandoned her as a young girl to a man who allegedly sexually abused her; but they have also said she was conscious of, and responsible for, her acts.
The homicide charge – equivalent to the most serious form of the crime, implying premeditation – usually carries a maximum sentence of around 50 years. Multiple sentences are usually served concurrently in Mexico, where there is no death penalty or formal life imprisonment.
Police say the short-haired, robust Barraza – whose physique originally led police to question transvestites in the case – may have been acting out of anger against her own mother, around the same age as the victims.
Barraza has described on the tape how she gained access to her last victim, Ana Maria Reyes; she was arrested shortly after leaving Reyes' house when a neighbor tipped off a passing police patrol car.
Prosecutors said she has confessed to four killings, and her fingerprints match those in a total of 10 cases. |
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