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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | April 2008 
Mexican Serial Killer Sentenced
 Associated Press
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| | Juana Barranza, known as the "old lady killer," speaks through a security glass during a review of her sentencing, at a women's prison in Mexico City, Monday, March 31, 2008. Barranza was charged for killing 16 elderly women in 2006, and has received a sentence of 759 years in prison for the crimes. (AP/Gregory Bull) | | |
Mexico City — A former female wrestler who terrorized Mexico City as the "Little Old Lady Killer" was sentenced to 759 years in jail on Monday for killing 16 elderly women.
Juana Barraza, 50, admitted to killing four women over the age of 70 out of anger toward her elderly mother.
She said she did not kill the others and did not agree with Monday's sentence, but prosecutors say her fingerprints matched those in the 12 other cases.
The series of murders created a wave of fear among elderly women in Mexico City and lurid speculation in the press. The killer's robust physique originally led police to round up scores of transvestites for questioning, angering gay rights activists.
Barraza was captured in 2006 leaving the house of Ana Maria Reyes, 82, who had been strangled with a stethoscope.
As a professional wrestler in earlier years, she was known by her stage name as "The Silent Lady."
Female serial killers are rare in any country. They make up only 8 percent of all serial killers in the United States.
Serious homicide charges usually carry a maximum sentence of around 50 years and multiple sentences are generally served concurrently in Mexico, where there is no death penalty or formal life imprisonment. |
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