The hunt for the Little Old Lady Killer | Forensic Files

[Music] when 20-year-old Matthew Lon failed to return home after a night out clubbing
in Sydney his loved ones were worried sick suspicion soon fell on Matt's partner 45-year-old Michael Atkins after
it was revealed that the pair were fighting on the night of Matt's disappearance but was that unfortunate
timing or did Atkins have something to hide Maddie is the latest podcast from casar presents a 10p part series ated by
Lauren o'' Keef from the missing person's advocacy Network Maddie from case File presents
is available to stream for free right now only on Spotify stay tuned until the end of
today's episode to hear the trailer [Music] our episodes deal with serious and often
distressing incidents if you feel at any time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested
phone numbers for confidential support please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our
website it was the evening of Tuesday January 24 2006 and Mexico City Zena coloso was alive with the thunderous
cheers of a 5,000 strong crowd the venue was hosting Lucha Libre a traditional form of professional Freestyle Wrestling
celebrated for its high energy and Dramatics the headline match was an Incredibles event with the good guy
technos and dirty dealing rudos mixed together on two teams of three h wrestler referred to as a
Luchador proudly displayed his individual persona in the color and pattern combinations of his lier costume
and mask whether technico or rudo Spectators encouraged their favorites and taunted
their Rivals the luchadores put on a show thrilling the crowd with shooting star
Dives over the ropes Flying Kicks to the chest and body slams from a top posts then in a carefully disguised
illegal maneuver veteran rudo wrestler universo 2000 conducted a low blow kick to the groin of rising star technico dos
caras junr with lightning quick reflexes dos caras Jr caught the kick in a follow-up
move that broke one of the most sacred rules of Lucha Libre universo tore away dos caras Jr's mask revealing his
face the crowd booed and Jered universo and his team were immediately disqualified the match was
over just before 2:30 p.m. the following day and only a few kilomet from the now
dormant Arena coliseo Howell Lopez made his way along Jose hoto Street the 25-year-old student had just
finished his shift awaiting tables and was heading to the house he shared with his lter lady 82-year-old Ana Maria
Reyes the pair lived independently in separate areas of the building accessed via a communal
entryway upon entering his home that Wednesday afternoon Howell noticed the door to Anna Maria's portion of the
house was open and decided to pop in for a quick hello but before her well could enter a
tall broad muscular figure sudden ly burst out of Anna Maria's room wearing black pants and a red
sweater the person knocked her well aside then barged down the hallway and out the front
door after pulling himself together Howell called out to his land lady there was no
response he walked cautiously into Anam Maria's living room then stopped in his tracks Ana Maria was lying on on her
back on the tiled floor her legs were crossed at the ankles and both her hands were curled
into fists blood covered her badly beaten face and a stethoscope was tightly wrapped around her throat
[Music] [Music] at first the numbers were small enough for the authorities to ignore it started in May 1998 with Maria
saleda Maria had been found in her home in the medell district of Mexico City strangled to death with a C
by the end of that year two more women had been murdered a further six were killed over
the next 4 years as there had been more than 3,300 homicides in Mexico City during that
time frame alone these nine murders failed to raise any alarms that all changed by the end of
2003 that year 12 more elderly women were killed nearly all had been strangled in
their homes with objects such as cables scarves telephone cords and on numerous occasions a
stethoscope police had finally noticed the pattern and on November 5 2003 they indicated that a serial killer might be
on the loose the media dubbed this person El matavia heus the little old lady killer
2004 marked an escalation in the Killer's violence of the 16 women murdered that
year 12 had also been beaten one had even been bodys slammed all of the victims were middle
or lower class women who lived alone and habitually frequented their local park or public
garden it was also discovered that since 2001 they had all registered with the state government social welfare program
for senior citizens known as Cal created by the left leaning governor of Mexico City andrees Manuel Lopez
orador this program afforded free health care and public transport to those aged
over 70 as well as a stipend which was the equivalent of about7 us a month it was believed that El matava hus
had followed each of these women home from the park and monitored their movements to determine if they lived
alone based on papers found at some of the crime scenes and the use of a stethoscope as a ligature police deduced
that the killer had pretended to be a medical representative of Cal this ruse led to the women willingly
letting him into their homes once inside he would strangle his victims before rumaging through her head
house for any jewelry or small valuables despite the growing list of victims Governor Lopez operador
disagreed with the police and refused to accept that there was a serial killer active in Mexico
City instead he claimed that the deaths were a political maneuver designed to derail his welfare program for senior
citizens and jeopardize his upcoming presidential campaign the governor's position was publicly
supported by Mexico City's attorney and chief prosecutor Bernardo batis despite acknowledging that some of
the murders were similar batis was certain that there was no little old lady [Music]
killer the government's denial couldn't be sustained indefinitely just 11 days into 2005
another elderly woman was strangled to death this time with a white scarf between February and July a
further eight women were murdered the majority beaten and strangled this prompted the state
prosecutor's office via the deputy prosecutor to finally confirm the indisputable existence of el matava
heus by October 2005 seven more elderly women had lost their lives now accepting the danger Chief
prosecutor batis was outraged that someone was targeting such vulnerable members of society claiming that even
criminals and delinquents respected their grandmothers despite the growing threat
investigative efforts lagged until 82-year-old Maria Gonzalez was found a deceased on her living room floor lying
on her back with her legs crossed at the ankle Maria had been beaten and strangled
becoming the 44th elderly woman killed in this manner since 1998 her son was a renowned Mexican
criminologist and as she was a family member of one of their own police were finally compelled to increase their
efforts to hunt down El matava heus they launched a specialized task force named Operation parks and Gardens
to to investigate the killings and distributed 70,000 Flyers warning the community of the
danger based on witness reports El matus was approximately 45 years old between 170 and
175 cm tall with a robust muscular physique light brown complexion wide overal face and short
hair police produced a total of 60 four sketches of the possible killer they also increased their Patrols in
neighborhoods previously targeted and reportedly paid elderly women to sit in Parks as
bait investigators struggled to formulate a list of suspects as the perpetrator didn't leave behind any
major clues that could lead to his identity Chief prosecutor Bernardo batis described the killer as a criminal who
acts alone takes a lot of care and has brilliant intelligence police weren't at a
complete loss however as unidentified partial fingerprints had been found at 10 of the crime
scenes in an effort to better understand the person they sought officers for operation parks and Gardens participated
in a week-long course on serial killers it was taught by the French police who had previously tracked down a
serial killer named tiar paan dubbed the monster of monm Matra Pan's crimes shared notable similarities
to those committed by El matava heas he had murdered up to 21 elderly women and his slayings were
characterized by beatings robberies and strangulations as described by author Susanna Vargas sentes the Paris Police
Inspector who conducted the training told the Mexican police officers that the arrest of poan had not been due to
quote chance or luck because that does not exist Less Than 3 weeks later hoell Lopez discovered the brutalized body of
his land lady Ana Maria Reyes on her living room floor quickly snapping out of the shock
her well spun around and ran back out of the house to catch up with the person who'd fled the building the moment he
arrived looking up and down the street he caught sight of the muscular figure in black pants and a red sweater fleeing
North by chance two policemen were on patrol only meters away they heard Howell shouting for
their attention ordering them to pursue the person up ahead the officers took off and cornered
the individ ual who swung two bags at their heads in a failed attempt to avoid capture a search of these bags uncovered
a folder that contained the details of several women registered with the government's elderly assistance
program there was also a c vet identification badge and several medical instruments the officers considered what
they had before them an elderly woman had just been murdered and the suspect in custody was
tall muscular with short hair and was in possession of Cal paraphenalia realization
dawned they had just apprehended El matavia heus within minutes the area was swarming with additional police as well
as Chief prosecutor Bernardo batis and a crowd of reporters to their astonishment
the killer before them was a woman the little old lady killer was 48-year-old hanana
Baraza case File will be back shortly thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode
sponsors according to crime data the average home Breakin lasts between between 8 and 10 minutes that's why you
need a home security system that responds quickly and forcefully for those on the case File team that's
simply safe home security at Simply Safe your safety is the only thing that matters they protect
you with Cutting Edge security technology powered by monitoring agents who always have your back here's why we
love it with Simply Safe your home is monitored 24/7 using proprietary Advanced response Techni technology if
one of their monitoring agents detect a threat they'll dispatch police or First Responders straight away even if you're
not home or can't be reached Simply Save blanket your home in protection with Advanced sensors for
every room window and door there are HD security cameras for inside and outside as well as smarter ways to detect motion
that only alert you when a thread is real Simply Safe even has Hazard sensor that instantly detect fires floods and
other threats you can't put a price on that peace of mind customize the perfect system for
your home in just a few minutes at simply safe.com casefile go today and claim a free
indoor security camera plus 20% off with interactive monitoring go to simplys safe.com SLC
casefile there's no safe like Simply Safe wealthy businessman Casey Parker has been murdered you and a dedicated
team of private detectives have been hired to solve the case the only problem the suspect list is long and the list of
potential evidence is even longer who's on your side who can you trust be the first to solve the mystery
when you order case File truth and deception the riveting endless replayable strategy board game based on
our podcast put yourself in the detective's shoes with case File truth and deception using 44 beautifully
Illustrated cards players take turns trading evidence to get closer to the truth but remember this is a game of
deception as well someone might plant false evidence to throw you and the other detectives off
track be the first detective to solve this crime by correctly naming the suspect weapon motive and location of
Casey's murder and bring the killer to Justice same victim different crime will you solve it
first case File truth and deception is 100% fictional and not based on any real life events it is available now in the
US at Walmart and in the UK at Argos and Smith's toys it's also available to purchase online at Amazon to learn more
visit our our website casefile podcast.com and click on the game Link at the top of the
page thank you for listening to this episode's ads by supporting our sponsors you support case File to continue to
deliver quality content what struck most people when they first set eyes on hanana Baraza was
her side she was taller than the average Mexican man and towered over almost every
woman Juana was also broad shouldered robustly athletic and wore her hair short consequently she was often
described as masculine in appearance her physicality was intentional something she had worked to
increase over the years since her 30s hanana barazza had trained at least twice a week doing
sit-ups running stairs and lifting weights all in support of her career as a Lucha Libre
wrestler inside the ring hanana had fashioned herself into one of the villains of wrestling opting to embody a
rule breaking Rudder instead of a straight shooting Technica her chosen stage name was
ladama Del silencio the silent lady which she claimed reflected her quiet nature and isolated
lifestyle as the silent lady hanana barazza wore a short sleeved pink golden silver unitard cinched at the waist with
a large silver butterfly belt buckle she matched it with a pair of pink and gold C high boots and a pink
and silver butterfly mask wab barazza spent her wrestling career performing on weekends in the
smaller Regional areas across Mexico on average she earned the equivalent of about
$25 per match which was generally not enough to support herself and her family to supplement her income she
performed domestic services such as cleaning washing and ironing around her neighborhood during particularly Harsh
Times hanana also resorted to petty theft she stole from shops and markets and eventually gradu ated to home
burglaries hanana barazza performed as the silent lady for 10 years until one day in 2001 when she injured her spine
during a match doctors gave her a choice give up wrestling or become paralyzed hanana reluctantly retired
from the ring she remained connected to the industry by becoming a Lucha Libre promoter only only one week before her
capture hanana was interviewed live on National Television by Mexican station TV as
teer she was standing inside the arena coloso wearing a red shirt and speaking about her time as a former
luchadora a smiling hanana told the interviewer that she was a ruda both in the ring and at
home a ruda from the bottom of her heart [Music] two days after hanana Bar's arrest the
president of the national Center for criminal investigation admitted that her capture was a result of good luck rather
than good police work the public would soon discover exactly how ineffective the authorities
had been in their investigations in the year prior to Juana Bar's capture police had received
numerous sightings of a tall broad shouldered woman near multiple crime scenes months earlier in July 2005
83-year-old ignasia pbla had answered her door to a tall broad shouldered woman with short hair who identified
herself as being from the government's elderly assistance program after she entered the home the
woman realized that ignasia was not alone her son was staying there recovering from from a broken
leg the woman offered to look at an x-ray of the leg and even checked ignasia blood
pressure at that point another of ignasia children arrived at her home and the woman hastily made her
exit ignasia and her children didn't realize until some time later that the woman had stolen some of ignasia
belongings a partial fingerprint lifted from the X-ray hand by the woman was considered a very close match to hanana
Baraza her fingerprints were also notably similar to partial prints uncovered at 10 of the murder
scenes despite growing indications that El matavia heus was a woman police had been reluctant to pursue this line of
Investigation instead they reconciled the witness accounts by assuming the killer must have been a men dressed in
women's clothing they were convinced that a woman would not have the requisite strength to beat and strangle these
elderly victims without any evidence pointing to such a conclusion the police then
decided that the killer must either be a gay man or a trans Woman based on this assumption in
October 2005 about 3 months prior to the capture of hanana Baraza police arrested
nearly 50 trans sex workers as murder suspects despite none matching any description of el matavia
heus when none of their fingerprints matched those found at any of the crime scenes all of these trans women were
released despite this Chief prosecutor Bernardo batis remained convinced that the killer had to be a gay man or a
trans woman some specul ated that batis was blindly aligning his theory to the French experience with the monster of
monm Matra tiari paan paulan was a gay man and a drag queen who had disguised himself in
women's clothes when committing his murders in any case now that the authorities had hanana Baraza in custody
they were intent on proving that she was the killer of Mexico City's grandmothers
back in November 2005 a three-dimensional bust was constructed out of modeling clay and plasticene in
the likeness of the unidentified El matavia heus this bust was wheeled out during
the Press Conference held on the day of hanana Bar's arrest and the similarities
were clear the media noted that the bast lauana was also wearing a red sweater this sweater shaped theories
around a possible motive for the slangs with some speculating that its color was
a testament to Juana's aggressive nature a Department of Justice officer determined that hanana was menstruating
at the time of her capture and claimed that this combined with the full moon had led her to
kill another theory was put forward by consultant criminologist Martin Baron and Dr feggy ostroski the neuros
psychologist who assessed hanana barazza post arrest they believed that hanana had
been driven to kill after being deprived of her previous outlet for aggression once she could no longer
perform as a luchadora due to her injury she resorted to committing murder for emotional
release the truth behind Juana's actions came from the woman herself almost immediately after her
arrest she confessed to murdering Anna Maria Reyes and in doing so revealed her true feelings towards elderly women in
general she told homicide detectives that she hated old women quote I know it's not an excuse that I
do not deserve forgiveness from God or from anyone when I saw the old ladies I felt
a lot of anger and more when they showed superiority or believed that they could
humiliate me for their money according to hanana her hatred was fueled by her relationship with her
mother hanana barazza was born in 1957 in a rural town north of Mexico City her mother husta was an alcoholic teenager
who worked as a domestic cleaner and occasional sex worker her father Trinidad was a truck
driver and sheep farmer who abandoned his family when hanana was only a few months
old husta relocated herself and baby hanana to Mexico City where she eventually married a man named herard
Hernandez who by all accounts was a loving parent to hanana and the two children he and huster had
together but finances were very tight and the family could barely afford to eat Han and her siblings slept on the
ground each night with only bags of cement to keep them warm huster and herado were absent from
the home much of the time consequently hanana cooked cleaned and raised her younger
siblings herado did not think education was important for girls whom he believed
were only destined to become Housewives and so hanana never learned to read or write she was also not permitted to
attend school play in the streets or socialize with children her own age hanana felt little support from her
mother husta who constantly verbally and physically abused her their relationship reached its
lowest point when husta traded 13-year-old hanana to a 62-year-old man named Jose Lugo in exchange for three
beers Lugo told hanana that she would never see her family again unable to believe that her mother
could do such a horrible thing hanana thought it must have been a joke and that her mother would return to collect
her momentarily when that did not happen hanana held out hope that her stepfather
herado would rescue her unbeknown to hanana husta had told her husband that hanana had run away she
insisted that he shouldn't try to find her on the first night of her enslavement hanana was beaten tied to
the bed by her wrists and raped she wasn't permitted to leave lugo's house and was forced to do all
his domestic work hanana was repeatedly raped and beaten by luga go and other men even
after she became pregnant she miscarried her first pregnancy her second at age 16 resulted
in the birth of a son it was not until hanana was 18 years old that she was rescued by her
stepfather herado never believed H's story that hanana had run away and had looked for
her shortly after Juana's rescue husta died from therosis of the liver in the years that followed her
mother's death hanana married and had a daughter with an abusive man she escaped this relationship
entered another and had two more children this relationship also eventually turned abusive so hanana left
to raise her children as a single mother when hanana was 30 years old her stepfather herado passed away from heart
complications she would later tell her court appointed neuropsychologist Dr feggy ostroski that contrary to the lack
of emotion she felt at her mother's passing her's death had left her feeling helpless and
abandoned then in 1998 Juana's eldest child was killed at the age of 24 as a result of gang violence
hanana described her son's death to Dr ostroski as the saddest moment of her life during one of their sessions hanana
barazza told Dr ostroski that she was sorry for the murder of Anna Maria Reyes but maintained that she did not kill
anyone else in another session the following month she recanted her confession and
denied murdering anyone she then implicated an unknown man in Anna Maria's murder ultimately hanana barazza was
charged with 16 murders including that of Anna Maria Reyes as no juries are used in criminal
trials in Mexico juab Bar's case was presented to a judge only in March 2008 they found her guilty
of all 16 murders along with 12 robberies she was sentenced to a total of 759 years in prison the longest in
Mexican history involving a murder conviction however Mexico's Penal Code only permits a maximum incarceration
term of 50 years if hanana barazza is still alive in 2058 she will be released at the age
of 100 until this time she is is not eligible for any reduced sentence or probation and so she will very likely
die in prison from 1998 until the capture of hanana barazo in 2006 56 elderly women
were murdered in Mexico City for as long as possible Governor Andres Manuel Lopez arador and chief
prosecutor Bernardo batis tried to dismiss public fear is that the grandmothers of Mexico City were being
specifically targeted after 23 women had already been killed batis announced what I want to say with all
certainty is that there is no serial killer to the surprise of the community 9 months and 13 murders later PTI
claimed that the threat was over as the murders had been solved somewhat quietly during the course of
2004 police had separately arrested and charged two people for the murders of three
victims they alleged that both suspects had dressed as a nurse complete with wig
and dress and had claimed to work for Mexico City's elderly assistance program in order to gain access to their
victim's homes first to be arrested was housewife araseli Vasquez Vasquez was charged for the 2003 murder
of Gloria Riso about 6 months later Street Merchant Jorge Tas was arrested for the
murder of Maria Sala the very first victim strangled in May of 1998 tas's second victim was said to be
Maria Guzman strangled in 2003 with a pair of ties both vascas and the Tas denied the
allegations against them in tas's case Maria's neighbor had identified him after police arranged for
TAS to be dressed in a white coat and positioned on the street outside Maria's house for an insitu oneperson
lineup on Friday October 22 2004 a few weeks after the arrest of Tablas Chief prosecutor batis stated
confidently we consider that the murders have already been solved this was despite police only
implicating Vasquez and tabas in just three of the murders out of the 30 odd that had so far taken place and the fact
that murders continued long after their arrests in fact on the very same day that Chief prosecutor bati told the
grandmothers of Mexico City that they were once again safe 70-year-old Maria Martinez returned home around 5:30
p.m. before she could change out of her crisp white shirt and pressed black trousers into something more comfortable
there was a knock at her door in the days that followed Maria failed to show up for a family
gathering when repeated calls to Maria went unanswered her sister Guadalupe drove to Mexico City to check in on
her it was about 4:00 in the morning when Guadalupe arrived at Maria's apartment she opened the door and turned
on a light the living room was a mess as if someone had furiously rummaged through
every drawer Maria sat unmoving and Silent on the sofa her body bent forward she had been strangled by a
stethoscope do so forcefully that her neck had snapped Guadalupe sat beside her sister's hunched over
frame next to Maria were a number of scattered photographs showing her at a ceremony a few months prior receiving a
Lifetime Achievement Award for her 50e service as a school teacher Guadalupe hugged Maria tightly
and eased her body back into a more comfortable sitting position there was nothing that she could do
about the blood on her sister's white shirt but she did wipe the blood off her sister's
face hanana barazza would ultimately face Justice for the murder of Maria Martinez and 15 other elderly
women however there is no evidence that investigations continued once she was behind
bars the murders of more than 30 other elderly women attributed to El matava hus remain unsolved
[Music] casear presents a new Spotify exclusive podcast Maddie no one is ever prepared
for a loved one to suddenly disappear that's the thing about missingness when someone you love vanishes into thin air
every family that experiences it has to figure it out for themselves we started ring around Matt's friends what the hell
is he not doing your work and why hasn't he even called them I just sat there going oh my God oh my God something
wasn't right the the lon grew more worried by the minute he's walking up and down like a cage line and he's
sweating and he's clammy the man has no emotions at all towards the end he wouldn't let Matt out of his s narrated
by Lauren o' Keef the founder of the missing person's advocacy Network and host of case File presents podcast
what's missing the police informed Mark and f leveron that they no longer considered Matt a missing person they
told f i that the case of been transferred to homicide and he said called the police I found a grave
there's a mic in the bush the receipt showed that two items had been purchased duct tape and a garden Master brand
Matic I think we were in shock for ages after that the world just seemed to stand still here how a family took on
the system to try and find Justice for their son for the very first time made us feel like the police and us were no
longer on the same side and then he sat there and said to me it was Matt's lifestyle that had him murdered no I
just said the of course it stops now that's that's ridiculous some people in this world never take no for an answer
especially when they're fighting for someone they love nothing was perfect and we thought you know with the chance
of finding M play one in a million one in 10 million but it wasn't zero so we got to give it a go he was never going
to win against us not for finding Maddie Maddie the latest podcast from case File
presents available September 19th only on Spotify it's not a justice system it's just ass system

Case 226: El Mataviejitas

In 2003, 12 elderly women were killed in their homes in Mexico City. Most were strangled and robbed. Fears arose that a serial killer was on the loose, with the media dubbing the perpetrator ‘El Mataviejitas’ - The Little Old Lady Killer.

Police initially dismissed the serial killer notion, until the victim count continued to rise and the evidence became too strong to ignore...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Holly Boyd Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

Website https://www.casefilepodcast.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/casefile Twitter https://twitter.com/case_file Instagram https://www.instagram.com/casefilepodcast Patreon https://www.patreon.com/casefile Casefile Presents https://casefilepresents.com

RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-226-el-mataviejitas

Brief Summary

The episode covers the capture of serial killer Juana Baraza, who targeted elderly women in Mexico City, and the failures of law enforcement.

Key points

The Disappearance of Matthew Lon. Matthew Lon's disappearance sparks concern and suspicion towards his partner, Michael Atkins.
The Capture of El Matava Heus. The shocking reveal that the notorious killer was a woman named Juana Baraza.
Juana's Confession. Juana confessed to murdering Anna Maria Reyes, revealing her deep-seated hatred for elderly women.
Hanana's Traumatic Childhood. Hanana's abusive upbringing led to a cycle of violence and despair in her life.
Juana's Long Sentence. Juana Barazza was sentenced to 759 years in prison, the longest in Mexican history.
Unsolved Murders. Over 30 murders of elderly women remain unsolved, raising public fear and concern.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Did Atkins have something to hide?

Suspicion falls on Matt's partner after his disappearance.

0:08WatchOct 8, 2022

Tension

80/ 100High tension

More from Casefile

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.