Daniel Arizmendi López (born 22 July 1958) is a Mexican convicted kidnapper and serial killer. In 1998 Susan Ferriss of the

Cox News Service CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 29% minority stake in the company. The company prim ...

wrote that Arizmendi was "Mexico's most notorious suspected criminal".Ferriss, Susan.
Ear-cutter Arizmendi Lopez arrested near los Angeles
().

at ''

Laredo Morning Times The ''Laredo Morning Times'' is a daily newspaper publication based in Laredo, Texas, USA. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and busi ...

''. Wednesday August 19, 1998. p. 2.

Biography

Arizmendi López was originally a police officer in Morelos. He became involved in crime in the 1980s while a police officer. From 1996 until 1998 he was responsible for at least 18 kidnappings in Mexico and some murders. He often severed the ears of his kidnapping victims.DePalma, Anthony.
Mexico Says It Has Kidnapper Who Cut Wealthy Victims' Ears
" ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. August 19, 1998. Retrieved on May 15, 2014. In many cases, he sent the severed ears to the families of his victims.Chesnut, R. Andrew. ''Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, January 3, 2012. , 9780199764662. p
16
Because of this, he was nicknamed "El Mochaorejas" ("The Ear Chopper").Martín, Desirée A. ''Borderlands Saints: Secular Sanctity in Chicano/a and Mexican Culture'' (Latinidad: Transnational Cultures in the United States). Rutgers University Press, December 19, 2013. Page unstated (

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. Arizmendi López collected over $40 million

U.S. dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

in ransom money from kidnappings.Chesnut, R. Andrew. ''Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint''.

, January 3, 2012. , 9780199764662. p
15
On August 19, 1998 Mexican authorities announced that they had captured Arizmendi López in

Naucalpan Naucalpan, officially Naucalpan de Juárez, is one of 125 municipalities located just northwest of Mexico City in the adjoining State of Mexico. The municipal seat is the city of Naucalpan de Juárez, which extends into the neighboring municipa ...

Mexico State The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...

. On the day of his arrest, he confessed to four murders. Inside Arizmendi López's house police found an altar to

Santa Muerte ''Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte'' (; Spanish for Our Lady of Holy Death), often shortened to Santa Muerte, is a cult image, female deity, and folk saint in folk Catholicism and Mexican Neopaganism. A personification of death, she is associa ...

. Authorities allowed Arizmendi López to bring a figure of Santa Muerte to prison, resulting in widespread media attention.

Jorge Madrazo Cuéllar Jorge Madrazo Cuéllar is the former Attorney General of Mexico. He served under the government of Ernesto Zedillo. As of 2011 he directs the radio station ''KDNA'' in the United States.Attorney General of Mexico The Attorney General of the Republic is the head of the Attorney General's Office (''Fiscalía General de la República, FGR''; prior to 2019, ''Procuraduría General de la República, PGR'') and the Federal Public Ministry of the United Mexi ...

, stated that information originating from

plea bargains A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defend ...

of gang members in prison and legal wiretaps were used in the capture. In 2022, a

Magistrates Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cou ...

ordered the removal of 14 statements from members of the Mochaorejas gang and Arizmendi López's brother due to the possibility of their having been obtained through illegal torture. This decision invalidates the 40-year prison sentence, which will be reevaluated, but Arizmendi López will not be released from prison.

Legacy

The character Daniel "La Voz" Sánchez in the 2004 film '' Man on Fire'' is based on Arizmendi López,Freese, Kevin (

Foreign Military Studies Office The Foreign Military Studies Office, or FMSO, is a research and analysis center for the United States Army that is part of the United States Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth. It manages the Joint Reserve Intelligence Center there. Mis ...

, Fort Leavenworth, KS).
The Death Cult of the Drug Lords Mexico’s Patron Saint of Crime, Criminals, and the Dispossessed
().

. Retrieved on May 15, 2014. and the character Aurelio Sánchez is based on Aurelio Arizmendi López, the brother of Daniel Arizmendi López.La industria de secuestro en México es tan lucrativa que no caerá, según un experto

. Agencia EFE at ''La Voz'' (''

Arizona Star The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. History L. C. Hughes was the Arizona Territory governor and founder of the ''Arizona Star'' ...

''). October 3, 2010. Retrieved on May 15, 2014. "Su historia sirvió al director hollywoodiense Tony Scott para el filme "Man on fire", protagonizado por Denzel Washington y ambientado en el Distrito Federal. Los secuestradores se llamaron Daniel, como "el Mochaorejas", y Aurelio, como su compinche." Just like the real Arizmendi López, "La Voz" believes in Santa Muerte. Kevin Freese of the

stated that "it appears that the allusion" of the fictional Sánchez brothers with the real Arizmendi brothers "escaped the comprehension of much of the audience."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arizmendi Lopez, Daniel 1958 births Living people Mexican people convicted of kidnapping People from Morelos Santa Muerte devotees