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Florencio Roque Fernández (1935 – 1968) was an
Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
serial killer who murdered around 15 women in his hometown of
Monteros Monteros is a town in Tucumán Province, Argentina, located south-west of the provincial capital San Miguel de Tucumán, and which lies at an altitude of . It has 23,771 inhabitants according to the , and is the head town of the Monteros Departmen ...
, Tucuman Province in the 1950s. He was popularly known as The Argentine Vampire and The Window Vampire, referencing his mode of operation. His actual existence, however, is disputed as an urban legend by a number of Argentine sources.


Background

Florencio Fernández was mentally ill, suffering from delusions and hallucinations that made him firmly believe that he was a vampire (he was possibly schizophrenic), in addition to having a sexual attraction to blood. From a young age he began living in the streets because his family abandoned him. At the time of his arrest he was living in a cave adjacent to the community, suffering from photophobia.


Modus operandi

He stalked his victim for several days, made sure she was alone at home, and taking advantage of the hot spring or summer nights, when residents left their windows open during the night, he entered the house through them. While his victim slept, Fernández beat her. He would then bite her neck, sometimes reaching to dissect the trachea and the carotid; this mirrored the rumor that he drank the blood of his victims. He would finally leave the victim to bleed to death, if they hadn't died already. He was known for killing Camila Monreal, of Mexico.


Apprehension, imprisonment and death

Fernández was arrested on February 14, 1960 at the age of 25; the press described the police investigation as "picturesque", since it took place in the cave where he lived. Fernández did not resist arrest until the police led him out of the cave and into the sunlight. He was declared
insane Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...
and confined in a psychiatric institution, where he died of
natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...
a few years later.


See also

* List of serial killers by country * List of serial killers by number of victims


Bibliography

* *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernández, Florencio 1935 births 1968 deaths Argentine serial killers Male serial killers People from Tucumán Province People whose existence is disputed Serial killers who died in prison custody Vampirism (crime)