José María Jarabo (28 April 1923 – 4 July 1959) was a Spanish
spree killer, who between 19 and 21 July 1958, murdered four adults and an unborn baby. Jarabo was sentenced to
death
Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
by
garrote
A garrote ( ; alternatively spelled as garotte and similar variants)''Oxford English Dictionary'', 11th Ed: garrotte is normal British English spelling, with single r alternate. Article title is US English spelling variant. or garrote vil () is ...
and executed in 1959.
Early life
José María Manuel Pablo de la Cruz Jarabo Pérez Morris was born on 28 April 1923, in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. A few years after his birth the family moved to
Miami, Florida
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Jarabo hated the United States and it was there he committed his first crime,
trafficking of human beings, for which he was arrested and sentenced to a term of three years in prison. He was confined in a
psychiatric hospital
A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...
in
Springfield, Florida, and a few years after his release he returned to Spain, in the 1940s.
In Spain he befriended many wealthy people and began a career as a
professional gambler, using the money that his mother sent him from
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
. According to Jarabo's friends, he was a terrible gambler and spent a lot of money on
poker
Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...
and
blackjack
Blackjack (formerly black jack or ''vingt-un'') is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ...
. In 1950 he began to drink and take drugs heavily, and as the years went by his financial situation became more dire because his mother stopped sending him money. Jarabo had a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
girlfriend named Beryl Martin who wanted to sell a ring, which she gave to Jarabo, who sold it to businessmen Emilio Fernández and Félix López for a small sum. A few months later Martin asked Jarabo to get the ring back; he decided to kill the two men instead of paying for it.
Murders
On 19 July 1958 Jarabo went to Emilio Fernández's house, where a servant woman allowed him to enter after Jarabo stated he was a police inspector. Once inside, Jarabo waited for Fernández, while the servant went to the kitchen to do some housework. Planning to murder Fernández and not wanting to leave a witness, Jarabo took a
clothes iron
A clothes iron (also flatiron, smoothing iron, dry iron, steam iron or simply iron) is a small appliance that, when heated, is used to press Clothing, clothes to remove Wrinkle, wrinkles and unwanted creases. Domestic irons generally range in o ...
and hit the woman across the head. She tried to defend herself, but Jarabo grabbed a
kitchen knife
A kitchen knife is any knife that is intended to be used in food preparation. While much of this work can be accomplished with a few general-purpose knives — notably a large chef's knife and a smaller serrated blade utility knife — there ...
and stabbed her to death. After killing the young woman, Jarabo hid and waited for his main target. When Fernández arrived home, Jarabo shot him in the head, killing him. He then looked for the ring but did not find it. Amparo Alonso entered the house and saw Jarabo, who asked, "Who are you?" Jarabo again claimed that he was a police inspector, but the woman did not believe him and tried to run. Jarabo shot her, killing the
pregnant
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins.
Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...
Amparo and her unborn baby. Jarabo slept at Fernández's house overnight and returned to his hotel the next morning.
On 21 July, Jarabo went to the store where Félix López worked, hid and waited for him. When López arrived at the store Jarabo shot him in the head, killing him.
The next day Jarabo took a bloody suit to the
dry cleaners; they promptly notified police, and a few hours later he was arrested. Jarabo was tried and convicted of all five murders, receiving the death sentence for each of them. He was executed by
garrote vil on 4 July 1959.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarabo, Jose Maria
1923 births
1959 deaths
20th-century murderers
Executed Spanish people
Executed mass murderers
People convicted of murder by Spain
People executed by Francoist Spain
People executed by Spain by ligature strangulation
People from Madrid
Spanish mass murderers
Spanish murderers of children
Spanish people convicted of murder