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 ...

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

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. A few years after his birth the family moved to

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, in the

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. 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

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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

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. According to Jarabo's friends, he was a terrible gambler and spent a lot of money on

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and

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. 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

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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

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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