Police in Mexico believe a 72-year-old man is behind 17 murders after investigators have found 3,787 bone fragments under the suspect’s floors so far, The Associated Press (AP) reported Sunday.
Investigators were led to the 72-year-old suspect, only identified as “Andrés,” after a police officer’s wife went missing, the AP reported.
Investigators say they’ve found thousands of bone fragments — apparently belonging to 17 different people — under the house of a 72-year-old former butcher on the outskirts of Mexico City. He’s now in custody.https://t.co/geDhSSidHH
— NPR (@NPR) June 14, 2021
The suspect had allegedly accompanied her on a shopping trip the day she vanished, and the police officer went to the home to confront the suspect after watching surveillance videos showing his wife had entered the street where the suspect lived, but hadn’t left. (RELATED: Golden State Killer Pleads Guilty To Murders From 70s And 80s, Avoids Death Penalty)
During the confrontation, the officer saw his wife’s body, which was dismembered, the AP reported.
The 34-year-old victim was dismembered with a butcher’s hacksaw and knives May 14, according to the AP.
Three days after the woman was killed, investigators carried out excavations of the suspect’s home in Mexico City and found bone fragments underneath concrete floors.
The bones are being studied so that investigators can determine how many victims there were. The suspect was formerly a butcher, and he sectioned and filleted the last victim, according to the AP.
“This analysis indicates that, up to now, the bone fragments found may possibly be those of 17 people,” prosecutors said in a statement, according to the AP.
Police believe the killings may have gone back more than a decade. Investigators discovered old video tapes, including some that were discontinued around 2007.
They also found women’s clothing, makeup, 91 photographs possibly used for ID cards, and audio and video tapes that may include recordings of his victims, the AP reported.