Killer 'The Beast' murdered 200 kids and pulled out own tooth to 'bite them better'

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT. For years, Luis Alfredo Garavito lived a shadowy, secret life, raping and killing vulnerable children on a scale unlike anything seen before. And he took sick measures in order to cause his victims even more pain

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Over the years, there have been some truly diabolical serial killers, but there's one monster so depraved, many regard him as the worst murderer of all time.

Luis Alfredo Garavito, known by many as "La Bestia" - or "The Beast" - died on October 12, 2023, at the age of 66, but his grim legacy continues to haunt all those who remember his vile reign of terror.

For years, the paedophile operated in the shadows, posing as a street vendor, charity worker, or priest to torture, mutilate and sexually abuse children, who he would then slaughter with a callousness beyond anything the country had seen before.

Born in the Colombian department of Quindío in 1957, Garavito was the eldest of seven children growing up in a dysfunctional family, headed by a physically abusive father. He also suffered torture and rape at the hands of a neighbour, who was also a family friend.

From a young age, disturbed Garavito displayed extremely troubling behaviour, and at the age of 15, cornered and sexually assaulted another boy. Garavito's crimes would get increasingly harrowing, and by the early '80s, he was carrying out horrifically violent assaults against the young, vulnerable people he preyed upon.

During questioning, as per the publication Semana, Garavito revealed: "I would take a minor, and suddenly I didn't just feel pleasure from caressing and raping them, but I would also carry razor blades, candles, and lighters." One survivor would later recall the horror of Garavito screaming "I'm a sadist! I'm a sadist! I'm a sadist!" as he carried out his brutal attack.

Although pangs of guilt would on occasion see him seeking wisdom from the Bible, Garavito didn't stop, and ended up raping some 200 children between 1980 and 1992. Even though he kept lists of the names of his victims, plus photos and sick trophies, the seemingly respectable man with his smart briefcase did not, at this time, attract suspicion. Then, in 1992, the killings began.

Travelling around 11 departments around the country, Garavito would target children from low-income families, luring them with promises of money and gifts, but savagely abusing and murdering them. Part of the torture he inflicted on his victims included biting, and Garavito later admitted to removing one of his own upper right teeth - a replacement for one knocked out by his father, in order to inflict more effective bite marks.

Beginning in 1994, the bodies of 114 children were discovered dumped across 59 Colombian towns, some of them still bound with nylon rope, with discarded liquor bottles tossed nearby, The Guardian reports. Local investigators initially believed they were looking at a Satanic cult, not realising at first that they were dealing with a killer on an unimaginable scale, who was growing bolder the longer he went undetected.

Eventually, authorities investigating the mysterious disappearances of youngsters in Pereira, Armenia and Tunja began to notice patterns and turned their eyes on Garavito.

In April 1999, Garavito was arrested on an attempted rape charge, and it was at this point that his dark, hidden life became apparent. When an investigating judge asked him if he was the killer of the 114 children, Garavito confessed and begged for forgiveness. He went on to admit to more murders, adding up to more than 190.

At a court hearing held that same year, Garavito issued a chilling apology to the families of the victims, stating: "I want to ask for forgiveness for everything I did, and I am going to confess. Yes, I killed them and not only those, I killed others."

Horrifically, it's feared that Garavito could have killed many more children than the official number, due to many disappearances of impoverished children sadly going under the radar. We may sadly never know the truth, with Garavito taking any lingering secrets to the grave.

If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999

Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com