Juana Barraza - Blog Posts

Juana Barraza (1957 -) is a Mexican former professional wrestler and serial killer, dubbed La Mataviejitas (The Old Lady Killer). She was born in Epazoyucan, Hidalgo, a rural area north of Mexico City. Barraza’s mother, Justa Samperio, was an alcoholic who reportedly exchanged her to a man for three beers. The man raped her repeatedly while in his care, and she became pregnant with his son. She had four children in total, although her eldest son died from injuries sustained in a mugging. Prior to her arrest, Barraza was a professional wrestler under the ring name of La Dama del Silencio (The Lady of Silence). She had a strong interest with lucha libre, a form of Mexican masked professional wrestling.

The first murder attributed to Mataviejitas has been dated variously to the late 1990s and to a specific killing on November 17, 2003. The authorities and the press have given various estimates as to the total number of the killer’s victims, with estimates ranging from 24 to 49 deaths. All of Barraza’s victims were women aged 60 or over, many of whom lived alone. Barraza bludgeoned or strangled them before robbing them.

Bernardo Bátiz, the chief prosecutor in Mexico City, initially profiled the killer as having “a brilliant mind, [being] quite clever and careful," and suggested that the killer probably struck after gaining the trust of the intended victim. Investigating officers suspected that the killer posed as a government official, offering victims the chance to sign up for welfare programs.

The search for Barraza was complicated by conflicting evidence. At one point, the police hypothesized that two killers might be involved. An odd coincidence also distracted the investigation: at least three of Barraza’s victims owned a print of an eighteenth-century painting by French artist Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Boy in A Red Waistcoat. #destroytheday

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