José María Jarabo

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José María Jarabo: (b. April 28, 1923 in Madrid, Spain - July 4, 1959) was a Spanish spree killer who between July 19, 1958 and July 21, 1958 murdered four people and 1 baby. He was the last person executed by garrote vil in Spain.

[edit] Biography

He was born in Madrid, Spain on April 28, 1923 but a few years later he moved to Miami, Florida in the United States with his family. He hated the United States and for this, he committed his first crime (trafficking of human beings), was arrested and sentenced to a term of a 3 years in prison. He was confined in a psychiatric hospital in Springfield, Florida. When he was finally released, Jarabo returned to Spain a few years later in the 40's.

After he returned to Spain, Jarabo made many rich friends and started a career as a terrible gambler, spending the money that his mother sent him from Puerto Rico, where she lived after leaving the U.S. According to the Jarabo's friends, he spent a lot of money on poker and blackjack. Also, in 1950 he began to consume a lot of alcohol and drugs. In the 50's his economic situation was poor because his mother didn't send more money. Jarabo was a handsome man who had a lot of sex with different women; he didn't live in a house and lived in hotels.

In the 50's Jarabo had a British girlfriend called Beryl Martin who wanted to sell a ring, so, she gave it to Jarabo and ordered him to sell the ring. After the order, Jarabo went to a shopping and tried sell the ring to the businessmen Emilio Fernandez and Félix López for a lot of money but the businessmen offered little money. Jarabo accepted.

A few months later, Beryl Martin asked to Jarabo, recover the ring, so, Jarabo went to the shopping and told to the businessmen that his girlfriend wanted to recover the ring; Fernandez and López told him that he had to pay to recover the ring.

Disturbed by his girlfriend who from England was ordering him to recover the ring, Jarabo decided recover the ring, killing the businessmen. ^[1]

[edit] Crimes, Arrest, Trial and Death

On July 19, 1958 , Jarabo, determined to recover the ring killing the businessmen, went to the house of Emilio Fernandez. There, a 26-year old servant woman, allowed him to enter the house after Jarabo said that he was a police inspector. After entering the house, Jarabo sat down to wait for Fernandez and the servant went to the kitchen to do some housework. While Jarabo was waiting Fernandez, he was thinking how kill the servant, who would be a possible witness if Jarabo killed Fernandez. So, Jarabo took an iron and went to the kitchen . The young woman didn't hear him and Jarabo hit the woman on the head. The young woman tried to defend herself but Jarabo took a kitchen knife and brutally stabbed her, killing the woman.]. After killing her, Jarabo kept the body in a room and sat down to wait for Fernandez.

After killing the young woman , Jarabo hid out and waited for Fernandez. When Fernandez arrived to the house, he didn't notice the absence of his servant and went to the bathroom to wash his face. Jarabo went to the bathroom stealthily and shot Fernandez in the head. Fernandez died.

After killing Fernandez, Jarabo drank whisky and looked for the ring but didn't find it. When Jarabo decided leave the house, Amparo Alonso entered to the house and saw Jarabo. The woman asked him 'Who are you?'. Jarabo said that he was a police inspector but the woman didn't believe it and tried run but Jarabo forced her and in a room, he shot her, killing Amparo and a little baby because Amparo was pregnant.

After killing 3 people, Jarabo slept there and the next morning he returned to his hotel.

On July 21, 1958 Jarabo went to the store where Félix López was working. Jarabo hid out and waited for López. When the businessman arrived to his store, Jarabo shot him to the head, killing him.^[2]

On July 22, Jarabo brought the bloody suit to the dry cleaners. A few hours later, he was arrested by the police.

He was tried and convicted, receiving one death sentence for each of the murders. Finally, he was executed on July 4, 1959, the last person to be executed in Spain by the use of the garrote vil.^[3]