Introduction
110 girls. At the very, very least, 110 girls were taken from this world, all by the hands of one horrible excuse for a man. However, 110 is just a minimum estimate, for this man claims to have killed over 300 young women. You may be asking who would ever do such a cruel thing, and could they even do it? Well, he did, and his name was Pedro Lopez. Not only that but even after his horrendous actions were discovered, he faced a measly penalty of only 14 years in prison.
Childhood and Youth
Like many serial killers, Pedro Lopez didn’t have an easy childhood. During his youth, he faced many problems, such as homelessness, violence, and abuse. A single mother raised him after his father passed away alongside 12 other children. Lopez claims that his mother abused him. However, there are few records to back up this claim. Though some say that Lopez was kicked out of his home, he claims he ran away. During this time, he traveled from his hometown and birthplace in Santa Isabel, Colombia, to the country’s capital. However, things did not look up for Pedro Lopez here, for he began to join a gang and do drugs. Living on the streets also wasn’t easy, and he would often be manipulated by strangers who claimed to offer help. This would not be the first time Lopez would be abused, for when he was only 12 years old, he would be assaulted by a teacher in a school for orphans that he had been enrolled in by a couple from the United States.
At just 12 years old, Pedro Lopez was back on the streets. He had run away from his school and wanted reprisal for his abusive childhood. So, at 18-21 (the exact age of Lopez during this event is unclear), he broke into and ran off with a car. Though he was shortly arrested, upon his release, he was brutally assaulted by several men. In an act of vengeance, Lopez would end up killing the men, beginning a series of murders.
The Killings
Pedro Lopez had claimed the lives of his first victims, and now, he was on a spree. He began his travels to Peru, where he would entice usually young girls and abuse them. Afterward, he would, unfortunately, murder them. However, because he favors indigenous women, he is eventually taken hostage by a tribe and attempted to be buried alive after trying to abduct a young child. An American missionary currently staying in the tribe negotiated that Lopez would instead be turned over to Peruvian officials, who deported him back to Colombia. However, this, unfortunately, did not hinder his blood lust. Lopez would continue to claim the lives of young girls, leaving families distraught to search for their lost children. The friends of one mother were able to catch Lopez near Ambato city, Ecuador after he had tried to abduct the daughter of a vendor.
The Arrest and Jailtime
After being arrested and taken by officials, where he denied confessing to any police about his actions, that was until Officer Pastor Cordova Gudino smartly went undercover as an associate prisoner. Lopez, now viewing Gudino as someone whom he trusted, admitted to the murders and even some of the locations of the victim’s remains. 53-57 (the number is unclear) bodies were found. However, Lopez was charged with 110 killings due to his confession. However, Lopez would later profess that he had taken the lives of more than 200 victims in actuality. He was labeled a sociopath and sentenced to 16 years of jail time, the maximum sentence during that time.
Return to Colombia
