Matías Jurado, the Argentine serial killer who killed on Fridays

Jujuy is one of the quietest provinces in Argentina. Located in the far northeast of the country, it has a homicide rate almost half the national average. When police raided the home of Matías Jurado on July 31 in one of the largest neighborhoods of San Salvador de Jujuy, the provincial capital, they had no idea they would be dealing with a suspected serial killer. Security forces arrived in search of Jorge Omar Anachuri, a 68-year-old man with a motor disability who had disappeared a week earlier. His family had filed a report at the police station and were also searching for him on social media. The police found traces of blood, bones, and skin. Nearing the end of two months of investigation, Jurado is in custody, accused of murdering and dismembering at least five people, and the Prosecutor’s Office has not ruled out the possibility of more victims.

Jurado, 37, had a criminal record for aggravated robbery and threatening to use weapons during a robbery. His neighbors in the Alto Comedero neighborhood, one of the largest in the capital of Jujuy, knew him as “El Gringo” and claimed he liked to walk around with a machete in his hand and abused alcohol. “Everyone describes him as a very violent person, but no one believed he could reach this level,” said prosecutor Guillermo Beller in his latest press conference on the case.

Beller announced that genetic samples collected at Jurado’s home confirmed the identity of a fifth victim, Juan Carlos González, 60, who had been missing since June 11, three days after his birthday. “There are still two incomplete profiles of two other people who could also have been victims,” the prosecutor added in his statement.

The alleged serial killer went out looking for new victims on Fridays. He would head to the old bus terminal and its surroundings and choose someone in a vulnerable situation. He would offer them alcohol, some money, and the promise of temporary work to get them to come with him. No one ever saw them alive again.

Jurado’s 16-year-old nephew told the court that he lived with his uncle, but left the house on Fridays because he knew he had guests over and “bad things” would happen. In his statement, he claimed he had warned his family about what was happening, but no one believed him. He said a cousin agreed to accompany him on one occasion, but ran away when he saw bloodstains.

Security camera footage from the capital of Jujuy showed Jurado in the company of two of the victims: Anachuri and Sergio Sosa, 25. The Prosecutor’s Office charged him with both homicides after genetic analysis of the remains found at Jurado’s home confirmed that both were there. As the weeks went by, the Prosecutor’s Office was also able to corroborate, thanks to DNA evidence, that among the remains found at the house were those of three other missing persons: Miguel Ángel Quispe, 60; Juan Ponce, 51; and the aforementioned González, the most recent to be confirmed, just three days ago.

Investigators believe they are dealing with a suspected methodical killer, who they believe killed for pleasure. They have found bone, blood, and skin remains, but no bodies. They stated that Jurado concealed numerous knives and machetes under the mattress, but all of them had been thoroughly cleaned.

Jurado is in preventive detention. Initial expert reports determined that he is criminally responsible and “fully understands the criminal nature of his actions.”

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