Kriti Mehrotra
As a documentary series living up to its title in nearly every way conceivable, Netflix’s ‘The Lady of Silence: The Mataviejitas Murders’ can only be described as equal parts baffling and haunting. That’s because it incorporates not only archival footage but also exclusive interviews to really shine a light upon the way elderly women were heinously targeted in Mexico City from 1998 to 2008. So now, if you simply wish to learn more about Juana Barraza Samperio – the serial killer found to have been responsible for at least 11 such homicides – we’ve got the details for you.
Who is Juana Barraza Samperio?
It was back when Juana was a mere child growing up in Epazoyucan, Hidalgo, a rural area north of Mexico City, that life carved a difficult path for her owing to her parentage. After all, her mother Justa Samperio was reportedly an alcoholic who actually traded her for three beers to a much older man when she was merely 13 years old, only for him to repeatedly rape her. She hence developed a deep-rooted hatred for the former, which allegedly became her motive for murder by the time the late 1990s rolled around – her crimes against the older women were thus a sort of revenge against her mother.
Though the truth is Juana initially directed her energies into the art form of wrestler under the ring name of La Dama del Silencio (The Lady of Silence), with a particularly strong interest in marked matches; lucha libre. She was reportedly thriving in the industry and had enough strength to lift up to 100kgs, but she had to ultimately quit once owing to some serious back injuries; she couldn’t continue without putting herself at risk. And this departure from the athletic world is what son drove the young mother to begin killing – she simply had to disperse her anger somewhere.
According to records, when Juana wasn’t wrestling, she sold popcorn in the stands, but then came her offenses wherein she dressed as a nurse or social worker and befriended her victims before gaining entrance to their homes. She then strangled them with her stockings, phone cables, or other items lying nearby before rummaging the entire place and leaving with souvenirs like bracelets, “images of saints, crucifixes, and bibles” while leaving the most valuable things behind. She thus became known as La Mataviejitas (The Little Old Lady Killer), with witnesses describing her as a man or a woman with masculine features and short blonde hair.
But alas, despite Juana’s composite sketch being circled around all across the globe and her appearing on television during wrestling matches, no one could make the connection until it was too late. It was actually on January 25, 2006, that she was apprehended while leaving the home of 84-year-old leaving the home of Ana María de los Reyes Alfaro, who’d been stabbed and strangled to death. The then 48-year-old did try to escape, but Ana’s neighbor plus two nearby patrolling police officers managed to apprehend her for good despite her struggling.
Juana Barraza Samperio is Still Serving Her Sentence
As per reports, Juana had a list of names and addresses of elderly women, along with a stethoscope and a fake social worker ID in her possession at the time of her arrest. Nevertheless, despite the clear link between her and the Mataviejitas, she insisted Ana was the first elderly woman he’d slain, following an argument since she reminded her too much of her mother. “I know it’s a crime, I did it and I will pay for it.” she once said. “But just because I’m going to pay for it, that doesn’t mean they’re going to hang all the other crimes on me. … With all due respect to the authorities there are several of us involved in extortion and killing people.”
But in the end, while no evidence was recovered for any other connections, Juana’s fingerprints were found at at least 10 different crime scenes, leading to her indictment on the same. She was subsequently, on March 31, 2008, found guilty of 16 charges of murder and aggravated burglary, including 11 specific counts of murder dating between 2002-2006. She was hence handed down the maximum sentence of 759 years behind bars, with a possibility of parole following 60 years. Therefore, today, at the age of 65, Juana is incarcerated at the Santa Martha Acatitla prison, where she is expected to remain for the rest of his natural life.
Read More: Joji Obara: Where is the Serial Rapist Now?
