Florencio Fernández
Florencio Roque Fernández (born 1935 in Monteros, Tucumán Province, Argentina – died 1968) was an Argentine serial killer who in the 1950s murdered around 15 women in his hometown of Monteros. Popularly known as "The Argentine Vampire" and "The Window Vampire", referencing his modus operandi.
Florencio Fernández | |
|---|---|
| Born | Florencio Roque Fernández 1935 |
| Died | 1968 |
| Other names | "The Argentine Vampire" "The Window Vampire" |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Confined to a mental institution |
| Details | |
| Victims | 15 |
Span of crimes | 1950s–1960 |
| Country | Argentina |
Background
Florencio Fernández was mentally ill, suffering from delusions and hallucinations that made him firmly believe that he was a vampire (he was possibly schizophrenic), in addition to having a sexual attraction to blood. From a young age he began living in the streets because his family abandoned him. At the time of his arrest, he was living in a cave adjacent to the community, suffering from photophobia.
Modus operandi
He stalked his victim for several days, made sure she was alone at home, and taking advantage of the hot spring or summer nights, when residents left their windows open during the night, he entered the house through them.
While his victim slept, Fernández beat her. Then, he would bite the body, sometimes reaching to dissect the trachea and the carotid, and thus mirrored the stereotype of that he drank the blood of his victims. Then, he left the victim to bleed to death, if they hadn't died already.
Apprehension, imprisonment and death
Florencio was arrested on February 14, 1960 at the age of 25; in the police investigation, which the press described as "picturesque", since it took the cave where the murderer lived. Fernández did not resist the arrest, until the police made him leave the cave into the sunlight.
He was declared insane and confined in a psychiatric institution, where he died of natural causes a few years later.
Bibliography
- Aracil, Miguel G. (2009). Vampiros: mito y realidad de los no muertos [Vampires: myth and reality of the undead] (in Spanish). Madrid: EDAF. ISBN 978-8-44142-162-2.
- Karg, Barbara; Spaite, Arjean & Sutherland, Rick (2009). The Everything Vampire Book: From Vlad the Impaler to the Vampire Lestat, a history of vampires in literature, film, and legend. Avon, Mass.: Adams Media. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-60550-631-9.