Recently, images of Luis Alfredo Garavito, known as “The Beast”, were released from his place of confinement in La Tramacúa prison, located in Valledupar. The worst serial killer in the history of Colombia, he was diagnosed with eye cancer, for which he currently looks thin and very emaciated.
In the images captured by the Direct Witness work team, you can see Garavito’s obvious weight loss and his left eye practically closed due to the cancerous wart he suffers from. However, Poveda explained that when he interviewed him, Garavito did not appear ill and spoke eloquently.
“I interviewed a focused man, by no means ill. He is a clear, focused and coherent person. He spoke eloquently, so normal that he sometimes got furious at the questions we asked him. I told him that we were not there as public relations officers ”, the presenter said.
Despite his serious state of health, the relatives of the victims do not forget the horrors committed by this feared murderer. Garavito was sentenced in 2001 to 1,853 years and nine days in prison for the murder, torture and rape of more than a hundred children throughout the country during the 1990s. However, his sentence was reduced to 40 years as it was considered unfeasible.
The relatives of the victims have expressed their rejection of any possibility of release or reduction of the sentence for Garavito. “My son was raped, murdered and mistreated (…) That guy doesn’t deserve to get out of jail, he has to pay his heavy punishment,” expressed Nelly Cuéllar Méndez, mother of one of the victims.
In 2020, the journalist Rafael Poveda and his partner Kevin Pinzón managed to get an exclusive interview with Garavito. After 20 hours talking with the feared serial killer, Poveda decided to turn the material obtained into a book.
Despite the fact that the encounters with the murderer took place in 2020, the photographs were only revealed until 2023, after the official release of the two books written by Poveda.
“He was trying to confuse us and we felt that he was trying to clear his name with the theme that he has drawn closer to God and the Bible. He was cunning in that way. At that time, he had a cancerous wart on his left eye, so his eye was almost closed. He now he has it completely closed. And in addition to that wart, he has leukemia ”, added the journalist, producer, director and television director.
Luis Alfredo Garavito Cubillos, also known as “The Monster of Genoa”, is one of the most feared criminals in Colombia, and his case is still the subject of debate in the country.