Mexican couple accused of killing, dismembering at least 20 women, selling body parts

A man and woman - identified only as Juan Carlos and Patricia - were arrested for allegedly killing and dismembering as many as 20 women in Mexico. (Mexico State)

A Mexican couple caught carrying dismembered human remains in a baby carriage is believed to have murdered nearly two dozen women during a vicious killing spree, prosecutors said Monday.

The man – only identified by officials as Juan Carlos – reportedly confessed to killing about 20 women after investigators found multiple body parts in his apartment and at another nearby property.

Alejandro Gomez, the chief prosecutor in Mexico State, said Juan Carlos and his wife were caught last week in Ecatepec, on the northern outskirts of the capital.

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Gomez told Radio Formula that Juan Carlos, who gave details of the murders including the names of 10 victims, appeared to be proud of the killings. He said there were signs he suffered a personality disorder and resented his mother and a previous girlfriend.

"What seemed macabre to me is that this person mentioned 10 cases in which he gives details, the names of the victims; he gave us the clothing they had on at the time," Gomez said. "He seemed happy about what he had done."

Prosecutors said police started investigating the couple after phone records showed they had contacted several women from the area who vanished in the last six months.

Last Thursday, the pair was caught coming out of a house with a baby carriage filled with plastic bags.

Neighbors told authorities that it was common to see the couple pushing a carriage, the BBC reported.

Inside the bags, investigators allegedly found dismembered human body parts, which the pair intended to dispose of in a nearby vacant lot.

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Gomez said the couple kept the remains in buckets filled with cement and in a fridge. He said they also sold some of them, but it was unclear which parts were supposed to be sold and who the buyers were believed to be. In the vacant lot, police found more body parts but they were in such poor condition forensic tests were needed to identify them.

According to authorities, one of the couple’s victims was Nancy Huitron, who disappeared in September along with her two-month-old baby, Valentina, after dropping her two older daughters at school.

Police said the couple killed Huitron and sold her baby to another couple, who have been arrested. The baby was found and returned to her maternal grandmother.

Two other women who disappeared were identified as Arlet Samanta and Evelyn Rojas, who vanished in April and June, respectively.

Gomez said Juan Carlos confessed to sexually abusing some of the victims before killing them. Most were single mothers, and the couple apparently lured their victims with offers of cheap baby clothing.

The BBC reported that when he was arrested, Juan Carlos asked officers if he could shower and put on a suit “because I’m not a dirty criminal.”

According to UN Women, an estimated seven women were killed every day in 2016 in Mexico.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.