“Baraja: La Firma del Assassino” is a three-episode miniseries directed by Amanda Sanz that tells the story of a series of murders in Madrid during the first 7 months of 2003. The series focuses on police work and how, alongside the investigation, the media created a monster that kept the people of Madrid in suspense. This documentary tells the story of a brutal serial killer like never before.
The last two victims of the criminal were two Romanian spouses, Jorge and Doina Magda, who were shot in the head on March 18, 2003, on a path near an olive grove in Arcanda del Rey.
The accused stopped his car and went to a field where he saw a man walking. He lost his target, he reports El Espanol, so he moved on after seeing two others. He shot George and Donna in the head at close range. George died at the scene and Doina died 44 hours later in a coma.
Along with the last victim, the killer left two other playing cards, the three and four of spades, thus continuing the brutal signature that shocked Spanish society. He left the Ace of Spades and the Deuce of Spades next to his two previous victims.
Jorge and Doina Magda arrived in Madrid about seven months before they were killed. They had three daughters, two of whom remained in the country, and the third, who was blind, had come with them to Spain. George was working as a welder and Donna was taking care of an elderly man. They were visiting his house on the day he was killed, he recounted 20 years ago El Pies.
Spanish police had no leads to the killer, but on July 3, 2003, Alfredo Galen Sotillo turned himself in at the Portolano police station (Ciudad Real), where he confessed to being the Card killer. The murder weapon was a Tokarev TT-33 7.62 caliber pistol purchased in Bosnia where he served in the army.
The 25-year-old was tried in Madrid and convicted of six murders and three attempted murders and sentenced to 142 years and three months in prison.
All of his victims were shot in the head, neck or back at close range, which explains why no sign of resistance was seen when they were attacked.
The first murder was on January 24, 2003 at Calle Alonso Cano no. 89, in the Chambery neighborhood of Madrid, where she was nursing her two-year-old son at the time.
On February 5, he committed two offences. The first was at a bus station in Madrid’s Alameda de Ozuna neighborhood, where he killed Juan Carlos Martin Estacio, a 28-year-old cleaner. A card from the Spanish deck was found near the body, the ace of hearts.
In the afternoon of the same day, Callan entered a bar in the town of Alcalá de Henares, and without saying a word, shot and killed several people. Two of them, 18-year-old Andrés García and 57-year-old Juana Uclés López, died in the shooting.
A month later, on March 7, the culprit did not appear again. The victim was Eduardo Salas, a 27-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant. Salas was shot in the face while with his girlfriend, Anahid C., on Avenida de Viñuelas in the municipality of Tres Cantos. The bullet entered his right cheek and exited the back of his head.
Galen then approached the young man’s accomplice to fire another shot, the woman knelt down and shielded her head with her hands, but the gun jammed and the woman ran away. The killer leaves a bucket of water next to Eduardo’s body, who escapes the attack despite the severity of his injuries.
Then followed a double homicide in Arcanda del Rey, in which Callan killed a Romanian couple. That person was the first to be shot. Then his wife, who was frightened, turned and tried to protect herself with her left hand. Callan shot her three times. Two projectiles hit her in the head from a distance of four centimeters. He died two days later.
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