Alfredo Galán Sotillo (born 5 April 1978) is a Spanish

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

who killed six people and wounded two from 4 January - 18 March 2003.

Early life

Alfredo Galán was born in

Puertollano Puertollano () is a municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain located in the province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha. The city has a population of 45,539 (2022). Contrasting to the largely rural character of the region, Puertollano stands o ...

province of Ciudad Real The province of Ciudad Real () is a province in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca, Albacete, Jaén, Córdoba, Badajoz, and Toledo. It is partly located ...

, Castile-La Mancha,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Galán became class president in high school but was remembered as unremarkable and introverted. In September 1998, he joined the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

and became a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

in the 31st Mech Regiment "Asturias" of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and participated in humanitarian missions in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. He was sent back to Spain to help deal with the cleanup of the

Prestige oil spill The ''Prestige'' oil spill occurred off the coast of Galicia, Spain in November 2002, caused by the sinking of the 26-year-old, structurally deficient oil tanker , carrying 77,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil. During a storm, it burst a tank on 1 ...

. Galán stole a car and was sent to the

Gómez Ulla Military Hospital The Gómez Ulla Military Hospital (), presently know officially as ''Hospital Central de la Defensa Gómez Ulla'', is a military hospital in Madrid, located in the Aluche area in the former Carabanchel quarter of the city. It is part of the Spa ...

. He was diagnosed with

neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

and

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

and continued drinking. In March 2003, he began working as a security guard at

Madrid–Barajas Airport Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport is the main international airport serving Madrid, the capital city of Spain. At in area, it is the second-largest airport in Europe by physical size behind Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. In 2019, 61.8 ...

Murders

On 24 January 2003, Galán shot 50-year-old Juan Francisco Ledesma in the head in front of his 2-year-old son. On 5 February, the body of 28-year-old airport cleaner Juan Carlos Martín Estacio was found shot in the head. An

ace of cups The Ace of Cups is a card used in Latin-suited playing cards (Italian, Spanish and tarot decks). It is the ace from the suit of cups. In Tarot, it is part of what card readers call the "Minor Arcana", and as the first in the suit of cups, si ...

was left nearby. Later the same day, Galán entered Bar Rojas in Alcalá de Henares and shot 3 people: the bar owner, 38-year-old Teresa Sánchez García survived multiple gunshots; her 18-year-old son Mikel Jiménez Sánchez and 57-year-old customer Juana Dolores Ucles López were killed. On 7 March 2003, 27-year-old Santiago Eduardo Salas was shot in the face by Galán, but survived. Salas's friend, 29-year-old Anahid Castillo Ruperti, was able to escape unharmed. A

two of cups Two of Cups is a Minor Arcana tarot card. Divination usage The card shows a man and a woman staring into each other's eyes, sharing their emotions by way of the cups. Wings and snakes form a Caduceus, and with the lion head present, the eleme ...

was dropped at the scene. On the evening of 18 March 2003, Galán shot and killed 40-year-olds Gheorghe Magda and his wife Doina, a Romanian couple, in

Arganda del Rey Arganda del Rey is a municipality and city of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. Geography Located in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula, the city lies at roughly above sea level, not far from the junction of the Jarama and ...

in Madrid as they walked home from work. Galán left two more tarot cards — the three and four of cups — at the scene. It was not originally his intention for playing cards to be his "signature". He only began leaving cards after the

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

sensationalized the fact that a card had been found by a victim's body.

Aftermath

On 3 July 2003, while severely inebriated, Galán surrendered at a police station and confessed to being "The Playing Card Killer." His confession included details about pen markings on the cards that were not public. Upon sobering up, he recanted, but ballistics irrefutably linked spent cartridges in his residence to the murders. It was reported that in some of the murders, Galán had wished his victims good morning and ordered them to kneel before shooting them. He killed his victims with a Tokarev 7.62-caliber TT-33 that he had bought while he was in the army in

. He smuggled the gun into Spain by hiding it in a

television set A television set or television receiver (more commonly called TV, TV set, television, telly, or tele) is an electronic device for viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or as a computer monitor. It combines a tuner, display, and loudspeake ...

. He will be released in 2028 after 25 years in prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galan, Alfredo 1978 births 2003 murders in Spain 21st-century Spanish criminals Living people People convicted of murder by Spain People from Puertollano Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Spain Security guards convicted of crimes Spanish people convicted of murder Spanish serial killers Spanish soldiers

Early life

Murders

Aftermath

See also

References