Carlos Eduardo Robledo Puch (born 22 January 1952), also known as The Angel of Death and The Black Angel, is an Argentine
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
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*
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* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
. He was
convicted
In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is con ...
of eleven
murders (including the killing of at least one accomplice), one
attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions.
Canada
Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ...
, seventeen
robberies
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
, involvement in one
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
and one attempted
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
, one count of
sexual abuse
Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...
, two
kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/ asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the ...
s and two thefts.
Most of the offences occurred in the northern area of
Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adj ...
.
Early life
In 1956, when Robledo Puch was four years old, his parents moved the family to Borges Street,
Olivos, Buenos Aires Province
Olivos is a neighborhood in Vicente López Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is bordered to the south by Vicente López neighborhood and Florida; to the east by the River Plate; to the north by La Lucila and Martínez, and to t ...
, where they rented a first floor apartment above a hardware store. Robledo Puch came from a working-class family and was a shy child.
Criminal activity
On 15 March 1971, Robledo Puch and his accomplice, Jorge Antonio Ibañez, robbed the nightclub ''Enamor'', stealing 350,000
pesos
The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar ...
. Before fleeing, Robledo Puch, using a
Ruby pistol
The Ruby pistol was a semi-automatic pistol of .32 ACP calibre made by Gabilondo y Urresti and other Spanish companies. It saw use in both World Wars as the service weapon of the French Army under the name ''Pistolet Automatique de 7 millim.65 g ...
, killed the club's owner and the night watchman while they slept.
On 9 May 1971 at 4 am, Robledo Puch and Ibañez broke into a
Mercedes Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquarter ...
spare parts store in
Vicente López. In one of the rooms, they found a couple with their newborn baby. Robledo Puch shot and killed the man and shot the woman, who only sustained gunshot injuries. Ibañez attempted to rape the injured woman. The woman survived the ordeal and later testified at the trial. Before fleeing with 400,000 pesos, Robledo Puch shot at the crib where the newborn lay crying, but he missed.
On 24 May 1971, both criminals killed a night watchman in a supermarket.
On 13 June 1971, Ibañez raped a 16 year-old girl in the backseat of a stolen car, after which Robledo Puch killed the teenager by shooting her five times. On 24 June 1971, they drove to the same location and repeated the crime - Ibañez attempted to rape a 23 year-old woman, whom Robledo Puch executed afterwards by shooting seven times.
On 5 August 1971, Ibañez died in a suspicious car accident. Robledo Puch was driving and fled from the scene unscathed.
On 15 November 1971, Robledo Puch and his new accomplice, Héctor Somoza, stormed a supermarket in
Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...
and, using a .32 caliber
Astra pistol that they had obtained a few days prior in the robbery of an armory, riddled the scene with bullets.
Between 17 November 1971 and 24 November 1971, they broke into two car dealerships and murdered the watchmen, stealing over 1,000,000 pesos.
Arrest
On 1 February 1972, Robledo Puch and Somoza broke into a hardware store. They killed the watchman and tried to open the safe with the keys they obtained from his body. They were unable to do so and, allegedly in a state of confusion during which Robledo Puch apparently was startled by something, he shot Somoza and killed him. In order to impede or prevent identification of his accomplice's body by police investigators, he took a blowtorch and burned the face of Somoza. After opening the safe with the same blowtorch, he took the money he found there and fled the scene. He was arrested on 4 February 1972, after his identity card was found in Somoza's pants pocket. He had just turned 20.
Trial, reclusion, and present day
He was tried in 1980 and sentenced to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed te ...
, the maximum sentence in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...
, to be served in the high-security prison of Sierra Chica, near the city of
Olavarria. The last words he spoke before the court were "This was a Roman circus. I was judged and sentenced beforehand."
Part of the contents of the file of a psychiatrist who examined him, presented at trial, read:
:"Robledo Puch comes from a legitimate and complete home, absent from unfavorable hygienic and moral circumstances."
:"There were also no economic constraints of importance, reverses of fortune, abandonment of the home, lack of work, personal misfortune, illness, affective conflicts, overcrowding or promiscuity."
In July 2000, he became eligible for parole; he did not, however, submit a petition.
On 27 May 2008, Robledo Puch submitted a petition of request to be paroled. The judge who reviewed his petition denied him parole considering him to still be a threat to society.
In November 2013, he requested a review of his sentence or, failing that, his execution by a lethal injection even though the death penalty was not legal in Argentina. The Supreme Court of Justice denied both the request for review and the request for execution, the latter of which would have been illegal.
On 27 March 2015, the Supreme Court of Justice rejected an appeal filed by Robledo Puch against the aforementioned judicial decision whereby he was denied parole.
In 2018, a film based on Robledo Puch called ''
El Angel
The Angel of Independence, most commonly known by the shortened name ''El Ángel'' and officially known as ''Monumento a la Independencia'' ("Monument to Independence"), is a victory column on a roundabout on the major thoroughfare of Paseo de ...
'', directed by
Luis Ortega and starring
Lorenzo Ferro
Lorenzo "Toto" Ferro (; born 9 November 1998) is an Argentine actor, singer and songwriter. He gained recognition for playing Robledo Puch in the 2018 film '' El ángel''. His television roles include Cristian Pardo in the third season of '' El ...
, was released.
, Robledo Puch has spent over 50 years in prison, making him the longest-serving prisoner in South America.
See also
*
List of serial killers by country
This is a list of notable serial killers, by the country where most of the killings occurred.
Convicted serial killers by country Afghanistan
*Abdullah Shah: killed at least 20 travelers on the road from Kabul to Jalalabad while serving under ...
*
List of serial killers by number of victims
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, in two or more separate events over a period of time, for primarily psychological reasons.A serial killer is most commonly defined as a person who kills three or more peop ...
*
Cayetano Santos Godino
Cayetano Santos Godino (October 31, 1896 – November 15, 1944), also known as "El Petiso Orejudo" ("The Big-Eared Midget"), was an Argentinian serial killer who terrorized Buenos Aires at age 16. In the early 20th century he was responsible for ...
*
Mateo Banks
Mateo Banks y Keena (18 November 1872–28 August 1949) was an Argentine spree killer who murdered six members of his family, in addition to two of the family's employees. The crimes occurred on two of the family's rural estates at Parish, near ...
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Puch, Robledo
1952 births
Argentine people convicted of murder
Argentine rapists
Argentine serial killers
Living people
Male serial killers
People convicted of murder by Argentina
People from Buenos Aires
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Argentina