A cold-blooded serial killer who feigned disability to win the confidence of his elderly targets told an interviewer that “seeing blood gives me peace.”
Speaking from a Colombian prison, Juan Carlos Villa Cardona displayed complete absence of guilt for his 11 killings. “I feel no remorse for human beings,” he stated.
Detailing his brutal murders on the Más Allá del Silencio podcast, Villa continued: “To me, humans are like chickens.
“Seeing blood calms me down, but at the same time it gives me peace. It gives me a sense of peace, like when you drink a glass of water when you are very thirsty.”
Villa’s terrifying campaign of violence, spanning from March 2012 to September 2023, resulted in eleven deaths – 10 elderly people and one child.
Villa Cardona’s approach was both straightforward and chillingly effective. He would turn up at remote houses in rural communities such as La Paloma, in Santa Rosa de Cabal, displaying a notice claiming he was deaf and unable to speak, requesting money to help his ill mother.
The murderer’s unthreatening presence – he was of small stature with a slight frame – failed to trigger immediate alarm. Yet, once he had gained entry to his victims’ homes, his demeanour transformed completely.
In one incident, three individuals; Mélida González, Bernardo Giraldo, and Ana Isabel Giraldo, were discovered with numerous fatal knife injuries. Deputy Superintendent Jairo Martínez confirmed that the bodies had been stabbed in the neck, arms, and legs.
In prison interviews, Villa Cardona displayed a chillingly relaxed attitude towards his horrifying crimes, telling the podcast: “I feel no remorse for human beings; to me, humans are like chickens.”
One of the most unsettling elements of Juan Carlos Villa Cardona’s offences is his attempt to rationalise his actions through a warped religious belief. He alleges that he would kneel before God both before and after each crime.
He even went as far as suggesting his victims “deserved” their fate due to past sins or that their demise was a necessary respite.
Psychologist Jessica Riaño theorised that Villa Cardona’s perverse obsession stemmed from a traumatic childhood.
At just seven years old, he was deserted by his parents and left with his grandparents in Marsella, Colombia. This seemingly sparked an intense loathing for the elderly.
“I hate old people, I hate them,” he declared, adding that he felt “discarded” by his parents.
The murderer’s resentment towards his family has only intensified due to the circumstances of his eventual capture. Currently serving a sentence exceeding 45 years in a maximum-security prison, Villa Cardona had successfully eluded detectives until he was betrayed by his own brothers.
After a reward of 30 million pesos, roughly £6,000, was put up by the authorities, Villa Cardona claims his brothers turned him in to the police: “José Mauricio Villa Cardona… that bastard saw [the money] and got excited… he sold me for 15 million pesos, knowing that we share the same surname.”
He has sworn to kill both of his brothers if he ever regains his freedom, or if they end up in prison together: “Trusting my brothers… is the worst thing that ever happened to me,” he said. “I swear I will destroy them… I curse them.”
