The director of Colombia’s prison authority INPEC has dismissed fears that one of the world’s worst serial killers, dubbed “The Beast,” will be released from prison any time soon.
Luis Alfredo Garavito was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the rape and murder of 111 children between the years of 1992 and 1999, although estimates of his total number of victims have reached as high as 300.
Garavito’s sentence was subsequently cut to 24 years after he cooperated with authorities over locating the bodies of some of his victims, although Green Party Senator Gilma Jimenez recently stoked fears that he could be released much sooner due to his completion of study hours that help reduce sentences.
INPEC Director Gustavo Adolfo Ricaurte quashed the possibility on Friday, however, stating that he still has nine years and 11 months left to complete from his original sentence.
Ricaurte added that “the Prosecutor General’s Office has 25 cases pending against him.” According to the director, this means that “The Beast” would be released in between 25 and 40 years.
Senator Jimenez, who is currently heading a referendum proposal to allow life sentences for child molesters, appears to have mistaken the amount of time that prisoners can redeem for study hours.
“The average inmate that studies or works, for each year, can redeem four months,” said Ricaurte, although he did not go into detail about how this would affect the remainder of Garavito’s original sentence.
He further moved to allay unfounded fears by explaining that Ecuador has sentenced Garavito to 22 years for the murders that he carried out in that country. He could be forced to complete this sentence once his term in Colombia ends, subject to agreement between the neighboring governments.
Garavito apparently only ever leaves his cell to study and never receives visitors. In a psychological report obtained by El Tiempo, “The Beast” was asked about his actions, to which he replied, “So I was born, I do not know why. I felt pleasure, even though when I had killed the guilt came over me.”
