A week after the completely accidental discovery of a woman’s body abandoned in a suitcase in a neighborhood of Vigo, police officers were able to solve a crime that had been committed six months earlier and clear up the great mysteries of the case. The investigation revealed the identity of the victim, Carmen Bento, a 60-year-old woman, and the alleged perpetrator of her stabbing, José Manuel Durán González, a 66-year-old man who was arrested while trying to flee. Investigators now face a man who spent 36 years in prison for two previous murders and who, it is believed, has killed again after completing his last sentence. This pattern of behavior suggests he may be a serial or multiple killer, demonstrating a psychopathic tendency to kill upon release from prison.
In the town of A Lama, where Durán was born, he is known by the nickname El Chioleiro. This small municipality of just 3,000 inhabitants was the scene of the two crimes that appear on his criminal record, which led to his ban from returning there. In 1988, he brutally attacked his 83-year-old grandmother, whom he raped and stabbed to death. On March 1st, a year after being released from his last sentence for the 2004 murder of a friend in the village, Durán allegedly struck again in Vigo, using a knife, the same weapon from his previous crimes. The authorities were able to piece together the evidence and connect the dots to apprehend Durán before he could flee the scene of the latest murder.
On February 22nd, a delivery man stopped to urinate on the side of a road in Vigo and discovered a suitcase wrapped in plastic hidden among the weeds. Inside was the partially clothed body of a woman with no identifying information. The Homicide brigade began an intense search to identify the body, initially thinking she might be of Portuguese nationality. Through painstaking investigations, they were able to link the body to a series of complaints from neighbors about a couple who frequently argued and emanated foul odors from their rented room. The victim was eventually identified as Carmen Bento, a Spanish woman who was transient and had been living in the neighborhood where she was found.
The investigation led to the revelation that Carmen had a tumultuous past, having endured abuse and separation from her partner in her hometown of Celanova. It is believed that she had been living with her killer for about a month, after Durán’s release from prison. Despite his seemingly uneventful time behind bars, Durán’s psychiatric history raised red flags about his potential for violent behavior, which ultimately culminated in Carmen’s murder. The evidence gathered against Durán was overwhelming, including incriminating documents found in his possession, leading to his third incarceration in A Lama and pending DNA and fingerprint testing to solidify the case against him.
Durán has spent more than half of his life in prison, having been convicted in the past for two murders, including that of his grandmother and a neighbor. Despite attempts to plead psychological incapacity, his cold and calculated actions have earned him harsh judgments and lengthy sentences in the past. As the investigation into Carmen’s murder continues, questions remain about the possible motives behind the crime, whether it was a financial dispute or a re-emergence of Durán’s violent tendencies upon his release from prison. The authorities are working to ensure that justice is served for Carmen and to prevent any further harm at the hands of a repeat offender like Durán.
