Argentina is renowned for many things: a passion for football, tango dancing, delicious beef dishes and immensely drinkable Malbec wines. The country also boasts stunning natural wonders like the Iguazú Falls and the Perito Moreno Glacier. It has a vibrant capital city in Buenos Aires, which positively pulsates with a cultural richness; from its historic architecture to its lively street art scene. Less well known, thankfully for the country, is its history of serial killing.
Compared to its Brazilian neighbours to the north, Argentina is a relatively safe place with moderately low crime levels. However, serial killers are not totally alien to The Land of Silver.
Here are the most despicable repeat murderers to have stalked the cities and rural areas of the world's eighth-largest nation.
Florencio Fernández - 15 victims
Born in 1935, Florencio Fernández grew up mostly without family in Monteros, a province of Tucumán. As an older child, he was poor and spent most of his time alone. He developed schizophrenia but, due to his remote location, poverty and frequent homelessness, the abandoned Fernández was never seen by any medical experts.
As he grew older, he became violent and developed photophobia, a fear of light. This led him to become convinced that he was a vampire and he soon developed an obsession with blood.
Throughout the 1950s, now living in a cave outside Monteros, Fernández stalked and preyed on women. His modus operandi fed into his thinking that he was a vampire. He would follow his victims for several days, waiting until they were asleep in a bedroom accessible from the outside.
He'd strike on hot nights when his victims would leave their bedroom windows open. Once inside, he would beat them unconscious and bite their necks until an artery was severed and they began to bleed out. He would then drink their blood feverishly, before fleeing.
'The Vampire at the Window' was caught after claiming 15 victims. He was later declared unfit to stand trial due to his severe mental illness and died in psychiatric care in 1968.
Francisco Antonio Laureana – 13 victims
Francisco Antonio Laureana, referred to by some as 'The Satyr of San Isidro', was a serial murderer and rapist who was eventually shot and killed by Buenos Aires police. Between 1974 and 1975, he was active for six months, stalking, raping and killing 13 women.
While some victims were shot, others were strangled. Most of the casualties were women who were either waiting for buses or sunbathing. Every time he took the life of one of his female victims, he would steal a memento, usually some jewellery. In the days and weeks that followed, the murderer would generally revisit the site of the killing to relive his crimes.
Laureana was one of the most prolific serial killers in Argentine history, but - strangely - because of the complicated political climate in the country at the time, his case went mostly unnoticed and undiscussed at the time.
Robledo Puch - 11 victims
Now 71, Carlos Eduardo Robledo Puch has spent more than 50 years behind bars for his horrific 1971 crime spree. 'The Black Angel' committed an array of armed robberies, rapes and murders, all in the space of only 11 months. He was just 19 years old at the time and caught a year later, aged 20.
Not only was Puch’s age surprising, but so was his background. The baby-faced killer came from a wealthy, privileged family and had - seemingly - experienced no early childhood trauma. Puch is now the longest-serving prisoner in the whole of South America.
Diego Casanova – 6 victims
During a botched burglary, Diego Casanova ended up killing pensioner Francisco Quevedo. He was seen committing the act and promptly arrested. Since being incarcerated, he's adopted a new nickname, 'The Prisoner Killer'. So far, he has murdered five inmates in various disputes.
A feared psychopath who is seen as Argentina's most dangerous prisoner, he's been in upwards of 60 fights and even started several riots in jail. Casanova currently lives in solitary confinement, such is his dangerous, unsociable and unpredictable behaviour.
Cayetano Domingo Grossi – 5 victims
A horrible man with a horrible story, we’ll keep our retelling of Cayetano Grossi’s vile criminal biography short. Grossi was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad in April of 1900. He murdered five of his newborn children, babies that were born as the result of the rapes of his stepdaughters.
Ricardo Caputo – 4 victims
Ricardo 'The Lady Killer' Caputo may never have been caught had he not handed himself in. Despite being born in Mendoza, he conducted his murderous career across three cities significantly north of his hometown. Between 1971 and 1977, Caputo killed at least four women - but very likely many more - in New York City, San Francisco and Mexico City.
During his crime spree and the years that followed, he spent time as number one on the FBI's most wanted list. After a couple of decades as a fugitive, in 1994 Caputo surrendered to police. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in New York a year later. He died just two years later.
Cayetano Santos Godino – 4 victims
A pyromaniac and murderer, Cayetano Godino killed four children, attempted to kill a further seven and seriously assaulted two more. ‘El Petiso Orejudo’ (‘The Big-Eared Midget’) committed these crimes between 1906 and 1912. He died in jail in 1944.
