Baraja: La firma del asesino (2023) s01e01 Episode Script
Un as de copas
1
The wanted Playing Card Killer.
The Playing Card Killer case.
The Playing Card Killer struck again.
Two cards, the three and four of cups.
It's the most important case
Spain has had in recent years.
[presenter] The puzzle begins with a card
placed at the feet of the victim.
What macabre meaning does that card imply?
[funky music playing]
For us, it was extraordinary,
journalistically speaking.
We speculated
about everything and anything.
What he's displaying in real life
with his murders is what he's seeing
in the cards on the table.
The two of cups has many meanings
but it also means
he planned to kill two people.
Every show had a crime section.
It was a true revolution.
The main thing
that's causing panic with the public
is the sequence of the cups.
Basically, you're saying
there's a serial killer roaming free?
This man, if we let him,
he'll get to the king of cups.
[man] He would kill
during the night or during the day.
You never knew when or where.
Let's say he would go hunting.
Straight to the kill.
With the shooting in Arganda, he was back.
Everyone is asking the same question,
"Is this the work
of the Playing Card Killer?"
The victim's treated like an object
in the crime scene. Always forgotten.
[ominous music playing]
I was shot three times.
And my son got shot in the head.
There was a huge puddle of blood.
It was cruel to do it in front of me.
[projector clicking]
[man] The purpose of ballistics
is to find a gun.
The purpose of an investigator
is to find a perpetrator.
[police siren sounds]
And the purpose of media
is to publicize and make something famous.
[eerie ring sounds]
[ominous music playing]
THE PLAYING CARD KILLER
[typewriter keys click]
MADRID - FEBRUARY 5, 2003
[presenter 1 in Spanish] There's continued
uncertainty about the future of Iraq.
US Secretary of State,
Collin Powell, will try to prove
that Saddam Hussein is hiding
weapons of mass destruction.
[presenter 2] He'll do so at the meeting
of the United Nations Security Council,
which will be held this Wednesday.
Powell's main objective
is to convince his European allies
but he has already warned
that his evidence is not irrefutable.
France could use its right to veto
and has reiterated
that war would be the worst solution.
They prefer to give disarmament inspectors
more time to complete their mission.
[presenter 1] Tension is growing
within the international community.
The US seems determined to act
by potentially attacking
Saddam Hussein's country.
It could be
[ominous music playing]
[driver in English] February 5th
was a cold night.
DRIVER'S REAL VOICE
It was a quiet Tuesday night.
I remember driving
the N4 bus from Cibeles to Barajas
from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
As I reached the Plaza del Mar,
I turned at the roundabout,
realized that there was a man
lying on the ground.
I got goosebumps.
[eerie music playing]
I stopped further ahead
to go through the rear door.
I got off the bus
and that's when I saw him
lying on the street bleeding to death.
[in Spanish] Bus four, do you copy?
Over. Do you copy?
[driver in English] I knew him.
He took the bus every day.
[in Spanish] Bus four-four,
do you copy? Police?
[driver in English] We tried to call
on the radio but the signal was bad
so we ended up using
one of the passenger's phones.
It had happened just a minute earlier.
[electronic music playing]
TV NEWS
A 28-year-old man
was found dead this morning
at the Plaza del Mar Square
in Alameda de Osuna, Barajas,
with a blow to the head
and signs of bleeding from one eye.
At the scene,
with all the details, is David Moreno.
Back to you, David.
Good morning.
The police tape is being removed
right now in order to clean the scene.
This is where the murder took place.
The incident happened
at a quarter to five this morning
when a bus driver from the EMT network
found a person
lying on the street in that exact spot.
Just an hour ago,
the body of the 28-year-old man
was removed from the scene
and was transferred to the forensic's lab.
The man was lying on the street
and had an obvious puncture wound.
According to the medical team, the wound
was located on the left side of the head.
That was the cause of death.
[ominous music playing]
[man] In 2003, I was working
on the Madrid section
of El País newspaper, covering crime.
I was around 30 years old
and I had to cover
any kind of crime taking place in Madrid.
The world of crime journalism
can be tricky.
It requires you to be with people
who are having a tough time.
It also requires you
to be cautious with your sources,
gain the trust
of the police and the Civil Guard,
and to be out on the streets.
It takes a lot of investigation
and talking to a lot of people
to find the truth.
[police sirens sound]
Unfortunately, the crime occurred at dawn.
We found out about it the next morning
so we couldn't get
a picture of the corpse.
We weren't there when they picked it up.
So, naturally, what we had to do
in that situation was to find witnesses.
The bars were closed
and there were no stores
since it's not a populated area.
But we did what we could.
[dog barking]
[man] I started covering
this kind of event in 1994.
At that time, I'd been working
in crime news for nine years.
You have to be committed
to this job 24 hours a day.
You have to be willing to get a call
at five o'clock in the morning
and rush anywhere to try and get
as much information as possible
so people know what's happening
at their doorstep in their city.
The day we learned of the crime,
we knew he was a young man.
But we didn't find it
particularly relevant
because the crime average
that year was one every three days.
VIOLENCE RAVAGES THE STREETS
MADRID - AN AVERAGE OF ONE HOMICIDE
EVERY 70 HOURS IN THE REGION
THE DARKEST SIDE OF SPAIN RETURNS
DURING THE BLOODIEST MONTH OF THE DECADE
I had a car available 24 hours a day.
I'd get a call at any given time.
You try to send a team as soon as possible
to get as many pictures as you can
and the main thing
you should ask is, "What is this about?"
Was the victim mugged?
The first thing they told me was,
"This looks like an execution."
DO NOT CROSS - POLICE LINE
[ominous music playing]
The Homicide
and Forensics teams arrive first
and they conduct a primary assessment.
There's no daylight
so they use flashlights
and they're limited in space and time.
They look for blood.
Maybe the victim
managed to injure the attacker.
They look For key evidence
such as DNA, biological samples, anything.
We were absolutely astonished when we saw
the live report from my colleague,
who was at the bus stop
where the shooting took place.
And right behind him,
we see the cleaning services
wiping the entire crime scene with a hose.
I was in shock.
I was like, "How is this possible?"
Obviously, the cleaning crew
may have erased all kinds of evidence,
which can be very useful
in this kind of investigation.
By now, this bus stop
is being used almost normally.
No traces left of the murder
that took the life of a cleaning employee
from Barajas airport earlier this morning.
When you face a murder investigation,
you theorize about how it happened.
I must say
that I was the only one at the time
who said he had been shot.
The medical staff had only noticed
that the victim had a hole in him.
That's it.
JANITOR FOUND SHOT TO DEATH AT BUS STOP
CRANIAL TRAUMA - FIREARM
Honestly, what caught my attention
the most about this crime
was the senselessness, the reason.
When you investigate a crime, you think,
"This person was mugged,
this was a settling of scores."
"This was maybe a gender-violence crime."
But there was no motive.
Why would someone kill an airport employee
who's just waiting for a bus?
He wasn't even robbed.
So you wonder why.
[ominous music playing]
He was a very funny person,
never argued with anyone.
He was really a great guy.
He was an extraordinary person.
Suddenly, they found something.
And that piece of information
left us all completely stunned.
An ace of cups card
had been found at the scene.
[projector clicks]
AT THE VICTIM'S UNCOVERED FEET WAS
A NEW ACE OF CUPS CARD FROM A SPANISH DECK
We said,
"This is something we're missing."
I started theorizing
but our bosses really wanted answers.
So I thought,
"Okay, this is a playing card."
"An ace of cups."
"But what can you ask an ace of cups?"
SOME HYPOTHESES POIN
TO ORGANIZED CRIME OR A BE
For us, it was extraordinary,
journalistically speaking.
We started speculating
about everything and anything.
Everyone is wondering
about an ace of cups,
the card found
next to Juan Carlos Martín's body.
The puzzle begins with a card
placed at the feet of the victim.
What macabre meaning does that card imply?
IT HAPPENED IN MADRID
We might think it was a random murder
LAWYER AND CRIMINOLOGIS
or maybe that he had a financial motive
and it was an attempted mugging.
But the fact
that a card symbolizing fortune
was found at the victim's feet
lead us to believe the killer
wants to send a very specific message.
[ominous music playing]
As the German psychiatrist
Kurt Schneider used to say,
"Saints and criminals
are equally abnormal."
And that has always caught my eye.
I've been interested
in this dark side since I was a child
and read the newspaper
El Caso enthusiastically.
So I can say that I have a calling
in researching this dark side.
[eerie music playing]
I remember very clearly
the case of Martín Estacio.
It was the first scene
a playing card was found.
As a matter of fact, at that time,
I had just started
to collaborate with the media.
That's why I commented
on that piece of news.
This leads us to think that the victim
From the start, I thought
the card was placed intentionally.
It didn't seem random.
Plus, the ace of cups
has symbolic meanings.
Fortune if it's facing up.
Misfortune if it's facing down.
I can even say we speculated
about what the symbol
on that card could mean.
Settling of scores?
Loss of fortune?
Was it a conscious act?
Will he do it again?
[ominous music playing]
At that time, the ace of cups
was not given any importance
beyond being
one more element at the scene,
like the rest.
A SMALL LIGHTER, "BIC" BRAND
TWO PIECES OF A STREET MAP
A HANDWRITTEN AND TORN PIECE OF PAPER
TOBACCO
A BOX OF CANDY
A BLACK AND BLUE NIKE BRAND SPORTS BAG
We thought it was a coincidence.
That it might've fallen out.
Nothing like what it turned out to be.
[upbeat music playing]
DAILY NEWS MADRID
It's February 5th
and here's what's happening.
[reporter] At this bus stop
in Alameda de Osuna
February 5th was one of the busiest days
I've had in my life at the newspaper
and one of the bosses
asked us at 3:30 p.m.,
"What the hell is happening in Madrid?"
Because early in the morning,
there was the Barajas case.
At noon, there was a case
in the north where a woman was murdered.
We started writing about that
when a colleague called and said,
"Did you hear
about the Alcalá de Henares case?"
I said, "No."
And he said, "Two dead bodies."
I said, "Don't mess with me,
we have tons of work."
And he said, "I swear.
We have two other crimes."
An Alcalá de Henares bar
was the site of a shooting
that took the lives of a female customer
and a young man, the son of the owner.
The owner is in critical condition.
The police haven't ruled anything out yet,
including a settling of scores.
In 2003,
we had a rapidly growing crime rate
and a significant increase in murders
since the beginning of the year.
It was unacceptable
that Madrid, capital of the country,
had that crime rate.
It was also affecting the economy.
[reporter 1] Seventy-one
violent deaths so far this year.
One every three days, right now in Madrid.
[reporter 2] Crime is a key topic
for today's meeting
with the chiefs of police in Madrid.
[reporter 3] Five-hundred police officers
joined the police headquarters in Madrid.
[reporter 4] They'll take courses
on drugs and legal matters
as a response
to the demands of the citizens.
[reporter 5] The mob, settling scores,
and disputes between drug dealers
are the reasons there's an average
of one homicide in Madrid every 63 hours.
[reporter 6] A lot of crimes
are committed in the capital
and according to the police,
the worst is yet to come.
That year, 2003,
we ended up with 100 homicides.
Ninety-seven of them, willful.
Ninety-seven of them were aimed to kill.
TRES CANTOS, MADRID - MARCH 7, 2003
THIRTY DAYS AFTER THE ACE OF CUPS
[eerie music playing]
[presenter in Spanish] "Saddam Hussein
manufactures and hides
weapons of mass destruction,"
George Bush denounced today.
The US President has warned
the international community
that he does not rule out
the use of force against Iraq.
Bush issues an ultimatum of days,
not weeks as expected,
for Baghdad to comply with disarmament.
[Anahid in English] We were
under a doorway, just talking.
A man walked toward us and looked at us.
He aimed at Eduardo
so I crouched down.
I heard as he reloaded his gun.
I was waiting for him to shoot at me too.
[projector clicking]
[Jesús] On March 7th, I remember
it was around three in the morning.
The Civil Guard center, the 062 station,
called and informed me
that in the Tres Cantos area,
someone had been
attacked and wounded with a firearm.
The victim was a male
and he had a bullet wound
with both entry and exit holes.
I remember us finding cotton, needles,
UOPJ CIVIL GUARD OFFICER
bottles, lots of surgical tape
and medical supplies
which affected the scene.
That's not uncommon.
We understand that saving the life
of the victim is a priority.
But that's what we found.
And in the middle of those supplies,
there was a card, a two of cups.
[ominous music playing]
The media went crazy.
There was another card.
At that time, it became the most relevant
and fundamental piece of news
for all crime journalists
and for all Madrid citizens.
This morning in Madrid,
someone shot a young man.
He wasn't killed, but a playing card
was found at the crime scene.
First, the killer left an ace of cups.
Now, a month later, the two of cups.
He is a unique specimen.
A young worker,
an immigrant couple.
What's the pattern?
Is he a visionary or a missionary?
No economic motive. No erotic suggestion.
Is it for power?
Control? Does he want fame?
You have to give your best.
When you begin to see that your peers
in other media start to react,
it becomes a race against the clock.
THE TWO OF CUPS
29-YEAR-OLD JUAN CARLOS MARTÍN ESPACIO
The first thing I did every morning
was to read
what my colleagues had written.
If they had already published,
I had to do better.
The pressure was insane.
When we showed up
either at the police station
or the Civil Guard headquarters,
they turned round and didn't greet us
'cause they all knew
the next question was,
"Any news about the Playing Card Killer?"
Do the police have a lead?
We need time
to connect everything together.
He's not a criminal wanting to get caught.
I believe he wants to prove
that he's able to evade the police.
And he's getting away with it.
It was difficult
to remove myself from that.
I watched TV and saw the news
about the Playing Card Killer.
There was just
too much pressure at that time.
There was a lot of media pressure.
Every show had a crime section.
It was insane. You needed a story
at 8:00 a.m. or it was too late.
It was a true revolution.
As crime journalists,
it's common for us to be called morbid
and being blamed for creating panic.
But the police were already panicking.
It was relentless.
They didn't stop, they didn't sleep.
Everyone knew he'd kill again.
The community and the security forces
in Madrid are desperate.
First of all, we know
there's a criminal or maybe more.
We need to catch him so he rots in jail.
And then, conduct a series
of mental health tests
to find out if there's childhood trauma.
Although, I don't really care.
The two of cups has many meanings.
But it also means
he planned to kill two people.
The two of cups was a challenge.
As journalists, we didn't know
what was going on.
We wondered if there was a connection
between the crimes,
if the killer was the same person or not.
Because the first one occurred
in an area on the outskirts of the city
with good escape routes
with the M-30, M-40, and A-2.
But the second one,
Tres Cantos, was a central area
where he could've been seen by anyone.
As the context was completely different,
when I started analyzing
both cases, I thought,
"Yes, but no."
We were analyzing
the same criminal pattern
but the context was different.
We all were like,
"Of course it's the same guy."
But when talking to the police,
they said, "We don't know."
"There could be two shooters."
Maybe a copycat.
Anything was possible.
There were many theories.
But all of them needed to be examined.
We quickly needed to find out
the kind of weapon he used in the attacks.
When there's a firearm involved,
you look for evidence.
Bullet shells, projectiles.
You look for bullets.
In the case of Tres Cantos,
we ran some tests
and defined the most probable trajectory
because we knew that it was very important
and absolutely critical
to the case to find the bullet.
ABOVE-GROUND PARKING - BLOCK NUMBER 29
Usually, when a bullet
hits something hard, it bounces back,
like in this case.
It took us three days to find that bullet.
When we found it,
it was about 25 meters away
from the exact spot
where Eduardo was shot.
The victim and main witness
is recovering at La Paz Hospital.
The wounded man is on the fourth floor.
He is expected to survive.
The police hope to obtain his statement
and clear up some
of the mysteries surrounding the case.
The bright side, so to speak,
was that we had two witnesses.
The guy that got shot wasn't looking
toward the killer when it all happened.
The girl had a better chance to see him.
Ana is very important.
She's a key witness and very relevant
in this case. And that's rare.
In crimes like this,
it's common not to have an eyewitness.
That witness was willing
to speak to the media many times.
And for us,
that was the chance
to talk to an important witness.
Not any neighbor
saying he heard something.
We were talking with someone
who had survived the Playing Card Killer.
Ana Castillo Ruperti. Good morning.
After a while,
I looked up and he was gone.
I don't know when he left.
I got up and saw Eduardo on the ground.
I don't know why he let me live.
I met her on a show on Antena Channel 3
where we focused
and mainly discussed crimes and motives.
I met her there.
"Beatriz, we have the witness on set."
Today we have Ana,
the woman who
was miraculously spared that night.
Naturally, she lives
in almost constant fear.
- Good evening, Ana.
- Good evening.
And, suddenly, I met Ana.
A gorgeous woman. Fragile.
Completely overwhelmed
by the circumstances.
The media was eating her up.
"CONVINCED HE WOULD KILL ME."
I mean, her face was everywhere.
GUNMAN LEFT A TWO OF CUPS
Somehow, they were taking advantage
of her situation.
She had been in Spain for a few months.
As a student,
she was in a bad position financially.
What was the most shocking part?
He was a normal guy.
I mean, I didn't imagine
at any time he was gonna shoot us,
or anything.
I thought he was a normal guy
asking us something.
It never even crossed my mind
he'd pull out a gun.
She put herself in a position
that could potentially
put her life in danger.
'Cause the killer hadn't been caught yet.
The so-called Playing Card Killer
was still on the loose.
I decided to help and act on her behalf.
From that moment on,
she became the protected witness.
Since we couldn't talk to Eduardo,
we went to Ana
since she was the main eyewitness
and she was the only one
who could potentially provide us
with a significant amount of information.
That way, we could be able
to identify or locate the killer.
The work that the Civil Guard
was doing with Ana
consisted basically
of obtaining the best possible statement.
GENERAL OF THE CIVIL GUARD
[Jesús] She helped us
by stating that he was slim,
around six feet tall,
with dark skin
and he had a goatee.
She also mentioned
he had some kind of facial hair.
She said he had a shaggy hairstyle.
[ominous music playing]
Thanks to that, we were able
to come up with a sketch.
[typewriter keys click]
ARGANDA DEL REY, MADRID
MARCH 18, 2003
ELEVEN DAYS AFTER THE TWO OF CUPS
[broadcaster 1 in Spanish] Real Madrid
along the right side.
Loskov shoots from the right.
It goes over Iker Casillas's goal,
who is now killing time.
Míchel is fired up,
shouting at his teammates.
He's asking Pavón, Helguera,
and Solari to move forward.
Cuchu Cambiasso is going in.
[broadcaster 2] I think it's safe to say
that they've qualified.
I don't think Lokomotiv
will have another chance like that one.
Watch out because we're all on edge.
Unplug your pacemakers
in situations like this.
Foul by the striker from Lokomotiv.
It's Real Madrid's ball.
[broadcaster 1] I suppose Maminov
fouled him in the air.
[broadcaster 2] Cuchu gets it back.
Don't lose it! He taps it.
He heels it back to Solari. Oh, well.
[broadcaster 1] In the good sense.
Right, Víctor?
[broadcaster 3] Always in the good sense.
- [broadcaster 2] Del Bosque is suffering!
- [broadcaster 1] As you can imagine.
The whole Real Madrid bench is suffering.
- A clear foul by Nizchegorodov.
- [broadcaster 2] It's over!
It's over!
Final whistle!
The agony is over, Miguel Ángel!
To the quarterfinals on Friday!
[broadcaster 1] Real Madrid
really suffered, but they did it!
They've made it
to the Champions League quarterfinals.
All the Madrid players are hugging.
Of course, they're headed
to the left corner of the goal,
defended by Iker Casillas
in this second half
to acknowledge the support
[upbeat music playing]
NEWS PREVIEW - ANTENA 3 NEWS
[in English] A few hours ago,
in the Madrid area of Arganda del Rey,
two dead bodies were found
and next to them, two playing cards.
A man was killed
and a woman was seriously injured
by a shot to the head.
The playing cards
were the three and four of cups.
These elements suggest
the existence of a serial killer
that if confirmed,
means he's struck for a third time.
I remember that day perfectly.
We were in the editorial office
and I had just finished my work
but we used to stay until midnight.
In case there was a new crime,
we'd be at the office to investigate.
We received a message.
A shooting in Arganda. A dead person
and a second victim was injured.
He was back.
We showed up at a remote scene
that was completely dark.
The Civil Guard's homicide team
was completely disoriented and shocked.
We asked a simple question,
"Is it?" "Yes, it is."
[ominous music playing]
[projector clicking]
At that point,
I got chills all over my body.
But I thought, "Right now,
I'm a journalist not just a human."
"Let's get to it. We have to go to press."
But I felt absolutely furious and thought,
"You should've caught him."
The woman that was injured
in the Playing Card Killer's last attack
has died after being in a coma
for 44 hours.
[reporter] According to
the Romanian Embassy statement,
the Magdas came
from Bistrita-Nasaud, a rural area.
The woman had been in Spain
for two weeks visiting her husband,
who moved to Spain
to work a year and a half ago.
They leave two children in Romania,
a 10- and a 14-year-old.
That's the worst part of this.
There was never
any real motive for killing these people.
None whatsoever.
It was just killing for the sake of it.
For the pleasure of it. No motive.
It was in cold blood.
He got close enough to smell them.
He got that close
and he shot them
in the back, like a coward.
He shot the man first
to avoid any trouble.
Then he fled as always.
[Francisco] We went
to the buildings nearby to ask the people
and the neighbors
said something I'll never forget.
I asked, "Didn't you hear the shots?"
They said, "Yes."
"But we thought it was fireworks
as Real Madrid had just scored."
When you hear that,
your blood runs cold. I was shocked.
We all feared
the Playing Card Killer would come back.
And he actually did.
All the alarm bells went off.
The wanted Playing Card Killer.
The Playing Card Killer case.
The Playing Card Killer.
The Playing Card Killer struck again.
The Playing Card Killer strikes again.
Two cards, the three and four of cups.
He was all over the media
every single day.
Television, radio,
every newspaper. Everywhere.
Basically, you're saying
there's a serial killer roaming free.
We should all be worried.
I don't want to scare you
but we should all be cautious
and realize that it's best
[Teresa] It's impossible to prepare.
- You shouldn't go out alone.
- [Teresa] Yes.
We need to be alert and avoid
You can't be looking around
waiting to get shot.
But, Teresa, you can definitely avoid
being at a bus stop alone at 3:00 a.m.
[Teresa] You're right. Sure.
Everyone's really scared.
I go to work at 6:00 a.m.
and I'm very scared.
There was panic in Madrid.
[ominous music playing]
These random murders
caused a certain psychosis.
And I must admit
it was the only case in which I was afraid
of the killer.
Because at the time,
I lived with my parents.
I had a rented parking spot.
I got home late
when we finished work at the office
and every night,
I had to walk several blocks
from the parking spot
to my parents' house.
And I thought, "He could be waiting,
shoot me, and nobody will know."
Yes, of course.
At that point, we were certain
we were facing a serial killer.
We were expecting him
to strike anywhere in the area
or the outskirts.
We expected the worst.
We became pessimistic.
We knew he'd keep killing
and it could happen to anyone.
[eerie music playing]
Serial killers go through
different emotional phases.
During the initial phase,
the subject gets rid
of any behavioral inhibitions
and takes action.
Then during the active hunting phase,
they look for victims.
The attack phase.
And then through a phase
known as the hangover.
Or calm period.
In this case,
those calm periods were very short.
He spent less than a month being calm.
The killing drive was huge.
One-hundred-and-fifty police officers
and Civil Guards
are looking for the Playing Card Killer.
Letizia Ortiz is at the crime scene.
So Letizia, is that an isolated place?
Yes, it is isolated.
A rural path used by the locals
to walk and play with their dogs.
It's surrounded by trees.
You can see
there's a police tape in the back.
Behind it, there are still
some police officers investigating.
Combing the area,
looking for a lead to shed light
on a crime that has shocked
everyone in Arganda del Rey.
[Jesús] Time was gold for us.
We needed to catch this person
who was a danger to the community.
The forensics were more difficult
than Tres Cantos
because it was an open field
full of undergrowth.
We weren't able to find any bullets.
We spent several days
with metal detectors.
We had the entire homicide team
and the help of local authorities.
Ultimately, we couldn't find any bullets.
As a journalist, I felt the anxiety
among the investigators.
The concern in their comments,
in their behavior.
How they applied protocol.
[reporter] One-hundred-and-fifty
police officers and Civil Guards
work in Madrid to shed some light
on the crimes committed
by the Playing Card Killer.
There are still
many gray areas in the investigation.
I've learned a lot from the dead.
I believe I'm someone
who knows how to listen to them.
I can say I have never given up on a case.
Even with the total lack
of reason in the criminal world,
this broke the mold.
[train sounds]
[Jesús] The days didn't match.
The time of day didn't match.
Not the location.
We faced an unfamiliar situation.
And while we were profiling,
the days kept passing.
We continued working, little by little.
I wanted him to strike again
and this time, we would try to stop him.
We started noticing
that in every new attack,
to a trained eye, he was leaving a trail.
[ominous music playing]
[Jesús] Our concern
was that he'd kill again.
That was eating us alive.
We needed to stop him.
To work as fast and as well
as possible to try to prevent it.
That's all we cared about.
In that moment, my team and I
NATIONAL POLICE HEADQUARTERS
considered the possibility
that he could try to kill again
in the Vicálvaro area
or Rivas Vaciamadrid.
Back then, I used to live
in Vicálvaro and I took precautions.
I told everyone I loved
not to go out on certain days,
not even to take the trash out.
[eerie ring sounds]
Firearms can give us a lot
of information during an investigation.
Lots of details can be provided
by a professional ballistics expert.
And in many cases, ballistic remains
are the only evidence
that will actually help solve a crime.
[ominous music playing]
The playing cards that were found
have no relevance
as far as ballistics is concerned.
The police weren't investigating cards.
I wouldn't get those.
But if there were any cards,
they wouldn't have made it to the lab
because the lab
only receives ballistic remains
that can be analyzed and examined.
We don't want any non-ballistic elements.
I talked to the investigators
and they kind of gave me a clue.
They said, "There was a murder
before the ace of cups
that's related to this one."
I asked, "How do you know?"
And they said, "Ballistics."
I said, "It has to be
the Alonso Cano Street one."
A DOORMAN IS SHOT TO DEATH
IN FRONT OF HIS YOUNG SON
"How do you know?" I said, "Easy."
"It's the only unsolved crime
with a firearm
in Madrid so far this year."
JANUARY 24 - J. FRANCISCO LEDESMA
(SPANIARD) - AGE 50 - SHOT IN THE HEAD
[ominous music playing]
ARGANDA DEL REY, MADRID - MARCH 18, 2003
ALONSO CANO STREET, MADRID
JANUARY 24, 2003
Paco was the doorman of a building
on Alonso Cano Street.
FOR SALE
The whole thing was terrible for me.
Basically, I went out
to work for a few hours
and when I came back
I went in
and I found Paco lying on the floor.
[projector clicks]
There was a huge puddle of blood.
[projector clicks]
My son was in a chair.
He was moaning.
He spent around four hours
next to his daddy's corpse.
[projector clicks]
Paco had given him breakfast
and my son was just sitting there.
[projector clicks]
When I went in,
my son got off the chair
and came to me.
Even though I was in such pain
from seeing this,
I went out to ask the neighbors for help.
[projector clicks]
But no one had seen anything.
No one had heard anything.
Then one of the neighbors
called the nearest hospital
and asked them to come.
And when the hospital staff
finally showed up,
we learned that he was dead.
[eerie music playing]
I'm Alberto Ledesma,
son of Juan Francisco Ledesma,
the doorman murdered
by the Playing Card Killer.
I was told I was at home
when the Playing Card Killer came in
and shot my dad.
I remember
that I used to tell
my classmates at school.
My mom told me not to talk about it
because I guess
it was traumatic for the other children.
I might not have survived.
I might have died that day as well.
When I think about it as an adult,
I realize it was cruel
to do it in front of me.
[projector clicks]
[projector clicks]
The psychologists
and psychiatrists did a good job
but I have no recollection.
I don't remember anything at all.
I don't even remember my dad.
[child crying]
The shot was basically
what we call an execution.
The shot to the head
provided two elements.
We got the bullet shell
and the bullet itself, as the body
had both entry and exit wounds.
The most used weapons
to commit crimes in Spain are handguns.
And the most common caliber
used internationally
is the 9-millimeter Parabellum.
But we found a 7.62.
A 7.62 Tokarev really stands out.
[projector clicks]
With a 9-millimeter Parabellum crime,
it's, "Okay, another one."
But of course,
a 7.62 crime is not just another one.
That's That's very suspicious
and specific.
The purpose of ballistics
is to find a weapon.
The purpose of an investigator
is to find a perpetrator.
And the purpose
of the media, give publicity,
even deify, in some cases, the perpetrator
and make the story popular.
There's no doubt
that the playing cards, at the time,
caught the eye of the media
and it was more interesting
and popular than the evidence itself.
THE PLAYING CARD KILLER HAS DARK HAIR,
IS ABOUT 25 YEARS OLD, AND 5' 11" TALL
[ominous music playing]
ACCORDING TO THE COMPOSITE SKETCH
MADE BY THE POLICE
I would call him the Tokarev killer
because that's what he used.
Only one Tokarev
was involved in all the crimes
and had shot
all the bullets analyzed in the case.
Without a doubt. I don't need the gun.
I know it's the same one.
[typewriter keys click]
JANUARY 24, 2003
[projector clicks]
[typewriter keys click]
FEBRUARY 5, 2003
[police siren sounds]
[presenter] An Alcalá de Henares bar
was the site of a shooting
that took the lives of a female customer
and a young man, the son of the owner.
[Adolfo] On February 5th,
I remember we were analyzing
the evidence gathered at the Rojas bar.
We already knew at the lab
what we were dealing with.
A criminal committing murders
with a Tokarev.
[Teresa] I was shot three times.
And my son got shot in the head.
[radio presenter] The owner
is in critical condition.
The police haven't ruled anything
out yet including a settling of scores.
[Teresa] I regret the day
I started working at Bar Rojas.
I curse the day I did.
Sometimes, I blame myself
for what happened.
[electronic music playing]
The wanted Playing Card Killer.
The Playing Card Killer case.
The Playing Card Killer struck again.
Two cards, the three and four of cups.
It's the most important case
Spain has had in recent years.
[presenter] The puzzle begins with a card
placed at the feet of the victim.
What macabre meaning does that card imply?
[funky music playing]
For us, it was extraordinary,
journalistically speaking.
We speculated
about everything and anything.
What he's displaying in real life
with his murders is what he's seeing
in the cards on the table.
The two of cups has many meanings
but it also means
he planned to kill two people.
Every show had a crime section.
It was a true revolution.
The main thing
that's causing panic with the public
is the sequence of the cups.
Basically, you're saying
there's a serial killer roaming free?
This man, if we let him,
he'll get to the king of cups.
[man] He would kill
during the night or during the day.
You never knew when or where.
Let's say he would go hunting.
Straight to the kill.
With the shooting in Arganda, he was back.
Everyone is asking the same question,
"Is this the work
of the Playing Card Killer?"
The victim's treated like an object
in the crime scene. Always forgotten.
[ominous music playing]
I was shot three times.
And my son got shot in the head.
There was a huge puddle of blood.
It was cruel to do it in front of me.
[projector clicking]
[man] The purpose of ballistics
is to find a gun.
The purpose of an investigator
is to find a perpetrator.
[police siren sounds]
And the purpose of media
is to publicize and make something famous.
[eerie ring sounds]
[ominous music playing]
THE PLAYING CARD KILLER
[typewriter keys click]
MADRID - FEBRUARY 5, 2003
[presenter 1 in Spanish] There's continued
uncertainty about the future of Iraq.
US Secretary of State,
Collin Powell, will try to prove
that Saddam Hussein is hiding
weapons of mass destruction.
[presenter 2] He'll do so at the meeting
of the United Nations Security Council,
which will be held this Wednesday.
Powell's main objective
is to convince his European allies
but he has already warned
that his evidence is not irrefutable.
France could use its right to veto
and has reiterated
that war would be the worst solution.
They prefer to give disarmament inspectors
more time to complete their mission.
[presenter 1] Tension is growing
within the international community.
The US seems determined to act
by potentially attacking
Saddam Hussein's country.
It could be
[ominous music playing]
[driver in English] February 5th
was a cold night.
DRIVER'S REAL VOICE
It was a quiet Tuesday night.
I remember driving
the N4 bus from Cibeles to Barajas
from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
As I reached the Plaza del Mar,
I turned at the roundabout,
realized that there was a man
lying on the ground.
I got goosebumps.
[eerie music playing]
I stopped further ahead
to go through the rear door.
I got off the bus
and that's when I saw him
lying on the street bleeding to death.
[in Spanish] Bus four, do you copy?
Over. Do you copy?
[driver in English] I knew him.
He took the bus every day.
[in Spanish] Bus four-four,
do you copy? Police?
[driver in English] We tried to call
on the radio but the signal was bad
so we ended up using
one of the passenger's phones.
It had happened just a minute earlier.
[electronic music playing]
TV NEWS
A 28-year-old man
was found dead this morning
at the Plaza del Mar Square
in Alameda de Osuna, Barajas,
with a blow to the head
and signs of bleeding from one eye.
At the scene,
with all the details, is David Moreno.
Back to you, David.
Good morning.
The police tape is being removed
right now in order to clean the scene.
This is where the murder took place.
The incident happened
at a quarter to five this morning
when a bus driver from the EMT network
found a person
lying on the street in that exact spot.
Just an hour ago,
the body of the 28-year-old man
was removed from the scene
and was transferred to the forensic's lab.
The man was lying on the street
and had an obvious puncture wound.
According to the medical team, the wound
was located on the left side of the head.
That was the cause of death.
[ominous music playing]
[man] In 2003, I was working
on the Madrid section
of El País newspaper, covering crime.
I was around 30 years old
and I had to cover
any kind of crime taking place in Madrid.
The world of crime journalism
can be tricky.
It requires you to be with people
who are having a tough time.
It also requires you
to be cautious with your sources,
gain the trust
of the police and the Civil Guard,
and to be out on the streets.
It takes a lot of investigation
and talking to a lot of people
to find the truth.
[police sirens sound]
Unfortunately, the crime occurred at dawn.
We found out about it the next morning
so we couldn't get
a picture of the corpse.
We weren't there when they picked it up.
So, naturally, what we had to do
in that situation was to find witnesses.
The bars were closed
and there were no stores
since it's not a populated area.
But we did what we could.
[dog barking]
[man] I started covering
this kind of event in 1994.
At that time, I'd been working
in crime news for nine years.
You have to be committed
to this job 24 hours a day.
You have to be willing to get a call
at five o'clock in the morning
and rush anywhere to try and get
as much information as possible
so people know what's happening
at their doorstep in their city.
The day we learned of the crime,
we knew he was a young man.
But we didn't find it
particularly relevant
because the crime average
that year was one every three days.
VIOLENCE RAVAGES THE STREETS
MADRID - AN AVERAGE OF ONE HOMICIDE
EVERY 70 HOURS IN THE REGION
THE DARKEST SIDE OF SPAIN RETURNS
DURING THE BLOODIEST MONTH OF THE DECADE
I had a car available 24 hours a day.
I'd get a call at any given time.
You try to send a team as soon as possible
to get as many pictures as you can
and the main thing
you should ask is, "What is this about?"
Was the victim mugged?
The first thing they told me was,
"This looks like an execution."
DO NOT CROSS - POLICE LINE
[ominous music playing]
The Homicide
and Forensics teams arrive first
and they conduct a primary assessment.
There's no daylight
so they use flashlights
and they're limited in space and time.
They look for blood.
Maybe the victim
managed to injure the attacker.
They look For key evidence
such as DNA, biological samples, anything.
We were absolutely astonished when we saw
the live report from my colleague,
who was at the bus stop
where the shooting took place.
And right behind him,
we see the cleaning services
wiping the entire crime scene with a hose.
I was in shock.
I was like, "How is this possible?"
Obviously, the cleaning crew
may have erased all kinds of evidence,
which can be very useful
in this kind of investigation.
By now, this bus stop
is being used almost normally.
No traces left of the murder
that took the life of a cleaning employee
from Barajas airport earlier this morning.
When you face a murder investigation,
you theorize about how it happened.
I must say
that I was the only one at the time
who said he had been shot.
The medical staff had only noticed
that the victim had a hole in him.
That's it.
JANITOR FOUND SHOT TO DEATH AT BUS STOP
CRANIAL TRAUMA - FIREARM
Honestly, what caught my attention
the most about this crime
was the senselessness, the reason.
When you investigate a crime, you think,
"This person was mugged,
this was a settling of scores."
"This was maybe a gender-violence crime."
But there was no motive.
Why would someone kill an airport employee
who's just waiting for a bus?
He wasn't even robbed.
So you wonder why.
[ominous music playing]
He was a very funny person,
never argued with anyone.
He was really a great guy.
He was an extraordinary person.
Suddenly, they found something.
And that piece of information
left us all completely stunned.
An ace of cups card
had been found at the scene.
[projector clicks]
AT THE VICTIM'S UNCOVERED FEET WAS
A NEW ACE OF CUPS CARD FROM A SPANISH DECK
We said,
"This is something we're missing."
I started theorizing
but our bosses really wanted answers.
So I thought,
"Okay, this is a playing card."
"An ace of cups."
"But what can you ask an ace of cups?"
SOME HYPOTHESES POIN
TO ORGANIZED CRIME OR A BE
For us, it was extraordinary,
journalistically speaking.
We started speculating
about everything and anything.
Everyone is wondering
about an ace of cups,
the card found
next to Juan Carlos Martín's body.
The puzzle begins with a card
placed at the feet of the victim.
What macabre meaning does that card imply?
IT HAPPENED IN MADRID
We might think it was a random murder
LAWYER AND CRIMINOLOGIS
or maybe that he had a financial motive
and it was an attempted mugging.
But the fact
that a card symbolizing fortune
was found at the victim's feet
lead us to believe the killer
wants to send a very specific message.
[ominous music playing]
As the German psychiatrist
Kurt Schneider used to say,
"Saints and criminals
are equally abnormal."
And that has always caught my eye.
I've been interested
in this dark side since I was a child
and read the newspaper
El Caso enthusiastically.
So I can say that I have a calling
in researching this dark side.
[eerie music playing]
I remember very clearly
the case of Martín Estacio.
It was the first scene
a playing card was found.
As a matter of fact, at that time,
I had just started
to collaborate with the media.
That's why I commented
on that piece of news.
This leads us to think that the victim
From the start, I thought
the card was placed intentionally.
It didn't seem random.
Plus, the ace of cups
has symbolic meanings.
Fortune if it's facing up.
Misfortune if it's facing down.
I can even say we speculated
about what the symbol
on that card could mean.
Settling of scores?
Loss of fortune?
Was it a conscious act?
Will he do it again?
[ominous music playing]
At that time, the ace of cups
was not given any importance
beyond being
one more element at the scene,
like the rest.
A SMALL LIGHTER, "BIC" BRAND
TWO PIECES OF A STREET MAP
A HANDWRITTEN AND TORN PIECE OF PAPER
TOBACCO
A BOX OF CANDY
A BLACK AND BLUE NIKE BRAND SPORTS BAG
We thought it was a coincidence.
That it might've fallen out.
Nothing like what it turned out to be.
[upbeat music playing]
DAILY NEWS MADRID
It's February 5th
and here's what's happening.
[reporter] At this bus stop
in Alameda de Osuna
February 5th was one of the busiest days
I've had in my life at the newspaper
and one of the bosses
asked us at 3:30 p.m.,
"What the hell is happening in Madrid?"
Because early in the morning,
there was the Barajas case.
At noon, there was a case
in the north where a woman was murdered.
We started writing about that
when a colleague called and said,
"Did you hear
about the Alcalá de Henares case?"
I said, "No."
And he said, "Two dead bodies."
I said, "Don't mess with me,
we have tons of work."
And he said, "I swear.
We have two other crimes."
An Alcalá de Henares bar
was the site of a shooting
that took the lives of a female customer
and a young man, the son of the owner.
The owner is in critical condition.
The police haven't ruled anything out yet,
including a settling of scores.
In 2003,
we had a rapidly growing crime rate
and a significant increase in murders
since the beginning of the year.
It was unacceptable
that Madrid, capital of the country,
had that crime rate.
It was also affecting the economy.
[reporter 1] Seventy-one
violent deaths so far this year.
One every three days, right now in Madrid.
[reporter 2] Crime is a key topic
for today's meeting
with the chiefs of police in Madrid.
[reporter 3] Five-hundred police officers
joined the police headquarters in Madrid.
[reporter 4] They'll take courses
on drugs and legal matters
as a response
to the demands of the citizens.
[reporter 5] The mob, settling scores,
and disputes between drug dealers
are the reasons there's an average
of one homicide in Madrid every 63 hours.
[reporter 6] A lot of crimes
are committed in the capital
and according to the police,
the worst is yet to come.
That year, 2003,
we ended up with 100 homicides.
Ninety-seven of them, willful.
Ninety-seven of them were aimed to kill.
TRES CANTOS, MADRID - MARCH 7, 2003
THIRTY DAYS AFTER THE ACE OF CUPS
[eerie music playing]
[presenter in Spanish] "Saddam Hussein
manufactures and hides
weapons of mass destruction,"
George Bush denounced today.
The US President has warned
the international community
that he does not rule out
the use of force against Iraq.
Bush issues an ultimatum of days,
not weeks as expected,
for Baghdad to comply with disarmament.
[Anahid in English] We were
under a doorway, just talking.
A man walked toward us and looked at us.
He aimed at Eduardo
so I crouched down.
I heard as he reloaded his gun.
I was waiting for him to shoot at me too.
[projector clicking]
[Jesús] On March 7th, I remember
it was around three in the morning.
The Civil Guard center, the 062 station,
called and informed me
that in the Tres Cantos area,
someone had been
attacked and wounded with a firearm.
The victim was a male
and he had a bullet wound
with both entry and exit holes.
I remember us finding cotton, needles,
UOPJ CIVIL GUARD OFFICER
bottles, lots of surgical tape
and medical supplies
which affected the scene.
That's not uncommon.
We understand that saving the life
of the victim is a priority.
But that's what we found.
And in the middle of those supplies,
there was a card, a two of cups.
[ominous music playing]
The media went crazy.
There was another card.
At that time, it became the most relevant
and fundamental piece of news
for all crime journalists
and for all Madrid citizens.
This morning in Madrid,
someone shot a young man.
He wasn't killed, but a playing card
was found at the crime scene.
First, the killer left an ace of cups.
Now, a month later, the two of cups.
He is a unique specimen.
A young worker,
an immigrant couple.
What's the pattern?
Is he a visionary or a missionary?
No economic motive. No erotic suggestion.
Is it for power?
Control? Does he want fame?
You have to give your best.
When you begin to see that your peers
in other media start to react,
it becomes a race against the clock.
THE TWO OF CUPS
29-YEAR-OLD JUAN CARLOS MARTÍN ESPACIO
The first thing I did every morning
was to read
what my colleagues had written.
If they had already published,
I had to do better.
The pressure was insane.
When we showed up
either at the police station
or the Civil Guard headquarters,
they turned round and didn't greet us
'cause they all knew
the next question was,
"Any news about the Playing Card Killer?"
Do the police have a lead?
We need time
to connect everything together.
He's not a criminal wanting to get caught.
I believe he wants to prove
that he's able to evade the police.
And he's getting away with it.
It was difficult
to remove myself from that.
I watched TV and saw the news
about the Playing Card Killer.
There was just
too much pressure at that time.
There was a lot of media pressure.
Every show had a crime section.
It was insane. You needed a story
at 8:00 a.m. or it was too late.
It was a true revolution.
As crime journalists,
it's common for us to be called morbid
and being blamed for creating panic.
But the police were already panicking.
It was relentless.
They didn't stop, they didn't sleep.
Everyone knew he'd kill again.
The community and the security forces
in Madrid are desperate.
First of all, we know
there's a criminal or maybe more.
We need to catch him so he rots in jail.
And then, conduct a series
of mental health tests
to find out if there's childhood trauma.
Although, I don't really care.
The two of cups has many meanings.
But it also means
he planned to kill two people.
The two of cups was a challenge.
As journalists, we didn't know
what was going on.
We wondered if there was a connection
between the crimes,
if the killer was the same person or not.
Because the first one occurred
in an area on the outskirts of the city
with good escape routes
with the M-30, M-40, and A-2.
But the second one,
Tres Cantos, was a central area
where he could've been seen by anyone.
As the context was completely different,
when I started analyzing
both cases, I thought,
"Yes, but no."
We were analyzing
the same criminal pattern
but the context was different.
We all were like,
"Of course it's the same guy."
But when talking to the police,
they said, "We don't know."
"There could be two shooters."
Maybe a copycat.
Anything was possible.
There were many theories.
But all of them needed to be examined.
We quickly needed to find out
the kind of weapon he used in the attacks.
When there's a firearm involved,
you look for evidence.
Bullet shells, projectiles.
You look for bullets.
In the case of Tres Cantos,
we ran some tests
and defined the most probable trajectory
because we knew that it was very important
and absolutely critical
to the case to find the bullet.
ABOVE-GROUND PARKING - BLOCK NUMBER 29
Usually, when a bullet
hits something hard, it bounces back,
like in this case.
It took us three days to find that bullet.
When we found it,
it was about 25 meters away
from the exact spot
where Eduardo was shot.
The victim and main witness
is recovering at La Paz Hospital.
The wounded man is on the fourth floor.
He is expected to survive.
The police hope to obtain his statement
and clear up some
of the mysteries surrounding the case.
The bright side, so to speak,
was that we had two witnesses.
The guy that got shot wasn't looking
toward the killer when it all happened.
The girl had a better chance to see him.
Ana is very important.
She's a key witness and very relevant
in this case. And that's rare.
In crimes like this,
it's common not to have an eyewitness.
That witness was willing
to speak to the media many times.
And for us,
that was the chance
to talk to an important witness.
Not any neighbor
saying he heard something.
We were talking with someone
who had survived the Playing Card Killer.
Ana Castillo Ruperti. Good morning.
After a while,
I looked up and he was gone.
I don't know when he left.
I got up and saw Eduardo on the ground.
I don't know why he let me live.
I met her on a show on Antena Channel 3
where we focused
and mainly discussed crimes and motives.
I met her there.
"Beatriz, we have the witness on set."
Today we have Ana,
the woman who
was miraculously spared that night.
Naturally, she lives
in almost constant fear.
- Good evening, Ana.
- Good evening.
And, suddenly, I met Ana.
A gorgeous woman. Fragile.
Completely overwhelmed
by the circumstances.
The media was eating her up.
"CONVINCED HE WOULD KILL ME."
I mean, her face was everywhere.
GUNMAN LEFT A TWO OF CUPS
Somehow, they were taking advantage
of her situation.
She had been in Spain for a few months.
As a student,
she was in a bad position financially.
What was the most shocking part?
He was a normal guy.
I mean, I didn't imagine
at any time he was gonna shoot us,
or anything.
I thought he was a normal guy
asking us something.
It never even crossed my mind
he'd pull out a gun.
She put herself in a position
that could potentially
put her life in danger.
'Cause the killer hadn't been caught yet.
The so-called Playing Card Killer
was still on the loose.
I decided to help and act on her behalf.
From that moment on,
she became the protected witness.
Since we couldn't talk to Eduardo,
we went to Ana
since she was the main eyewitness
and she was the only one
who could potentially provide us
with a significant amount of information.
That way, we could be able
to identify or locate the killer.
The work that the Civil Guard
was doing with Ana
consisted basically
of obtaining the best possible statement.
GENERAL OF THE CIVIL GUARD
[Jesús] She helped us
by stating that he was slim,
around six feet tall,
with dark skin
and he had a goatee.
She also mentioned
he had some kind of facial hair.
She said he had a shaggy hairstyle.
[ominous music playing]
Thanks to that, we were able
to come up with a sketch.
[typewriter keys click]
ARGANDA DEL REY, MADRID
MARCH 18, 2003
ELEVEN DAYS AFTER THE TWO OF CUPS
[broadcaster 1 in Spanish] Real Madrid
along the right side.
Loskov shoots from the right.
It goes over Iker Casillas's goal,
who is now killing time.
Míchel is fired up,
shouting at his teammates.
He's asking Pavón, Helguera,
and Solari to move forward.
Cuchu Cambiasso is going in.
[broadcaster 2] I think it's safe to say
that they've qualified.
I don't think Lokomotiv
will have another chance like that one.
Watch out because we're all on edge.
Unplug your pacemakers
in situations like this.
Foul by the striker from Lokomotiv.
It's Real Madrid's ball.
[broadcaster 1] I suppose Maminov
fouled him in the air.
[broadcaster 2] Cuchu gets it back.
Don't lose it! He taps it.
He heels it back to Solari. Oh, well.
[broadcaster 1] In the good sense.
Right, Víctor?
[broadcaster 3] Always in the good sense.
- [broadcaster 2] Del Bosque is suffering!
- [broadcaster 1] As you can imagine.
The whole Real Madrid bench is suffering.
- A clear foul by Nizchegorodov.
- [broadcaster 2] It's over!
It's over!
Final whistle!
The agony is over, Miguel Ángel!
To the quarterfinals on Friday!
[broadcaster 1] Real Madrid
really suffered, but they did it!
They've made it
to the Champions League quarterfinals.
All the Madrid players are hugging.
Of course, they're headed
to the left corner of the goal,
defended by Iker Casillas
in this second half
to acknowledge the support
[upbeat music playing]
NEWS PREVIEW - ANTENA 3 NEWS
[in English] A few hours ago,
in the Madrid area of Arganda del Rey,
two dead bodies were found
and next to them, two playing cards.
A man was killed
and a woman was seriously injured
by a shot to the head.
The playing cards
were the three and four of cups.
These elements suggest
the existence of a serial killer
that if confirmed,
means he's struck for a third time.
I remember that day perfectly.
We were in the editorial office
and I had just finished my work
but we used to stay until midnight.
In case there was a new crime,
we'd be at the office to investigate.
We received a message.
A shooting in Arganda. A dead person
and a second victim was injured.
He was back.
We showed up at a remote scene
that was completely dark.
The Civil Guard's homicide team
was completely disoriented and shocked.
We asked a simple question,
"Is it?" "Yes, it is."
[ominous music playing]
[projector clicking]
At that point,
I got chills all over my body.
But I thought, "Right now,
I'm a journalist not just a human."
"Let's get to it. We have to go to press."
But I felt absolutely furious and thought,
"You should've caught him."
The woman that was injured
in the Playing Card Killer's last attack
has died after being in a coma
for 44 hours.
[reporter] According to
the Romanian Embassy statement,
the Magdas came
from Bistrita-Nasaud, a rural area.
The woman had been in Spain
for two weeks visiting her husband,
who moved to Spain
to work a year and a half ago.
They leave two children in Romania,
a 10- and a 14-year-old.
That's the worst part of this.
There was never
any real motive for killing these people.
None whatsoever.
It was just killing for the sake of it.
For the pleasure of it. No motive.
It was in cold blood.
He got close enough to smell them.
He got that close
and he shot them
in the back, like a coward.
He shot the man first
to avoid any trouble.
Then he fled as always.
[Francisco] We went
to the buildings nearby to ask the people
and the neighbors
said something I'll never forget.
I asked, "Didn't you hear the shots?"
They said, "Yes."
"But we thought it was fireworks
as Real Madrid had just scored."
When you hear that,
your blood runs cold. I was shocked.
We all feared
the Playing Card Killer would come back.
And he actually did.
All the alarm bells went off.
The wanted Playing Card Killer.
The Playing Card Killer case.
The Playing Card Killer.
The Playing Card Killer struck again.
The Playing Card Killer strikes again.
Two cards, the three and four of cups.
He was all over the media
every single day.
Television, radio,
every newspaper. Everywhere.
Basically, you're saying
there's a serial killer roaming free.
We should all be worried.
I don't want to scare you
but we should all be cautious
and realize that it's best
[Teresa] It's impossible to prepare.
- You shouldn't go out alone.
- [Teresa] Yes.
We need to be alert and avoid
You can't be looking around
waiting to get shot.
But, Teresa, you can definitely avoid
being at a bus stop alone at 3:00 a.m.
[Teresa] You're right. Sure.
Everyone's really scared.
I go to work at 6:00 a.m.
and I'm very scared.
There was panic in Madrid.
[ominous music playing]
These random murders
caused a certain psychosis.
And I must admit
it was the only case in which I was afraid
of the killer.
Because at the time,
I lived with my parents.
I had a rented parking spot.
I got home late
when we finished work at the office
and every night,
I had to walk several blocks
from the parking spot
to my parents' house.
And I thought, "He could be waiting,
shoot me, and nobody will know."
Yes, of course.
At that point, we were certain
we were facing a serial killer.
We were expecting him
to strike anywhere in the area
or the outskirts.
We expected the worst.
We became pessimistic.
We knew he'd keep killing
and it could happen to anyone.
[eerie music playing]
Serial killers go through
different emotional phases.
During the initial phase,
the subject gets rid
of any behavioral inhibitions
and takes action.
Then during the active hunting phase,
they look for victims.
The attack phase.
And then through a phase
known as the hangover.
Or calm period.
In this case,
those calm periods were very short.
He spent less than a month being calm.
The killing drive was huge.
One-hundred-and-fifty police officers
and Civil Guards
are looking for the Playing Card Killer.
Letizia Ortiz is at the crime scene.
So Letizia, is that an isolated place?
Yes, it is isolated.
A rural path used by the locals
to walk and play with their dogs.
It's surrounded by trees.
You can see
there's a police tape in the back.
Behind it, there are still
some police officers investigating.
Combing the area,
looking for a lead to shed light
on a crime that has shocked
everyone in Arganda del Rey.
[Jesús] Time was gold for us.
We needed to catch this person
who was a danger to the community.
The forensics were more difficult
than Tres Cantos
because it was an open field
full of undergrowth.
We weren't able to find any bullets.
We spent several days
with metal detectors.
We had the entire homicide team
and the help of local authorities.
Ultimately, we couldn't find any bullets.
As a journalist, I felt the anxiety
among the investigators.
The concern in their comments,
in their behavior.
How they applied protocol.
[reporter] One-hundred-and-fifty
police officers and Civil Guards
work in Madrid to shed some light
on the crimes committed
by the Playing Card Killer.
There are still
many gray areas in the investigation.
I've learned a lot from the dead.
I believe I'm someone
who knows how to listen to them.
I can say I have never given up on a case.
Even with the total lack
of reason in the criminal world,
this broke the mold.
[train sounds]
[Jesús] The days didn't match.
The time of day didn't match.
Not the location.
We faced an unfamiliar situation.
And while we were profiling,
the days kept passing.
We continued working, little by little.
I wanted him to strike again
and this time, we would try to stop him.
We started noticing
that in every new attack,
to a trained eye, he was leaving a trail.
[ominous music playing]
[Jesús] Our concern
was that he'd kill again.
That was eating us alive.
We needed to stop him.
To work as fast and as well
as possible to try to prevent it.
That's all we cared about.
In that moment, my team and I
NATIONAL POLICE HEADQUARTERS
considered the possibility
that he could try to kill again
in the Vicálvaro area
or Rivas Vaciamadrid.
Back then, I used to live
in Vicálvaro and I took precautions.
I told everyone I loved
not to go out on certain days,
not even to take the trash out.
[eerie ring sounds]
Firearms can give us a lot
of information during an investigation.
Lots of details can be provided
by a professional ballistics expert.
And in many cases, ballistic remains
are the only evidence
that will actually help solve a crime.
[ominous music playing]
The playing cards that were found
have no relevance
as far as ballistics is concerned.
The police weren't investigating cards.
I wouldn't get those.
But if there were any cards,
they wouldn't have made it to the lab
because the lab
only receives ballistic remains
that can be analyzed and examined.
We don't want any non-ballistic elements.
I talked to the investigators
and they kind of gave me a clue.
They said, "There was a murder
before the ace of cups
that's related to this one."
I asked, "How do you know?"
And they said, "Ballistics."
I said, "It has to be
the Alonso Cano Street one."
A DOORMAN IS SHOT TO DEATH
IN FRONT OF HIS YOUNG SON
"How do you know?" I said, "Easy."
"It's the only unsolved crime
with a firearm
in Madrid so far this year."
JANUARY 24 - J. FRANCISCO LEDESMA
(SPANIARD) - AGE 50 - SHOT IN THE HEAD
[ominous music playing]
ARGANDA DEL REY, MADRID - MARCH 18, 2003
ALONSO CANO STREET, MADRID
JANUARY 24, 2003
Paco was the doorman of a building
on Alonso Cano Street.
FOR SALE
The whole thing was terrible for me.
Basically, I went out
to work for a few hours
and when I came back
I went in
and I found Paco lying on the floor.
[projector clicks]
There was a huge puddle of blood.
[projector clicks]
My son was in a chair.
He was moaning.
He spent around four hours
next to his daddy's corpse.
[projector clicks]
Paco had given him breakfast
and my son was just sitting there.
[projector clicks]
When I went in,
my son got off the chair
and came to me.
Even though I was in such pain
from seeing this,
I went out to ask the neighbors for help.
[projector clicks]
But no one had seen anything.
No one had heard anything.
Then one of the neighbors
called the nearest hospital
and asked them to come.
And when the hospital staff
finally showed up,
we learned that he was dead.
[eerie music playing]
I'm Alberto Ledesma,
son of Juan Francisco Ledesma,
the doorman murdered
by the Playing Card Killer.
I was told I was at home
when the Playing Card Killer came in
and shot my dad.
I remember
that I used to tell
my classmates at school.
My mom told me not to talk about it
because I guess
it was traumatic for the other children.
I might not have survived.
I might have died that day as well.
When I think about it as an adult,
I realize it was cruel
to do it in front of me.
[projector clicks]
[projector clicks]
The psychologists
and psychiatrists did a good job
but I have no recollection.
I don't remember anything at all.
I don't even remember my dad.
[child crying]
The shot was basically
what we call an execution.
The shot to the head
provided two elements.
We got the bullet shell
and the bullet itself, as the body
had both entry and exit wounds.
The most used weapons
to commit crimes in Spain are handguns.
And the most common caliber
used internationally
is the 9-millimeter Parabellum.
But we found a 7.62.
A 7.62 Tokarev really stands out.
[projector clicks]
With a 9-millimeter Parabellum crime,
it's, "Okay, another one."
But of course,
a 7.62 crime is not just another one.
That's That's very suspicious
and specific.
The purpose of ballistics
is to find a weapon.
The purpose of an investigator
is to find a perpetrator.
And the purpose
of the media, give publicity,
even deify, in some cases, the perpetrator
and make the story popular.
There's no doubt
that the playing cards, at the time,
caught the eye of the media
and it was more interesting
and popular than the evidence itself.
THE PLAYING CARD KILLER HAS DARK HAIR,
IS ABOUT 25 YEARS OLD, AND 5' 11" TALL
[ominous music playing]
ACCORDING TO THE COMPOSITE SKETCH
MADE BY THE POLICE
I would call him the Tokarev killer
because that's what he used.
Only one Tokarev
was involved in all the crimes
and had shot
all the bullets analyzed in the case.
Without a doubt. I don't need the gun.
I know it's the same one.
[typewriter keys click]
JANUARY 24, 2003
[projector clicks]
[typewriter keys click]
FEBRUARY 5, 2003
[police siren sounds]
[presenter] An Alcalá de Henares bar
was the site of a shooting
that took the lives of a female customer
and a young man, the son of the owner.
[Adolfo] On February 5th,
I remember we were analyzing
the evidence gathered at the Rojas bar.
We already knew at the lab
what we were dealing with.
A criminal committing murders
with a Tokarev.
[Teresa] I was shot three times.
And my son got shot in the head.
[radio presenter] The owner
is in critical condition.
The police haven't ruled anything
out yet including a settling of scores.
[Teresa] I regret the day
I started working at Bar Rojas.
I curse the day I did.
Sometimes, I blame myself
for what happened.
[electronic music playing]