Baraja: La firma del asesino (2023) s01e02 Episode Script
Tokarev
1
[eerie music playing]
TWELVE HOURS AFTER THE ACE OF CUPS
[radio broadcaster 1 in Spanish]
It's Wednesday, February 5th.
The day starts with a tragedy
that took place a few hours ago
in Alameda de Osuna, Madrid.
There, next to a bus stop,
the body of a 20-year-old worker
from Barajas airport was found.
[radio broadcaster 2 in Spanish]
The body was found by a driver
of the night bus
linking with Cibeles Square.
The man had a severe head wound
and had bled profusely.
The homicide division
is looking for clues to solve this case
and the first reports
already rule out robbery as the motive.
[bell jingles]
[funky music playing]
THE PLAYING CARD KILLER
[ominous music playing]
[Teresa in English] I was born in Soria
and I moved to Madrid when I was 18.
I met the father of my son
and we moved to Alcalá de Henares.
A friend had told me there was a bar
that was perfect for me.
So I bought it.
And I absolutely curse the day I did.
I regret it.
Sometimes, I blame myself
for what happened.
[projector clicking]
We were at the bar. It was a Wednesday.
My son would come at closing time.
But that day,
he came for lunch because I felt sick.
I had a stomach ache
and I had cramps and so on.
So he came over.
We had lunch.
I remember we had a steak with fries.
Then a customer named Juani came in.
She wanted to use the phone,
her washing machine had broken.
And I was
watching TV.
And then,
a man came in.
He faced my son
and I
I turned to see him.
I thought he was a customer.
And then I saw him pull out a gun.
It didn't occur to me
that the gun was real.
Suddenly, I heard, "Boom!"
I got up quickly.
I looked at the bar
and my son wasn't there.
[projector clicking]
Then I froze.
What happened?
When I saw the man turn to me
with the gun,
I threw myself on the floor
and I heard another shot.
Then I realized he'd shot Juani.
[projector clicking]
Then he came for me.
I started crawling.
He was shooting.
First, he shot me in the elbow.
[projector clicking]
I was crawling and I was trying to hide.
And he shot me again.
That's when he shot me
from behind and the bullet
came out of my chest.
[projector clicking]
I played dead.
I was in a fetal position.
I was curled up.
I thought he was a thief.
I wondered why.
Who knows? The thing is
that I stayed still
and I felt another shot
in my thigh.
I felt myself bleeding out.
I focused on remaining still.
I held my breath
so he wouldn't know I was alive.
[projector clicking]
Then I heard the front door.
I realized he had left.
I dragged myself
as best I could to the bar.
And I saw my son was lying
at the end of the bar.
The bar was very long.
And then
I saw the police coming in.
There was an ambulance
and they picked me up.
I told them to check on my son.
I remember they put me on a stretcher
and that's it.
That's all I remember.
[emergency services sirens sound]
ALCALÁ DE HENARES, MADRID
THIS WEDNESDAY
[Adolfo] On February 5th,
I remember we were working
with the evidence
found at two different crime scenes.
Both crimes had occurred on that same day.
One of them was the one at the bus stop
and one in the afternoon
at Alcalá de Henares.
We looked into the microscope
and we saw it was a Tokarev 7.62.
When we saw that, we were alarmed.
We realized the perpetrator
was committing crimes in different areas.
The first one in Alonso Cano, in Chamberí.
The second one in Alameda de Osuna.
And the third one in Alcalá de Henares.
By then, the ballistic lab
already knew there was a pattern.
We knew we were dealing
with the same person.
MADRID, MARCH 5, 2003 - REPOR
BALLISTICS LABORATORY
THIS GUN WAS USED IN THE FOLLOWING CRIMES:
DEATH OF JUAN FRANCISCO LEDESMA
ALONSO CANO STREE
DEATH OF JUAN CARLOS MARTÍN
ALAMEDA DE OSUNA
And we knew
that if he planned to continue,
he wouldn't change the gun.
The, so far, unknown Tokarev gun.
[ominous music playing]
It was a crucial moment and back then,
we decided not to tell anyone.
People didn't know
there was a serial killer.
Only we and the investigators
knew that piece of information.
It was a priority
that the criminal didn't know
how close we were to finding him.
[dramatic music playing]
JANUARY 24TH, 2003
[projector clicking]
FEBRUARY 5TH, 2003
MARCH 7TH, 2003
MARCH 18TH, 2003
It turned out
the police knew it was a serial killer
before he started
leaving the playing cards,
when he had only left the ace.
But there were many doubts.
Some crimes had playing cards,
others didn't. What was happening?
[suspenseful music playing]
[radio broadcaster 1 in Spanish] The war
in Iraq stands out in international news
but serious matters remain pending
in our own country, such as the case
of the Playing Card Killer.
[radio broadcaster 2]
There's important news about the case.
Investigators believe the killer
didn't commit three crimes but five.
He used the same gun in all of them
but he didn't leave his trademark
playing cards in two of them.
We're facing a serial killer
that has already killed six people
in different areas of Madrid.
[investigator in Spanish]
We're investigating on all lines.
We are facing a madman, a psychopath,
someone trying to challenge
or trick the police.
All the evidence is being studied
as well as everything
that witnesses have told police.
[in English] The pressure was insane.
He was killing every ten to twenty days.
The next crime was around the corner.
If we let this man continue,
he'll get to the king of cups.
That would mean a lot of homicides.
[TV presenter 1] The police are trying
to determine patterns
to get ahead of the killer.
[TV presenter 2] When and where
will the next murder be?
I truly think that it could be a long time
before he stops killing.
EMERGENCIES
[Teresa] I was at the Príncipe
de Asturias Hospital in Alcalá de Henares.
I was intubated and everything.
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
The police came in.
They questioned me
and they said I could answer
with my eyes, or with gestures.
I remembered the killer
was wearing sweatpants.
He was tall, young,
with nice hair
and with big sunglasses.
Having a survivor provides us
with possible data and descriptions.
Indeed, in this case, she provided us
with information about the author.
We decided to make
a new composite sketch with the victim.
[eerie music playing]
The investigators were creating a profile.
There were two sketches.
On one hand, we had the one made
according to the statement and description
of the owner of the Rojas bar,
who was the only survivor of that shooting
where two people were killed.
And on the other hand,
we had the composite sketch by Ana,
who was face to face
with him for several moments.
Anahid did one.
Teresa, the owner of the bar,
did another one.
But if you see both sketches,
you wouldn't think it's the same person.
It was a different person.
They were completely different.
I think I remember the police considered
there might be two killers.
They thought each person
went to a different place.
Because the sketches didn't match.
It was another guy. A different one.
And once again all these doubts
that arose alarmed all the investigators
as they were wondering
if there was a second shooter.
Some people thought
there could be two killers.
Some thought it was just one.
We weren't sure.
If we do a sketch,
it's because the case is serious
and the lines of investigation
are unclear or are too many.
At that moment we were a bit lost.
We were taking shots in the dark.
It was clear that a change
of strategy was needed.
So the emergency line
and the composite sketch
were given to the media
as a way to request help from the public
so they would cooperate as well.
Law enforcement agencies in Madrid
have released a composite sketch
of the killer
and you should take a good look
in case you've seen him.
There could be important information
out there to help put an end to this.
Clearly there's some psychosis.
[woman] I saw the man
Thursday on the subway
How did he act? Was he normal?
[woman] Normal and calm.
But he was looking at people
in a strange way
and what drew my attention
was that he had his hand
inside his jacket,
like he was holding something.
When investigators
give a sketch to the press,
it's only because they have no leads.
Usually they think
that's another way of getting help
which also creates more work for them
because many times,
what this does is make things messier.
But they have to take that chance.
What if someone recognizes him?
More than once,
someone called to say their neighbor
was the person in the picture.
We asked for the public's help.
And even if they received
a lot of crazy calls,
as they usually do,
they have to follow up.
Having that database,
they can't afford to risk
more killings because they ignored
help from the public.
You use everything.
I would say it was a good move
and that helped us.
I think it disoriented him a bit.
We told the media about the various
investigations we were working on.
[TV presenter] As promised,
we're bringing you an exclusive interview
with the psychiatrist that's working
closely with the police and Civil Guard
in building a personality profile
of the Playing Card Killer.
[psychiatrist] The killer we are facing
is a highly frustrated person
who somehow releases
that frustration by doing what he does.
He's an attention seeker.
Contrary to what some media outlets
say about him being a sadist,
I don't think he is. He's not merciless.
What he's doing is experimenting.
He's experiencing fame and actually,
it's very likely
that this person is watching this program
as he almost certainly lives in Madrid.
I'm letting him know that no matter what,
he will always leave a print of himself.
[TV presenter] Let's do a profile
with the hypotheses
you've said you were working on.
It's someone young,
in his late 20s,
nearly 30, strong complexion.
He's frustrated personally
and with his family
and obviously a big fan of guns.
Let's say, it's a unique profile.
[ominous music playing]
[Teresa] I hardly remember anything
from the ICU.
When I woke up, I asked for my son.
Where is he?
No one answered.
Not even the doctors
would give me an answer.
No one said anything.
No one told me that my son was dead.
I asked my parents.
They said, "He died instantly."
"He didn't feel a thing."
He was buried nine days later.
I was
I was still in the ICU when he was buried.
[somber music playing]
So, when I was discharged,
the first thing I did
was go to the cemetery to see my son.
I spent the whole day there on my knees
at my son's grave.
[train rattling]
The Playing Card Killer
had a very characteristic weapon.
It can't be found in Spain.
That gun allowed us
to focus the investigation
on certain countries
where it's used and manufactured.
That weapon comes
from the city of Tula in Russia.
It's known as the TT. Tula Tokarev.
That weapon was actually used
in many arsenals
of countries with Soviet influence.
The version we were interested in,
since the ammo
is from the former Yugoslavia,
was the M57 model,
the Yugoslavian Tokarev.
[dramatic music playing]
Police are looking for the weapon
used by the Playing Card Killer.
Investigators have received
more than 800 calls
since they've released
the composite sketch of the criminal
and are studying every detail in the case.
The most reliable piece
of evidence is the weapon,
so they are searching
for illegal weapons in Madrid.
[reporter] Searching Madrid
for illegal weapons
with the sole purpose
of finding a weapon like this one,
a Tokarev gun made in Russia
which shoots 7.62 ammunition.
This is the gun
the Playing Card Killer uses to kill.
The weapon can only be obtained
in Eastern countries.
That led investigators to think
that the alleged killer
would've been on an international mission
or some kind of deployment
in eastern countries.
That meant asking the Ministry of Defense
for a list of the soldiers
that were in those destinations
in the last few years,
solely based on the weapon's origin.
A shocking part of the investigation
was an official letter that was sent
as a request to the Ministry of Defense
to get a list
of everyone with a psychiatric condition
and, in spite of that,
still in the military.
[Joaquín] The AFSI
is the Armed Forces Social Institute.
We requested a list of men,
25 to 30 years old,
who had been on foreign missions.
We got 12,000.
And men that received
some kind of medical care,
psychiatric care.
That reduced it to 3,000 names.
We were surprised
by the number of people affected,
considering their access to weapons.
WHO WILL THE NEXT VICTIM BE?
[woman] I've always focused
my journalistic career
on investigation topics.
And I started
with extreme right-wing subjects.
Así Son las Cosas
was published on Mondays.
Our competition was newspapers
and television channels.
It was very competitive.
In 2003, the far-right groups
had a big comeback.
Very big.
The military had deployed
a lot of missions to eastern countries
and the people fighting there
were people from far-right-wing ideology.
[F. Javier] The military and the far right
have always been connected.
There had even been investigations
within the army
to effectively eliminate those elements
that could be far right
because nobody wants them in the army.
[Patricia] I had conversations
with the police and the Civil Guard,
with my sources,
where I obviously highlighted the evidence
and my theory
that evidently led to the far right
and from that evidence,
they finally admitted that it was one
of the theories they were investigating.
That's when I took the risk and wrote,
"Extremist young man wanted"
and I added the sketch
of the Playing Card Killer
that was released.
IT'S ONE OF THE INVESTIGATION'S
MOST RELIABLE LEADS
It had little support
from the police and the Civil Guard.
They said it was just one
of the thirty theories they had.
But I was really convinced
because all the pieces of the puzzle fit.
And everything in the investigation
pointed to the far-right extremists
and the military.
[dramatic ominous music playing]
[cheering]
[in Spanish] Long live Spain!
[police sirens sound]
[in English] After the crimes in Arganda,
the police continued
with the investigation
and they were focusing
on the possible connection
of the far right
with the crimes
of the Playing Card Killer.
I was in touch with the investigators
and they said
they had a suspect that looked promising.
They were following him.
And certain things led them
to think that it could be him.
[ominous music playing]
We received information
from someone
saying that the composite sketch
shared publicly by the police
looked like an acquaintance of his.
From there, we started an investigation
on the identified person.
We had him under surveillance 24/7.
[ominous music playing]
We went to the Basque Country
to talk with the victim from the Rojas Bar
and we showed her pictures
of a number of people,
including one of the individuals
who resembled the sketch.
I was truly overwhelmed
with all those pictures.
I remember they showed me
a picture of a man
that also had a bar in Alcalá
called Rojas, just like mine.
ROJAS HOUSE BAR I
He was quite shady.
He had a record.
ASSAULTING A POLICE OFFICER
POSSESSION OF A WEAPON WITHOUT A PERMI
I told them I didn't know, I wasn't sure.
He was wearing sunglasses. He had them on.
So they added sunglasses
and it looked like him.
[projector clicking]
The picture of that person was identified
by the victim from the Rojas Bar.
[projector clicking]
A young man was arrested this morning
in the Alcalá de Henares area.
The detainee is a 25-year-old
far-right extremist
with a criminal record.
Club bouncer, former paratrooper
who was in Bosnia with neo-Nazi ideology.
Then the news came out.
A man from the Ultra Sur group
was arrested.
His alias is "Fichaje."
And he looked a lot
like one of the composite sketches
made by the witness from the Rojas bar.
When "Fichaje" was arrested, I thought
they had the Playing Card Killer.
He had all the characteristics
I was talking about.
During all that time,
I was the only journalist
heading towards that far-right lead
since none of my colleagues
had thought of it yet.
In the context of that arrest,
we had a police lineup.
The lineup is a procedure
that is very, very sensitive.
Usually, victims feel very pressured.
It's a very delicate moment.
[ominous music playing]
[footsteps sound]
At that time,
I was in Bilbao with my parents.
In fact, my mom came with me that day.
It was a small room
and dark.
I was scared.
When I went in and saw all those men,
they had to hold me
by the arms because I was scared.
I was terrified.
And I wanted to leave that place
as soon as possible.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Jesús] When a witness recognizes someone,
they're usually very sure.
The identification is quick.
This time, it took ages.
I remember the judge telling them,
"Step forward and then turn sideways."
Four guys were identical
to the arrested man.
Exactly the same, but very much alike.
[Teresa] They looked the same.
All of them.
But I had seen the pictures
the police had shown me
and well,
I recognized him
from the pictures I had seen.
And I said I recognized him.
To sum up, Teresa said that it was him.
[tense dramatic music playing]
IDENTIFIES NUMBER THREE
AS THE PERPETRATOR
The thing is,
regarding the recognition of this person,
I have to say that there were even
some disagreements between us.
They lacked information, evidence,
and the ability
to place the suspect at the crime scenes.
What's more, when he was arrested
in his house at Alcalá de Henares,
he didn't know what was going on
or what it was all about.
And he started to talk about drugs.
They told him he was under arrest
for the crimes of the Playing Card Killer,
and he was clearly confused.
There wasn't any kind
of information, any evidence
that proved in any way
that he had been at the crime scenes.
He was in jail for more than a month.
"MY CLIENT'S ARREST WAS A MISTAKE,"
HIS LAWYER SAYS
The police thought
there was something missing.
We knew he was a bad person,
that he was a neo-Nazi,
that he might be trafficking or something,
but he was not a murderer.
They said he was not the killer.
Then why was he arrested?
And one of the investigators asked me,
"What's happening next Sunday?"
It's the last week of the campaign.
All parties increase
their public appearances.
Candidates' requests for votes
before the election are increasing.
If you ask people in Madrid
what worries them the most
or what their biggest concern is,
they all say public safety.
Fifteen intense days
of campaigning come to an end.
I asked if he was arrested
because of the elections.
He didn't admit it
but I told him he'd said enough.
They arrested him
right before the elections
when the investigators themselves
said he was not the Playing Card Killer.
That's when I started publishing
that his arrest
was made by political request.
MAN ARRESTED FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE ELECTION
We've been informed the police are far
from locating the Playing Card Killer.
A judge released the man
that was supposed to be linked
with the killing of two people
at the Rojas Bar in Alcalá de Henares,
a crime that was connected
to the Playing Card Killer.
Three weeks after his arrest,
the judge considered
there wasn't enough evidence
to keep him in custody.
If you're on the right path,
everything starts to come together
and fit in a simple way.
But if you force the truth,
it will always blow up.
What happened
with that man was ridiculous.
They rushed everything.
They put so much pressure on.
In the end it was clear to me that they
wanted to get rid of the case in a hurry.
As time passed by the case disappeared
from the headlines, from the news,
leaving room for other topics.
[in Spanish] The Partido Popular party won
local and regional elections in Madrid.
Sixty-two Spanish soldiers died
in a plane crash in Turkey.
[presenter] a train crash
in Chinchilla, Albacete.
George Bush has ended
his tour of the Middle East
5,000 kilograms of cocaine
and 13 people were arrested
a woman was killed
and another was injured in Alzira.
Many are still affected by the oil spill
The arrival of summer means
increased fire risk. There is a campaign
The heatwave is straining
hospital emergency rooms
Here it is, Beckham speaking Spanish.
He ended his short speech like this.
[typewriter keys click]
[calm music playing]
[man in English] Puertollano
has about 50,000 residents,
located in the south
of the Ciudad Real region.
It was a miners' town
and a lot of the people
from all over Spain went there to work.
The summer of 2003
was tragic for everyone in Puertollano.
We were always
in the spotlight and in a bad way.
We really weren't used to it.
And it's something no one wanted.
As a journalist, there are some dates
you remember your whole life.
And one of them is 3rd July.
It was the day before my wife's birthday.
That's why I remember it so clearly.
It's definitely a day I will never forget.
On July 3rd,
we were doing a search in Salamanca.
And while doing the search,
we received a phone call
telling us that someone
had showed up
at Puertollano police station
claiming he was the Playing Card Killer
and provided a lot of details.
MUNICIPAL POLICE
[Miguel] I was on the night shift.
We got a call on the radio
from an officer at headquarters.
He was asking for backup.
When we got to headquarters,
we saw this person.
[phone ringing]
He turned himself in
but we didn't know why.
He said he'd killed six people
and wounded three others.
He showed symptoms
He clearly looked like he was
under the influence of alcohol.
So I told him to come in and talk to us.
[ominous music playing]
When he identified himself
as the Playing Card Killer,
we called national police headquarters
and we told them
we had someone at the station
claiming to be the Playing Card Killer.
They sent a police car immediately.
They picked him up
at the station and left.
I got to work that morning
and I heard about everything.
I met him at the station
and we started talking.
He said he committed the first murder
in a lobby in downtown Madrid.
He said he went in
and told the doorman to get on his knees.
And he killed him.
[gunshot sounds]
In front of a young kid.
We asked what proof he had
and he said there was a wallet
with money on the table and he left it.
So we decided to call Madrid
and they told us
to keep on questioning him
about the other crimes.
He said he committed
the second murder at a bus stop.
There was a man.
He stopped and killed him.
He left a card.
The ace of cups.
He told me everything,
that he was the Playing Card Killer,
that he killed someone here,
someone there.
And he said his last crime
was a Romanian couple in a park.
That's when I got goosebumps.
We talked about three hours.
He was calm, very composed,
telling us everything.
He said we could verify it
by calling the police division
that was in charge of the case in Madrid
because there was a detail
they hadn't told anyone.
The cards were branded with a marker.
That hadn't been shown on TV.
[projector clicking]
[ominous music playing]
TWO OF CUPS
THREE OF CUPS
FOUR OF CUPS
Then I was convinced that it was him.
Because the only people
who knew this were us and the criminal.
Only investigators knew that detail.
No one else. Just us.
[police siren sounds]
We finished the search in Salamanca
and we quickly headed off to Puertollano.
There was no doubt.
We were absolutely sure he was the author.
He was behind this.
The homicide division decided
to arrest Alfredo Galán Sotillo
in Puertollano.
He's Alfredo Galán.
- Alfredo Galán.
- Alfredo Galán.
- Alfredo Galán.
- Alfredo Galán Sotillo.
[dramatic music playing]
POLICE FORENSICS - PRISONER IDENTIFICATION
GALÁN SOTILLO, ALFREDO
BORN IN PUERTOLLANO, DECEMBER 22, 1977
Alfredo was taken
into custody by security.
Then they decided to send a Civil Guard
and myself
to talk to him in person.
He instantly gave me
a feeling of coldness.
His eyes were twitching.
He gave one-word answers.
We were afraid
because we knew he was someone
who went hunting.
He was dangerous.
We faced someone who drove us crazy
for months.
The question everyone is asking
is who is Alfredo Galán,
the man who claims
to be the Playing Card Killer.
[reporter] He's 26, his mother died,
and he was raised by his grandmother.
He has four siblings.
He resided in Villalbilla, in Madrid.
His acquaintances
never saw him with a girl.
He was a very bad student
and became a soldier
because of his love for weapons.
Around 8:00 a.m., my boss
asked me if I knew what I had to do.
Unfortunately, I did. He told me
I had to go to Puertollano immediately.
It was full of cameras,
journalists, photographers,
and more kept coming.
[tense music playing]
- [in Spanish] Let me through!
- Give me something.
[man] Gonzalo!
[woman] Don't cry!
[shouting]
[indistinct]
[man 2 in Spanish] Let's go!
[in English] Alfredo Galán
was in a holding cell.
Time had passed
and he was no longer drunk.
Once Galán had sobered up,
he denied it all.
Yes or no?
It's not clear if the man who turned
himself in yesterday in Puertollano
is the sought-after Playing Card Killer.
[reporter] The tension is high
at this police station.
Last night, he claimed
to be the perpetrator of six crimes
but this morning when he woke up,
according to our sources,
he didn't know why he was there.
The police said
they had to do this properly.
They probably had the killer
but he might get away with what he did.
It all falls apart
because he says it wasn't him.
I don't believe it.
It's like those months
of investigation were useless.
There was no real progress.
They were against the clock
because the police only had 72 hours
to prove that he was
the Playing Card Killer.
After that, they either take him
into custody or release him.
[In Spanish] Move along, move along.
[in Spanish] You got a photo, right?
[policeman in Spanish] Stay back.
[man] Look at him.
Crouch down.
[woman] Show your face, you coward.
[camera shutters clicking]
[reporter in Spanish] We're seeing him
being transferred.
It's been 24 hours
since the Playing Card Killer confessed.
He's been taken to his family home,
which was searched
for close to an hour and a half.
[in English] The search in Puertollano
started like any other.
[sirens sound]
He denied everything.
He said he didn't know.
And then, in one of the rooms,
we found a complete used cartridge.
[dramatic music playing]
It's important
because it's a 7.62 Tokarev.
ITS DIMENSIONS, SIZE AND SERIAL NUMBER
MATCH THOSE OF A 7.62 TOKAREV
[projector clicking]
That cartridge of the Tokarev
had indentation damage.
It was inside a weapon.
And they tried to fire it
but something went wrong.
From the indentation of that round,
I was able to determine
that it was produced by the same weapon
that is linked to all the crimes.
That was very important
because how did it end up there?
[suspenseful music playing]
When we found the cartridge
with the indentation,
that's when I noticed
he had changed a little bit.
Like he was thinking, "They've got me."
[in Spanish] There he is.
[in English] The man who turned himself in
yesterday in Puertollano,
claiming to be the Playing Card Killer,
was taken to Madrid.
[police sirens sound]
At midnight, Alfredo Galán
arrived at this building
outside Alcalá de Henares.
In a major police operation, the detainee
was taken to the house where he lived
with his sister.
They are searching for evidence
that could help to confirm
that he is the Playing Card Killer.
[eerie music playing]
During the search, he gave us details
such as where the clothes
he wore for each crime were located.
SEARCH PROCEDURE REPOR
ALFREDO GALÁN'S HOME
ADIDAS BRAND TRACK JACKE
NAVY BLUE
He gave us details about the markers
that he claimed to have used
to brand each card.
If we didn't have him before,
we did then.
[car horns honking]
[woman] My phone rang early
and the Bar Association said
I had to go to group five to help someone.
An officer was waiting for me at the door.
He came to me and said
they had caught the Playing Card Killer.
[suspenseful music playing]
I wasn't sure if he was guilty
because they didn't find DNA
from any of the victims
or gunpowder on the clothes
they took from the house.
The marker's ink didn't match.
The ink was different from the one
on the back of the playing cards.
So basically, none of the items
found at Alfredo Galán's house
could be used to make him serve time.
[suspenseful music playing]
The investigation of the Playing
Card Killer has taken a shocking turn.
On July 3rd, Alfredo Galán
turned himself in to the police.
Now, to everyone's surprise,
he claims he's innocent.
Alfredo Galán isn't the Playing
Card Killer but he knows who is,
or at least, that is what he claims.
[reporter] He declared that his previous
confession was completely false.
He claims to know the killers,
who according to Galán,
are two skinheads he knows,
to whom he sold the gun
he brought from Bosnia.
I think his statement could be plausible.
They gave him two months
to turn himself in,
otherwise they'd give the five
and six of cups to his sisters,
which means they would kill them.
[electronic music playing]
[eerie music playing]
TWELVE HOURS AFTER THE ACE OF CUPS
[radio broadcaster 1 in Spanish]
It's Wednesday, February 5th.
The day starts with a tragedy
that took place a few hours ago
in Alameda de Osuna, Madrid.
There, next to a bus stop,
the body of a 20-year-old worker
from Barajas airport was found.
[radio broadcaster 2 in Spanish]
The body was found by a driver
of the night bus
linking with Cibeles Square.
The man had a severe head wound
and had bled profusely.
The homicide division
is looking for clues to solve this case
and the first reports
already rule out robbery as the motive.
[bell jingles]
[funky music playing]
THE PLAYING CARD KILLER
[ominous music playing]
[Teresa in English] I was born in Soria
and I moved to Madrid when I was 18.
I met the father of my son
and we moved to Alcalá de Henares.
A friend had told me there was a bar
that was perfect for me.
So I bought it.
And I absolutely curse the day I did.
I regret it.
Sometimes, I blame myself
for what happened.
[projector clicking]
We were at the bar. It was a Wednesday.
My son would come at closing time.
But that day,
he came for lunch because I felt sick.
I had a stomach ache
and I had cramps and so on.
So he came over.
We had lunch.
I remember we had a steak with fries.
Then a customer named Juani came in.
She wanted to use the phone,
her washing machine had broken.
And I was
watching TV.
And then,
a man came in.
He faced my son
and I
I turned to see him.
I thought he was a customer.
And then I saw him pull out a gun.
It didn't occur to me
that the gun was real.
Suddenly, I heard, "Boom!"
I got up quickly.
I looked at the bar
and my son wasn't there.
[projector clicking]
Then I froze.
What happened?
When I saw the man turn to me
with the gun,
I threw myself on the floor
and I heard another shot.
Then I realized he'd shot Juani.
[projector clicking]
Then he came for me.
I started crawling.
He was shooting.
First, he shot me in the elbow.
[projector clicking]
I was crawling and I was trying to hide.
And he shot me again.
That's when he shot me
from behind and the bullet
came out of my chest.
[projector clicking]
I played dead.
I was in a fetal position.
I was curled up.
I thought he was a thief.
I wondered why.
Who knows? The thing is
that I stayed still
and I felt another shot
in my thigh.
I felt myself bleeding out.
I focused on remaining still.
I held my breath
so he wouldn't know I was alive.
[projector clicking]
Then I heard the front door.
I realized he had left.
I dragged myself
as best I could to the bar.
And I saw my son was lying
at the end of the bar.
The bar was very long.
And then
I saw the police coming in.
There was an ambulance
and they picked me up.
I told them to check on my son.
I remember they put me on a stretcher
and that's it.
That's all I remember.
[emergency services sirens sound]
ALCALÁ DE HENARES, MADRID
THIS WEDNESDAY
[Adolfo] On February 5th,
I remember we were working
with the evidence
found at two different crime scenes.
Both crimes had occurred on that same day.
One of them was the one at the bus stop
and one in the afternoon
at Alcalá de Henares.
We looked into the microscope
and we saw it was a Tokarev 7.62.
When we saw that, we were alarmed.
We realized the perpetrator
was committing crimes in different areas.
The first one in Alonso Cano, in Chamberí.
The second one in Alameda de Osuna.
And the third one in Alcalá de Henares.
By then, the ballistic lab
already knew there was a pattern.
We knew we were dealing
with the same person.
MADRID, MARCH 5, 2003 - REPOR
BALLISTICS LABORATORY
THIS GUN WAS USED IN THE FOLLOWING CRIMES:
DEATH OF JUAN FRANCISCO LEDESMA
ALONSO CANO STREE
DEATH OF JUAN CARLOS MARTÍN
ALAMEDA DE OSUNA
And we knew
that if he planned to continue,
he wouldn't change the gun.
The, so far, unknown Tokarev gun.
[ominous music playing]
It was a crucial moment and back then,
we decided not to tell anyone.
People didn't know
there was a serial killer.
Only we and the investigators
knew that piece of information.
It was a priority
that the criminal didn't know
how close we were to finding him.
[dramatic music playing]
JANUARY 24TH, 2003
[projector clicking]
FEBRUARY 5TH, 2003
MARCH 7TH, 2003
MARCH 18TH, 2003
It turned out
the police knew it was a serial killer
before he started
leaving the playing cards,
when he had only left the ace.
But there were many doubts.
Some crimes had playing cards,
others didn't. What was happening?
[suspenseful music playing]
[radio broadcaster 1 in Spanish] The war
in Iraq stands out in international news
but serious matters remain pending
in our own country, such as the case
of the Playing Card Killer.
[radio broadcaster 2]
There's important news about the case.
Investigators believe the killer
didn't commit three crimes but five.
He used the same gun in all of them
but he didn't leave his trademark
playing cards in two of them.
We're facing a serial killer
that has already killed six people
in different areas of Madrid.
[investigator in Spanish]
We're investigating on all lines.
We are facing a madman, a psychopath,
someone trying to challenge
or trick the police.
All the evidence is being studied
as well as everything
that witnesses have told police.
[in English] The pressure was insane.
He was killing every ten to twenty days.
The next crime was around the corner.
If we let this man continue,
he'll get to the king of cups.
That would mean a lot of homicides.
[TV presenter 1] The police are trying
to determine patterns
to get ahead of the killer.
[TV presenter 2] When and where
will the next murder be?
I truly think that it could be a long time
before he stops killing.
EMERGENCIES
[Teresa] I was at the Príncipe
de Asturias Hospital in Alcalá de Henares.
I was intubated and everything.
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
The police came in.
They questioned me
and they said I could answer
with my eyes, or with gestures.
I remembered the killer
was wearing sweatpants.
He was tall, young,
with nice hair
and with big sunglasses.
Having a survivor provides us
with possible data and descriptions.
Indeed, in this case, she provided us
with information about the author.
We decided to make
a new composite sketch with the victim.
[eerie music playing]
The investigators were creating a profile.
There were two sketches.
On one hand, we had the one made
according to the statement and description
of the owner of the Rojas bar,
who was the only survivor of that shooting
where two people were killed.
And on the other hand,
we had the composite sketch by Ana,
who was face to face
with him for several moments.
Anahid did one.
Teresa, the owner of the bar,
did another one.
But if you see both sketches,
you wouldn't think it's the same person.
It was a different person.
They were completely different.
I think I remember the police considered
there might be two killers.
They thought each person
went to a different place.
Because the sketches didn't match.
It was another guy. A different one.
And once again all these doubts
that arose alarmed all the investigators
as they were wondering
if there was a second shooter.
Some people thought
there could be two killers.
Some thought it was just one.
We weren't sure.
If we do a sketch,
it's because the case is serious
and the lines of investigation
are unclear or are too many.
At that moment we were a bit lost.
We were taking shots in the dark.
It was clear that a change
of strategy was needed.
So the emergency line
and the composite sketch
were given to the media
as a way to request help from the public
so they would cooperate as well.
Law enforcement agencies in Madrid
have released a composite sketch
of the killer
and you should take a good look
in case you've seen him.
There could be important information
out there to help put an end to this.
Clearly there's some psychosis.
[woman] I saw the man
Thursday on the subway
How did he act? Was he normal?
[woman] Normal and calm.
But he was looking at people
in a strange way
and what drew my attention
was that he had his hand
inside his jacket,
like he was holding something.
When investigators
give a sketch to the press,
it's only because they have no leads.
Usually they think
that's another way of getting help
which also creates more work for them
because many times,
what this does is make things messier.
But they have to take that chance.
What if someone recognizes him?
More than once,
someone called to say their neighbor
was the person in the picture.
We asked for the public's help.
And even if they received
a lot of crazy calls,
as they usually do,
they have to follow up.
Having that database,
they can't afford to risk
more killings because they ignored
help from the public.
You use everything.
I would say it was a good move
and that helped us.
I think it disoriented him a bit.
We told the media about the various
investigations we were working on.
[TV presenter] As promised,
we're bringing you an exclusive interview
with the psychiatrist that's working
closely with the police and Civil Guard
in building a personality profile
of the Playing Card Killer.
[psychiatrist] The killer we are facing
is a highly frustrated person
who somehow releases
that frustration by doing what he does.
He's an attention seeker.
Contrary to what some media outlets
say about him being a sadist,
I don't think he is. He's not merciless.
What he's doing is experimenting.
He's experiencing fame and actually,
it's very likely
that this person is watching this program
as he almost certainly lives in Madrid.
I'm letting him know that no matter what,
he will always leave a print of himself.
[TV presenter] Let's do a profile
with the hypotheses
you've said you were working on.
It's someone young,
in his late 20s,
nearly 30, strong complexion.
He's frustrated personally
and with his family
and obviously a big fan of guns.
Let's say, it's a unique profile.
[ominous music playing]
[Teresa] I hardly remember anything
from the ICU.
When I woke up, I asked for my son.
Where is he?
No one answered.
Not even the doctors
would give me an answer.
No one said anything.
No one told me that my son was dead.
I asked my parents.
They said, "He died instantly."
"He didn't feel a thing."
He was buried nine days later.
I was
I was still in the ICU when he was buried.
[somber music playing]
So, when I was discharged,
the first thing I did
was go to the cemetery to see my son.
I spent the whole day there on my knees
at my son's grave.
[train rattling]
The Playing Card Killer
had a very characteristic weapon.
It can't be found in Spain.
That gun allowed us
to focus the investigation
on certain countries
where it's used and manufactured.
That weapon comes
from the city of Tula in Russia.
It's known as the TT. Tula Tokarev.
That weapon was actually used
in many arsenals
of countries with Soviet influence.
The version we were interested in,
since the ammo
is from the former Yugoslavia,
was the M57 model,
the Yugoslavian Tokarev.
[dramatic music playing]
Police are looking for the weapon
used by the Playing Card Killer.
Investigators have received
more than 800 calls
since they've released
the composite sketch of the criminal
and are studying every detail in the case.
The most reliable piece
of evidence is the weapon,
so they are searching
for illegal weapons in Madrid.
[reporter] Searching Madrid
for illegal weapons
with the sole purpose
of finding a weapon like this one,
a Tokarev gun made in Russia
which shoots 7.62 ammunition.
This is the gun
the Playing Card Killer uses to kill.
The weapon can only be obtained
in Eastern countries.
That led investigators to think
that the alleged killer
would've been on an international mission
or some kind of deployment
in eastern countries.
That meant asking the Ministry of Defense
for a list of the soldiers
that were in those destinations
in the last few years,
solely based on the weapon's origin.
A shocking part of the investigation
was an official letter that was sent
as a request to the Ministry of Defense
to get a list
of everyone with a psychiatric condition
and, in spite of that,
still in the military.
[Joaquín] The AFSI
is the Armed Forces Social Institute.
We requested a list of men,
25 to 30 years old,
who had been on foreign missions.
We got 12,000.
And men that received
some kind of medical care,
psychiatric care.
That reduced it to 3,000 names.
We were surprised
by the number of people affected,
considering their access to weapons.
WHO WILL THE NEXT VICTIM BE?
[woman] I've always focused
my journalistic career
on investigation topics.
And I started
with extreme right-wing subjects.
Así Son las Cosas
was published on Mondays.
Our competition was newspapers
and television channels.
It was very competitive.
In 2003, the far-right groups
had a big comeback.
Very big.
The military had deployed
a lot of missions to eastern countries
and the people fighting there
were people from far-right-wing ideology.
[F. Javier] The military and the far right
have always been connected.
There had even been investigations
within the army
to effectively eliminate those elements
that could be far right
because nobody wants them in the army.
[Patricia] I had conversations
with the police and the Civil Guard,
with my sources,
where I obviously highlighted the evidence
and my theory
that evidently led to the far right
and from that evidence,
they finally admitted that it was one
of the theories they were investigating.
That's when I took the risk and wrote,
"Extremist young man wanted"
and I added the sketch
of the Playing Card Killer
that was released.
IT'S ONE OF THE INVESTIGATION'S
MOST RELIABLE LEADS
It had little support
from the police and the Civil Guard.
They said it was just one
of the thirty theories they had.
But I was really convinced
because all the pieces of the puzzle fit.
And everything in the investigation
pointed to the far-right extremists
and the military.
[dramatic ominous music playing]
[cheering]
[in Spanish] Long live Spain!
[police sirens sound]
[in English] After the crimes in Arganda,
the police continued
with the investigation
and they were focusing
on the possible connection
of the far right
with the crimes
of the Playing Card Killer.
I was in touch with the investigators
and they said
they had a suspect that looked promising.
They were following him.
And certain things led them
to think that it could be him.
[ominous music playing]
We received information
from someone
saying that the composite sketch
shared publicly by the police
looked like an acquaintance of his.
From there, we started an investigation
on the identified person.
We had him under surveillance 24/7.
[ominous music playing]
We went to the Basque Country
to talk with the victim from the Rojas Bar
and we showed her pictures
of a number of people,
including one of the individuals
who resembled the sketch.
I was truly overwhelmed
with all those pictures.
I remember they showed me
a picture of a man
that also had a bar in Alcalá
called Rojas, just like mine.
ROJAS HOUSE BAR I
He was quite shady.
He had a record.
ASSAULTING A POLICE OFFICER
POSSESSION OF A WEAPON WITHOUT A PERMI
I told them I didn't know, I wasn't sure.
He was wearing sunglasses. He had them on.
So they added sunglasses
and it looked like him.
[projector clicking]
The picture of that person was identified
by the victim from the Rojas Bar.
[projector clicking]
A young man was arrested this morning
in the Alcalá de Henares area.
The detainee is a 25-year-old
far-right extremist
with a criminal record.
Club bouncer, former paratrooper
who was in Bosnia with neo-Nazi ideology.
Then the news came out.
A man from the Ultra Sur group
was arrested.
His alias is "Fichaje."
And he looked a lot
like one of the composite sketches
made by the witness from the Rojas bar.
When "Fichaje" was arrested, I thought
they had the Playing Card Killer.
He had all the characteristics
I was talking about.
During all that time,
I was the only journalist
heading towards that far-right lead
since none of my colleagues
had thought of it yet.
In the context of that arrest,
we had a police lineup.
The lineup is a procedure
that is very, very sensitive.
Usually, victims feel very pressured.
It's a very delicate moment.
[ominous music playing]
[footsteps sound]
At that time,
I was in Bilbao with my parents.
In fact, my mom came with me that day.
It was a small room
and dark.
I was scared.
When I went in and saw all those men,
they had to hold me
by the arms because I was scared.
I was terrified.
And I wanted to leave that place
as soon as possible.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Jesús] When a witness recognizes someone,
they're usually very sure.
The identification is quick.
This time, it took ages.
I remember the judge telling them,
"Step forward and then turn sideways."
Four guys were identical
to the arrested man.
Exactly the same, but very much alike.
[Teresa] They looked the same.
All of them.
But I had seen the pictures
the police had shown me
and well,
I recognized him
from the pictures I had seen.
And I said I recognized him.
To sum up, Teresa said that it was him.
[tense dramatic music playing]
IDENTIFIES NUMBER THREE
AS THE PERPETRATOR
The thing is,
regarding the recognition of this person,
I have to say that there were even
some disagreements between us.
They lacked information, evidence,
and the ability
to place the suspect at the crime scenes.
What's more, when he was arrested
in his house at Alcalá de Henares,
he didn't know what was going on
or what it was all about.
And he started to talk about drugs.
They told him he was under arrest
for the crimes of the Playing Card Killer,
and he was clearly confused.
There wasn't any kind
of information, any evidence
that proved in any way
that he had been at the crime scenes.
He was in jail for more than a month.
"MY CLIENT'S ARREST WAS A MISTAKE,"
HIS LAWYER SAYS
The police thought
there was something missing.
We knew he was a bad person,
that he was a neo-Nazi,
that he might be trafficking or something,
but he was not a murderer.
They said he was not the killer.
Then why was he arrested?
And one of the investigators asked me,
"What's happening next Sunday?"
It's the last week of the campaign.
All parties increase
their public appearances.
Candidates' requests for votes
before the election are increasing.
If you ask people in Madrid
what worries them the most
or what their biggest concern is,
they all say public safety.
Fifteen intense days
of campaigning come to an end.
I asked if he was arrested
because of the elections.
He didn't admit it
but I told him he'd said enough.
They arrested him
right before the elections
when the investigators themselves
said he was not the Playing Card Killer.
That's when I started publishing
that his arrest
was made by political request.
MAN ARRESTED FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE ELECTION
We've been informed the police are far
from locating the Playing Card Killer.
A judge released the man
that was supposed to be linked
with the killing of two people
at the Rojas Bar in Alcalá de Henares,
a crime that was connected
to the Playing Card Killer.
Three weeks after his arrest,
the judge considered
there wasn't enough evidence
to keep him in custody.
If you're on the right path,
everything starts to come together
and fit in a simple way.
But if you force the truth,
it will always blow up.
What happened
with that man was ridiculous.
They rushed everything.
They put so much pressure on.
In the end it was clear to me that they
wanted to get rid of the case in a hurry.
As time passed by the case disappeared
from the headlines, from the news,
leaving room for other topics.
[in Spanish] The Partido Popular party won
local and regional elections in Madrid.
Sixty-two Spanish soldiers died
in a plane crash in Turkey.
[presenter] a train crash
in Chinchilla, Albacete.
George Bush has ended
his tour of the Middle East
5,000 kilograms of cocaine
and 13 people were arrested
a woman was killed
and another was injured in Alzira.
Many are still affected by the oil spill
The arrival of summer means
increased fire risk. There is a campaign
The heatwave is straining
hospital emergency rooms
Here it is, Beckham speaking Spanish.
He ended his short speech like this.
[typewriter keys click]
[calm music playing]
[man in English] Puertollano
has about 50,000 residents,
located in the south
of the Ciudad Real region.
It was a miners' town
and a lot of the people
from all over Spain went there to work.
The summer of 2003
was tragic for everyone in Puertollano.
We were always
in the spotlight and in a bad way.
We really weren't used to it.
And it's something no one wanted.
As a journalist, there are some dates
you remember your whole life.
And one of them is 3rd July.
It was the day before my wife's birthday.
That's why I remember it so clearly.
It's definitely a day I will never forget.
On July 3rd,
we were doing a search in Salamanca.
And while doing the search,
we received a phone call
telling us that someone
had showed up
at Puertollano police station
claiming he was the Playing Card Killer
and provided a lot of details.
MUNICIPAL POLICE
[Miguel] I was on the night shift.
We got a call on the radio
from an officer at headquarters.
He was asking for backup.
When we got to headquarters,
we saw this person.
[phone ringing]
He turned himself in
but we didn't know why.
He said he'd killed six people
and wounded three others.
He showed symptoms
He clearly looked like he was
under the influence of alcohol.
So I told him to come in and talk to us.
[ominous music playing]
When he identified himself
as the Playing Card Killer,
we called national police headquarters
and we told them
we had someone at the station
claiming to be the Playing Card Killer.
They sent a police car immediately.
They picked him up
at the station and left.
I got to work that morning
and I heard about everything.
I met him at the station
and we started talking.
He said he committed the first murder
in a lobby in downtown Madrid.
He said he went in
and told the doorman to get on his knees.
And he killed him.
[gunshot sounds]
In front of a young kid.
We asked what proof he had
and he said there was a wallet
with money on the table and he left it.
So we decided to call Madrid
and they told us
to keep on questioning him
about the other crimes.
He said he committed
the second murder at a bus stop.
There was a man.
He stopped and killed him.
He left a card.
The ace of cups.
He told me everything,
that he was the Playing Card Killer,
that he killed someone here,
someone there.
And he said his last crime
was a Romanian couple in a park.
That's when I got goosebumps.
We talked about three hours.
He was calm, very composed,
telling us everything.
He said we could verify it
by calling the police division
that was in charge of the case in Madrid
because there was a detail
they hadn't told anyone.
The cards were branded with a marker.
That hadn't been shown on TV.
[projector clicking]
[ominous music playing]
TWO OF CUPS
THREE OF CUPS
FOUR OF CUPS
Then I was convinced that it was him.
Because the only people
who knew this were us and the criminal.
Only investigators knew that detail.
No one else. Just us.
[police siren sounds]
We finished the search in Salamanca
and we quickly headed off to Puertollano.
There was no doubt.
We were absolutely sure he was the author.
He was behind this.
The homicide division decided
to arrest Alfredo Galán Sotillo
in Puertollano.
He's Alfredo Galán.
- Alfredo Galán.
- Alfredo Galán.
- Alfredo Galán.
- Alfredo Galán Sotillo.
[dramatic music playing]
POLICE FORENSICS - PRISONER IDENTIFICATION
GALÁN SOTILLO, ALFREDO
BORN IN PUERTOLLANO, DECEMBER 22, 1977
Alfredo was taken
into custody by security.
Then they decided to send a Civil Guard
and myself
to talk to him in person.
He instantly gave me
a feeling of coldness.
His eyes were twitching.
He gave one-word answers.
We were afraid
because we knew he was someone
who went hunting.
He was dangerous.
We faced someone who drove us crazy
for months.
The question everyone is asking
is who is Alfredo Galán,
the man who claims
to be the Playing Card Killer.
[reporter] He's 26, his mother died,
and he was raised by his grandmother.
He has four siblings.
He resided in Villalbilla, in Madrid.
His acquaintances
never saw him with a girl.
He was a very bad student
and became a soldier
because of his love for weapons.
Around 8:00 a.m., my boss
asked me if I knew what I had to do.
Unfortunately, I did. He told me
I had to go to Puertollano immediately.
It was full of cameras,
journalists, photographers,
and more kept coming.
[tense music playing]
- [in Spanish] Let me through!
- Give me something.
[man] Gonzalo!
[woman] Don't cry!
[shouting]
[indistinct]
[man 2 in Spanish] Let's go!
[in English] Alfredo Galán
was in a holding cell.
Time had passed
and he was no longer drunk.
Once Galán had sobered up,
he denied it all.
Yes or no?
It's not clear if the man who turned
himself in yesterday in Puertollano
is the sought-after Playing Card Killer.
[reporter] The tension is high
at this police station.
Last night, he claimed
to be the perpetrator of six crimes
but this morning when he woke up,
according to our sources,
he didn't know why he was there.
The police said
they had to do this properly.
They probably had the killer
but he might get away with what he did.
It all falls apart
because he says it wasn't him.
I don't believe it.
It's like those months
of investigation were useless.
There was no real progress.
They were against the clock
because the police only had 72 hours
to prove that he was
the Playing Card Killer.
After that, they either take him
into custody or release him.
[In Spanish] Move along, move along.
[in Spanish] You got a photo, right?
[policeman in Spanish] Stay back.
[man] Look at him.
Crouch down.
[woman] Show your face, you coward.
[camera shutters clicking]
[reporter in Spanish] We're seeing him
being transferred.
It's been 24 hours
since the Playing Card Killer confessed.
He's been taken to his family home,
which was searched
for close to an hour and a half.
[in English] The search in Puertollano
started like any other.
[sirens sound]
He denied everything.
He said he didn't know.
And then, in one of the rooms,
we found a complete used cartridge.
[dramatic music playing]
It's important
because it's a 7.62 Tokarev.
ITS DIMENSIONS, SIZE AND SERIAL NUMBER
MATCH THOSE OF A 7.62 TOKAREV
[projector clicking]
That cartridge of the Tokarev
had indentation damage.
It was inside a weapon.
And they tried to fire it
but something went wrong.
From the indentation of that round,
I was able to determine
that it was produced by the same weapon
that is linked to all the crimes.
That was very important
because how did it end up there?
[suspenseful music playing]
When we found the cartridge
with the indentation,
that's when I noticed
he had changed a little bit.
Like he was thinking, "They've got me."
[in Spanish] There he is.
[in English] The man who turned himself in
yesterday in Puertollano,
claiming to be the Playing Card Killer,
was taken to Madrid.
[police sirens sound]
At midnight, Alfredo Galán
arrived at this building
outside Alcalá de Henares.
In a major police operation, the detainee
was taken to the house where he lived
with his sister.
They are searching for evidence
that could help to confirm
that he is the Playing Card Killer.
[eerie music playing]
During the search, he gave us details
such as where the clothes
he wore for each crime were located.
SEARCH PROCEDURE REPOR
ALFREDO GALÁN'S HOME
ADIDAS BRAND TRACK JACKE
NAVY BLUE
He gave us details about the markers
that he claimed to have used
to brand each card.
If we didn't have him before,
we did then.
[car horns honking]
[woman] My phone rang early
and the Bar Association said
I had to go to group five to help someone.
An officer was waiting for me at the door.
He came to me and said
they had caught the Playing Card Killer.
[suspenseful music playing]
I wasn't sure if he was guilty
because they didn't find DNA
from any of the victims
or gunpowder on the clothes
they took from the house.
The marker's ink didn't match.
The ink was different from the one
on the back of the playing cards.
So basically, none of the items
found at Alfredo Galán's house
could be used to make him serve time.
[suspenseful music playing]
The investigation of the Playing
Card Killer has taken a shocking turn.
On July 3rd, Alfredo Galán
turned himself in to the police.
Now, to everyone's surprise,
he claims he's innocent.
Alfredo Galán isn't the Playing
Card Killer but he knows who is,
or at least, that is what he claims.
[reporter] He declared that his previous
confession was completely false.
He claims to know the killers,
who according to Galán,
are two skinheads he knows,
to whom he sold the gun
he brought from Bosnia.
I think his statement could be plausible.
They gave him two months
to turn himself in,
otherwise they'd give the five
and six of cups to his sisters,
which means they would kill them.
[electronic music playing]