Madrid hospital strangler had killed twice before

At age 27 Juan José F. G. grabbed a belt, walked to one of the rooms of the San Carlos Clinical Hospital and murdered Valeriana, an 82-year-old woman.

Two days later he killed an inmate who was sleeping in the infirmary of the Carabanchel prison where he was incarcerated.

Now, at the age of 49, he tried to do the same in a room at the University Hospital Fundación Alcorcón (Madrid) on Saturday.

He grabbed a pillow and tried to suffocate a patient who had been admitted. It happened last Saturday.

Police sources said: “The author is already detained and is in the psychiatric ward of the same hospital. The investigation is open.”

Despite his record, Juan José had been working in Ilunion’s laundry service for more than three years and has passed all the pertinent exams to get to work.

Ilunion belongs to the ONCE foundation. “The main objective is the realisation of labour programmes, integration, training and employment for people with disabilities, promoting the creation of globally accessible environments, products and services,” they explain on their website. Ilunion has a workforce of some 32,000, of which more than 35% are people with disabilities.

Two decades ago, on October 19, 1999, Juan José was acquitted of murder. He had a total exemption for mental disorder. The Supreme Court ordered his admission to a psychiatric centre for a period of no more than 20 years.

It also ordered Insalud, a public company under the Ministry of Health, to pay €120,000 compensation to his first victim’s two children.

The court considered that there was an “omission of the duty of vigilance.”

She was killed in the early hours of December 19, 1997. The woman slept in room 4155, on the fourth floor, where she had been admitted for pneumonia and severe malnutrition. Juan José was surprised by a nurse who found him standing next to the bed in which Valeriana, 82, was lying dead. He had a belt with which he had strangled the octogenarian.

The Clinician’s management claimed that the size of the hospital and the “available human resources” prevented better surveillance measures. There was only one guard who made rounds through two hospital wards.

Last Saturday Juan José tried to strangle another patient at the Alcorcón hospital. Health sources confirm the facts although they do not give more details and refer to the police investigation.