Gumaro de Dios Arias

Background

Gumaro de Dios Arias was a Mexican man who was known as “el Caníbal” and “el caníbal del Caribe”. He was described as homosexual. He was also described as a crack addict and as a person with history of mental illness, and as suffering from advanced schizophrenia.

A Reuters report described Arias as not being remorseful. He was also described as living with other reclusos and being housed in an isolated cell at times because other inmates protested his presence and refused to share a cell with him.

Gumaro de Dios Arias was reported to have been held in a municipal jail in Playa del Carmen, and later to have been transferred for psychiatric care, including to Morelos, and then to Chetumal.

The offence

Arias killed his young male lover, later referred to as “Raúl González” and also identified as “El Guacho”. A police account described the killing as happening during a fight after the two men had consumed drugs and alcohol and after they had had sexual relations.

After the killing, Arias cut parts of his lover’s body and cooked parts of the body using a grill and a sauce described as being made with tomato and onion. The cooking took place in the humble home. Arias then ate parts of the victim over several days, with police describing the victim as already mutilated, with organs missing and parts of the body missing.

A police statement described the victim’s body as having had the guts taken out, and as lacking several parts such as the thigh. Another passage described the body as having been found with the organs missing and with pieces of flesh from the legs.

Arias stated that he had eaten about “dos kilos y medio” of human flesh and that he still wanted to keep eating.

The narrative included that Arias believed the fight’s origin was lack of money to buy drugs that the victim had requested, and that Arias had been asked for 500 pesos, which the victim had then spent on crack, leading Arias to strike him and later eat him.

Arias also described that he planned to devour the victim completely but was discovered by authorities.

Investigation

Police received a telephone call saying that “había una persona que (se) estaba comiendo a otra persona”. Officers found Arias lying on a cot with the corpse beside him. Police said the corpse had been being eaten since three days.

A police description of the discovery included a grill where parts of a heart were being cooked. A police chief described that Arias was preparing stews and that there was a grill with part of the heart and that Arias was cooking that and what he took from the body.

An officer named Martín Estrada participated in the raid. Estrada described the scene.

Another officer described the scene with more detail. Detective Chief Inspector (or agent) Alejandro Díaz was quoted describing what he saw when they discovered Arias sleeping beside the body inside a palapa with cardboard roof and wire mesh:

“En el piso yacía un pectoral hasta el abdomen, en estado de descomposición. Ya no tenía vísceras, presumiblemente fueron arrancadas por la espátula ensangrentada que estaba a un lado. Los pies estaban cortados hasta los tobillos. A los brazos se les había arrancado la piel y las manos tenían escoriaciones; seguro el muerto fue colgado o amarrado con fuerza. Sobre la parrilla había una olla de aluminio con algo que se parecía a unas costillas cocidas y a un corazón”.

The same narrative described that flies were feeding on a rib and that Arias did not eat it because it made him feel disgusted.

Arrest

Arias was arrested on Tuesday after police received the telephone call. The arrest was described as involving a raid of his house, described as a humble house or a hut/choza between the jungle and vegetation.

Arias was later presented before a judge and was described as accepting homicide charges.

Trial

After Arias was presented before a court, he declared he was not remorseful about having killed his partner.

A statement reported that Arias accepted charges of “homicidio premeditado”.

A judge, named Abraham Loeza Ortiz, announced he would issue a resolutivo on the case and that, based on medical dictámenes and Arias’s advanced schizophrenia, Arias would not be subject to penal process and would instead be sent to a psychiatric wing within a Center for Social Readaptation (Cereso) in Morelos.

Sentencing

A judge, Abraham Loeza Ortiz, indicated that Arias would no longer be subject to penal process due to advanced schizophrenia, and would be sent to a Cereso facility with a psychiatric wing in Morelos. The proceeding was said to be closed after the action.

Another authority in the narrative stated that if Arias were found guilty, he could face a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.

Appeals

No appeals were described in the provided material.

Outcome

Arias remained detained in custody after his arrest.

A judge indicated that due to advanced schizophrenia Arias could not be subject to penal process and would be sent for psychiatric treatment with a Cereso psychiatric wing in Morelos.

Later, after more than two years in the municipal jail of Solidaridad, Arias was transferred to Chetumal and then sent by air to a psychiatric hospital in the state of Morelos. A municipal government director stated that Arias would be housed in a psychiatric hospital and would receive needed help.

During his municipal incarceration, he had a period where he relapsed and there were reports that he cut off a piece of an ear and ate it during a festival in the penitentiary. He then refused to keep following treatment, which led to worsening mental condition and isolation from the general population.

Aftermath

Other inmates protested Arias’s presence and refused to share a cell with him, described as refusing due to his “excesos maniáticos” and his “gusto por la carne humana”.

Authorities suggested Arias should be secluded or transferred to a psychiatric hospital. A public safety director named Henry Boldo Osorio described the inmates’ refusal.

Ariás was described as having said that he did not regret the killing and that he believed his mind did not work well. He was also described as wanting to be sent to “La Palma”.

Arias stated that he wanted to see a psychiatrist and referred to voices or sounds he heard at night.

A quoted passage also included Arias describing what he said happens when he drinks or takes drugs, including that “se me mete la maldad”, and that when he is intoxicated or under the influence he becomes aggressive toward others.

Arias also said that a sister visited him and that she asked him what had happened and why he had eaten the victim. He said he told her that that was how life worked.

Arias also referenced a promise made to a Mayan shaman, saying he had carried two lives and asked whether he was still seeking the third life, later saying he had found it.

Arias’s birth date was given as 7 April 1978, the day of San Juan Bautista.

His parents were named as Candelario de Dios and Ana Arias. He was described as having a maternal grandfather who imposed his dynasty. A relative was described as a strong male cousin who violated him when he was between six and seven years old, and that the violation affected him afterward.

He was described as having been sent to the army at age 14. He was described as being arrested or disciplined after a fight with a subteniente, being sent “a un apando”. He was described as being a constant marijuana consumer afterward and as inhaling solvents and having drug use described as including cocaine and heroin.

The narrative also included that he sexually abused a nephew who was described as just learning to walk, and that a family did not know until Arias came home drunk and with his shirt torn. He said he had “acabo de coger a una monja” and then said he told them about the nephew.

A statement included a prior incarceration in 2000 at the penal of Cárdenas, where he believed he was arrested for rape, but was later told the sentence was for the robbery of a recorder and five linen shirts.

The narrative included a later move to Chetumal and then to El Petén, and then to a palapa by the road Chetumal–Playa del Carmen.

In the narrative about earlier killing, Arias described a prior killing he said happened “a principios de 2004” in Mahajual involving a machete, and described that the killer’s spirit appeared to him that night.

A police and judicial process included the statement of a medical doctor named Jorge Polanco Belois who described Arias as potentially dangerous and led to isolation.

Other details

Henry Boldo Osorio, director of Seguridad Pública of Playa del Carmen, stated that inmates protested Arias’s presence and refused to accept him, saying nobody wanted to sleep with him due to his manic excesses and taste for human flesh. He suggested psychiatric hospitalization or isolation.

Abraham Loeza Ortiz was identified as a Juez Penal in Solidaridad, and he discussed Cause Penal 362 of 2004, describing it as a trial for homicide. He stated he had studied medical dictámenes and that Arias would not be subject to penal process due to advanced schizophrenia, and that the expediente would be closed after transfer.

Orlando Muñoz Gómez was identified as director de gobierno of the Ayuntamiento de Solidaridad, and he stated that Arias would be transferred by air with support of the Agencia Federal de Investigación (AFI) to Morelos for psychiatric care.

Gerardo Peña was identified in the narrative as a prosecutor at the Ministerio Público, where Arias confessed to cannibalism over 1,273 words. Arias was also quoted in the narrative:

“Le seguí pegando. Cuando estaba desmayado lo colgué. Estaba sangrando. Cuando despertó le pedí mis 500 pesos, otra vez, pero me dijo que se los había gastado en crack . Por eso le pegué con un bloc en la cabeza. Ahí me ganó la curiosidad de comérmelo”.

Arias was quoted about taste and eating:

“La carne me sabía como a borrego y si me hubieran dejado me lo comía todo”

Arias was quoted about not regretting:

“No me arrepiento de nada, ya lo hice, creo que son como dos kilos y medio lo que comí y todavía quería seguir comiendo”

Arias was quoted in the narrative describing fear of death and sensation:

“¿Oye, o será que ya me voy a morir?” “¿Por qué?” “Es que siento como que me pasan un machete por los brazos. ¿Crees que me voy a morir?” “Seguro ocurrirá un día”

Arias was quoted saying what he heard at night:

“Chi, chi, chi...”

Arias was quoted saying:

“Cuando tomo o me drogo se me mete la maldad” “Por ejemplo, cuando ando briago me da por querer aventarme sobre un tráiler.”

Arias was quoted describing drug intoxication and aggression:

“Me empiezo a hinchar, es cuando se me mete un güero fornido, ese cabrón es el que me calienta contra los demás.”

Arias was quoted describing prayer and becoming an “angel poderoso”:

“Entonces le rezo a mi Dios y me vuelvo un ángel poderoso.”

Arias was quoted about his expectation of living:

“Yo digo que voy a vivir como 150 años más.”

Arias was quoted about messages:

“Pues es lo que no entiendo, son sólo mensajes que recibo.”

Arias was quoted about not feeling when killing:

“Pero no me preguntaste lo más importante: ¿qué siento al matar? ¡Ah!, pues nada, no se siente nada, es como matar a un pollo.”

The narrative stated Arias requested:

“Diles que me envíen a La Palma.”

Arias explained his refusal to regret and the reason for lack of remorse:

“Pero debe quedar muy claro que no tengo ningún arrepentimiento, porque la cabeza no me funciona bien.”

Arias also said:

“Es que aquí no me hallo, está muy chiquito, y allá quiero ser el rey del penal. En una de esas allá me como a un cabrón.”

Timeline

• 10 December 2004 — Arias killed his lover “El Guacho” and after a fight prepared parts of the body to eat.
• 16 December 2004 — Police reports described the scene and Arias’s statements; Arias was reported as having confessed and being held.
• 18 December 2004 — A later account described Arias recognizing the crime and saying he planned to devour the victim fully.
• 4 December 2006 — Judge Abraham Loeza Ortiz announced an order related to Cause Penal 362 of 2004 and indicated transfer to a Cereso psychiatric wing in Morelos due to advanced schizophrenia.
• 20 March 2007 — Arias was reported as transferred to Chetumal and then sent by air to a psychiatric hospital in Morelos.