Óscar López Rodríguez

Case overview

Óscar López Rodríguez beheaded two people, María José Reyes Moore and Juan René Duarte Becerra, in July 2012 in Chile. Both victims had visited López Rodríguez’s antique shop in Lolol, Colchagua Province, O'Higgins Region, and were attacked and decapitated by the shop owner. López Rodríguez was shot and killed by police responding to the scene of the Reyes murder.

Timeline

• 10 July 2012 — Juan René Duarte Becerra visited López Rodríguez’s antique shop and was stabbed in the back and subsequently beheaded.
• 11 July 2012 — Duarte’s family filed a “presunta desgracia” (disappearance) claim with the Lolol police.
• 12 July 2012 — María José Reyes Moore went into López Rodríguez’s antique shop and was stabbed, then decapitated; López Rodríguez was later shot and killed by Sergeant Felipe González.
• 13 July 2012 — An autopsy was conducted on María José Reyes at the Servicio Médico Legal of San Fernando; her body was taken to Vitacura, Santiago Metropolitan Region, for a wake; Duarte’s body was mourned at his mother’s home in Lolol and later buried in the Municipal Cemetery of Lolol.
• 14 July 2012 — A mass was held for María José Reyes at the Parroquia San Juan de Apóstol; she was cremated and later buried in the Parque del Recuerdo cemetery.
• 25 July 2012 — The results of the “psychological autopsy” were made public.
• 27 February 2010 — After the earthquake of 27 February 2010, López Rodríguez moved to his last home, an old adobe house located in front of the Lolol firefighters’ bureau.

The offence

First attack: Juan René Duarte Becerra

On 10 July 2012, Juan Duarte visited Óscar López Rodríguez’s antique shop “to purchase an iron stick.” Duarte’s housemaid, Olga Morales, told El Mercurio that he was “actually interested in an old little table.” Several people saw Duarte talking with López Rodríguez that afternoon. Police (carabineros) stated that López Rodríguez stabbed Duarte in the back and subsequently beheaded him, and believed that Duarte tried to defend himself “tenaciously”.

López Rodríguez kept Duarte’s head in a coffer, which was up for sale in his antique shop, and buried the rest of his body under rocks in his backyard.

Second attack: María José Reyes Moore

On 12 July 2012, María José Reyes Moore traveled with two of her children, including her 15-year-old daughter and her 19-year-old son, to Fundo Querelena in the Bucarruca area in the commune of Paredones, Cardenal Caro Province. Her husband and her two other children were traveling later that day. Around 13:00 local time (17:00 UTC), she decided to stop in Lolol. She pulled up at Los Alerces Street 145 and went into López Rodríguez’s antique shop with her daughter; her son stayed in the car.

Less than five minutes later and apparently without reason, López Rodríguez took Reyes Moore by her hair and stabbed her. Her daughter ran out of the shop to tell her brother. When they returned, they saw López Rodríguez taking their severely injured mother to a tree trunk in his backyard, where he proceeded to decapitate her with an axe.

Reyes Moore’s children ran out of the antique shop to ask for help and, according to witnesses, shouted “They're killing our mommy!” (“¡Están matando a la mamita!””). Because it was Lolol’s payday, the streets were full of people.

The teenagers eventually found a policeman, Sergeant Felipe González, who quickly got to the crime scene. In the meantime, López Rodríguez had taken Reyes Moore’s head and showed it to passers-by, raising the severed head “like a trophy”. When González reached him, he ordered López Rodríguez to stop and fired into the air twice without receiving any response. López Rodríguez then rushed toward the policeman with the bloody axe he had used to decapitate Reyes Moore, forcing González to shoot him with his service weapon, killing him.

Investigation

The same day of the murder of María José Reyes and López Rodríguez’s death, the Labocar (Laboratorio de Criminalística de Carabineros; literally Carabineros’ Laboratory of Criminology) inspected the crime scene under the request of public prosecutor Carmen Gloria Agurto, finding the decapitated body of another victim, later identified as Juan Duarte Becerra. Labocar also checked some wells in the backyard of López Rodríguez’s house.

The following day, looking for more possible victims and evidence, Labocar and GOPE (Grupo de Operaciones Policiales Especiales; in English, the Group of Special Police Operations) continued to inspect the crime scene and visited López Rodríguez’s former residence in Las Palmas, but they did not find human remains.

Following the murders, suspicion arose that López Rodríguez might also have killed Manuel Fuenzalida Piña, a man from the commune of Pumanque, also in Colchagua Province, who had disappeared in March 2012 and was last seen talking with López Rodríguez. Police searched López Rodríguez’s shop and former residences for additional human remains, but did not find any.

O'Higgins Region public prosecutor Luis Toledo announced that the Ministerio Público would provide psychological assistance to Reyes Moore’s children, who had witnessed the crime. The public prosecutor office of Santa Cruz requested the OS-9 (Departamento Investigación de Organizaciones Criminales; Department of Investigation of Criminal Organizations) to prepare a “psychological autopsy,” creating a profile based on interviews with people who interacted with López Rodríguez and information extracted from the crime scene. The “psychological autopsy” results were made public on 25 July 2012 and stated that López Rodríguez “suffered of transitory psychosis, mystical delusions and bizarre behaviours.”

Sergeant Felipe González, aged 26, was given “psychological help” by the Carabineros and was “calm with the help of the Carabineros authorities.” His actions were to be investigated as to whether they adhered to Carabineros rules.

Arrest / death

López Rodríguez attacked María José Reyes Moore in his antique shop and decapitated her. When Sergeant Felipe González arrived, he ordered López Rodríguez to stop and fired into the air twice without response. López Rodríguez then rushed at González with the bloody axe, and González shot him with his service weapon, killing him.

People involved

Perpetrator

Óscar López Rodríguez was born on 1 November 1972 in Lolol, Colchagua Province, O'Higgins Region. His parents were Óscar del Carmen López Araya and Osvaldina de las Rosas Rodríguez Espinosa.

Neighbors described him as a “violent” and “lonely man.” López Rodríguez claimed to be a “messenger of God.” He liked to dress as anime characters and was known in Lolol as “the Hippie” because of his “intentionally unkempt look, with beard and long hair,” possibly inspired in the looks of Jesus Christ. Some residents told the media that López Rodríguez may have been part of a satanic sect.

He was a marijuana user and reportedly also sold marijuana. He began collecting phonographs, lamps, cart wheels and iron gates in 1997 when he moved to Los Boldos, a rural area near Santa Cruz. Later he moved to Los Robles, six kilometers from the urban centre of Lolol, where he joined an “ecologic community,” from which he was later expelled. In August 2009, he moved to Las Palmas, three kilometers from central Lolol, and lived in three different houses there until March 2010. After the earthquake of 27 February 2010, he moved to his last home, an old adobe house located in front of the Lolol firefighters’ bureau. There, he established an antique shop in the front of the house.

In an article published in regional newspaper El Mundo Rural in April 2012, López Rodríguez was described as a “modest man, who has worked hard with the shovel and the plow in the countryside,” but “[his life] is devoted to visiting houses and rescuing antiquities which he repairs and sells to wealthy families.” El Mundo Rural also remarked on his ability to ride his bike with his dog Valentín standing on it.

López Rodríguez married Sandra Andrea Poblete Gaete (b. 16 August 1973) in Santa Cruz on 31 August 1992. The couple had a son (born 1992) and divorced on 6 April 2011.

Victims

María José Reyes Moore

María José Reyes Moore was born in Santiago on 25 June 1966. She was a physical education teacher from Vitacura in the Santiago Metropolitan Region and was nicknamed Coté. She completed her secondary education at Colegio Villa María in 1984. She worked between 1992 and 2007 as physical education teacher in Colegio San Francisco de Asís in Las Condes. She left that educational institution in 2007 because she “wanted to devote more time to her family.” Shortly afterward, she began working at Colegio El Golf in Vitacura, where she created a class called La Academia (The Academy). La Academia consisted of a pre-employment and functional workshop dedicated to high school graduates with special educational needs (necesidades educacionales especiales).

Reyes Moore married farmer Wenceslao Fernando Montero Sánchez (b. 11 December 1962) on 4 December 1989. The couple had four children.

Juan René Duarte Becerra

Juan René Duarte Becerra was born on 7 January 1956 in Lolol, Colchagua Province, O'Higgins Region, where he lived his whole life. He was known as “Juanito” or “Don Juanito” by most people in Lolol and worked for twenty years as a seasonal worker in the Viña Casa Silva estate in the commune of San Fernando. He was known in his hometown as a “good”, “hard-working” person.

At the time of his death, he was under medical license due to recent surgery that removed a hernia from his spine. He married María Adriana Rodríguez Espina (b. 12 May 1953) on 3 May 1976. He was the uncle of councillor (concejal) of the Lolol town hall Leandro Duarte Maldonado, from the Social Democrat Radical Party.

Sergeant

Sergeant Felipe González, aged 26, was a policeman who responded to the Reyes Moore murder. He received “psychological help” from the Carabineros and his actions were investigated regarding whether they adhered to Carabineros rules.

Trial

No trial information was included.

Sentencing

No sentencing information was included.

Appeals

No appeals information was included.

Outcome

Police shot and killed Óscar López Rodríguez during the incident following the decapitation of María José Reyes Moore.

The case included the decapitated remains of two victims: María José Reyes Moore and Juan René Duarte Becerra. Following Reyes Moore’s murder, Duarte’s prior death had been discovered during the same-day inspection and later identified.

Funerals / aftermath

Funerals for María José Reyes Moore

On 13 July 2012, around 09:00 local time (13:00 UTC), relatives of María José Reyes arrived at the Servicio Médico Legal of San Fernando, where an autopsy was conducted. Her body was taken to Vitacura, Santiago Metropolitan Region, where a wake was held at Parroquia San Juan de Apóstol.

A mass commanded by priest Osvaldo Fernández was held on 14 July 2012 at the Parroquia San Juan de Apóstol, attended by about one thousand people. Reyes Moore’s body was taken to the Parque del Recuerdo cemetery, where she was cremated and later buried.

Funerals for Juan René Duarte Becerra

Juan Duarte Becerra’s body was mourned at his mother’s home in Lolol on 13 July 2012. During the early morning of the following day and after an evangelical prayer, his body was buried in the Municipal Cemetery of Lolol. The funeral was attended by hundreds of Lolol residents.

Funeral for Óscar López Rodríguez

Óscar López Rodríguez’s body was taken by his son during the night of 13 July 2012 from the Servicio Médico Legal of San Fernando. His body was waked at his parents’ home in Los Boldos, near Santa Cruz, and was buried the following day in the Cemetery of Santa Cruz in a ceremony attended by about a hundred persons. His former wife did not attend his funeral.

Community reaction

The murders were widely covered by local media and “shocked” Chilean society. Inhabitants of Lolol, a “peaceful” rural town declared a National Monument under the category of Zona Típica for its colonial architecture, were described as “anguished,” and the town’s streets were “empty” one week after the crimes. Some residents told the media they had been “ridiculed” in other towns and asked for Óscar López’s house to be demolished.

The mayor of Lolol, Marco Marín, told La Tercera that the crime would mark a “before” and an “after” in the history of Lolol.

Other details

López Rodríguez was labeled the “Monster of Lolol” by Chilean media. The Labocar inspected the scene at the request of public prosecutor Carmen Gloria Agurto. GOPE and Labocar continued inspection the following day and visited López Rodríguez’s former residence in Las Palmas, without finding human remains. Police searched López Rodríguez’s shop and former residences for additional human remains and did not find any.