Dorancel Vargas

Background

Dorancel Vargas, also known as “el comegente,” was born in 1957. He was described as a serial killer and cannibal in Venezuela and was also dubbed the “Hannibal Lecter of the Andes.”

Dorancel Vargas was raised in a peasant family that lived in a border area with Colombia. Due to his strange behavior, his family believed that he was possessed by “evil spirits.” Most of his family were members of a guerrilla group known as “Venezuelan Liberation Forces,” which controlled the jungle area where they lived. It was not clear whether Dorancel Vargas was also a member of this group in his youth.

At fifteen years of age, Dorancel Vargas ended up in San Cristobal, one of the main cities in Venezuela. He began to take drugs and drink heavily. He lived under an expressway bridge called “Autopista Libertador,” described as an extremely dark place at night and frequently used as a shelter by drunkards, drug addicts and beggars.

The offence

During the decade of the 90’s, several people who lived near the bridge complained to the police that their relatives had gone missing, after which an investigation began.

There was a bar near the bridge, and many drunkards would wander late at night or fall asleep in that place. The account states that Dorancel Vargas struck at this time and killed people with a bamboo spear. Afterwards, he dismembered the bodies, cut the meat that he wanted, buried the heads in the ground, and threw the bones and remains into the river.

Dorancel Vargas stated during his first TV interview that:

“human meat is nice, but I eat all kinds of meat, dog, cats , lizards. I buried the heads and feet and throw the other bones into the river. I also stored some meat in containers. The heart and the liver must be spiced up, If I was hungry I used to kill men, never women because they do no harm.”

In a later account, he confessed to killing and eating at least 10 men in a period of two years preceding his arrest in 1999.

Dorancel Vargas said he “avoided eating fat people because of high cholesterol levels.” He declared that men’s meat tasted better than women’s. He stated that he avoided eating hands, feet, or testicles, while also stating that he had been “on the point of trying them on various occasions.” He stated that he rejected overweight men because they had too much cholesterol and that the elderly were spared because their flesh “is contaminated and very tough.” He also said that he made a stew with the tongue and used the eyes to make a soup.

Press reports claimed that he preyed on homeless men and laborers whom he clubbed to death with a metal tube. Dorancel Vargas stated that he was “given” the bodies by various people, including the police.

Investigation

During the decade of the 90’s, complaints were made to the police after relatives went missing near the “Autopista Libertador” bridge.

In 1995, police began to search the area under the bridge after a brother of one of the missing persons said that he had last seen him drinking and talking to Dorancel Vargas. During a search, the police found the remains of several men and began to search for Dorancel Vargas in the nearby bushes.

In 1999, Dorancel Vargas was arrested after more people denounced that their relatives had gone missing.

There was also an account that Congress planned to investigate reports that Dorancel Vargas was a former mental hospital patient who had been arrested on similar charges four years earlier but released shortly afterward.

Arrest

Dorancel Vargas was arrested in February 1999 in the city of San Cristobal, near the Colombian border.

The account includes the following statement from Juan Carlos Meneses:

“I heard shouts and when I turned around I saw that Dorancel was about to hit me with a baseball bat, a motorcycle cop arrived and caught him just in time. I could have been another victim,” said Juan Carlos.

Dorancel Vargas had been arrested earlier, but after a bureaucratic mishap in which a judge had ordered that he be sent to a psychiatric hospital, he was set free and returned to the “Libertador Bridge.”

Trial

Dorancel Vargas was in custody. He had not been tried by his mental state.

There was a dispute whether he was a criminal or a mentally ill person. Dorancel Vargas was diagnosed as a “paranoid psychopath” by psychiatrists who examined him.

Sentencing

Dorancel Vargas was described as being in solitary confinement in a police station.

The account also stated that he had been found wandering around with knives on several occasions.

Appeals

No appeals were described.

Outcome

Dorancel Vargas remained in custody and was not tried by his mental state.

The account stated that he was in the initial stages of Parkinson’s disease and spent his time sweeping floors and washing his clothes.

Dorancel Vargas said:

“I used to eat the thighs, not the nose ears or hands because they are too hard. If I saw a drunkard sleeping, I would kill him with my spear, cut his head off and feel happy, I want to go back there and dig a big hole to bury them I don't feel ashamed of anything. They have put me in this jail for nothing, ”

A police officer who guarded Dorancel Vargas said:

“He used to kill whoever got drunk with him , ”

The police officer also made the observation that even murderers feared him. Another quoted statement was:

“He used to kill whoever got drunk with him , ” said a policeman that guards Dorancel Vargas.

Other details

Dorancel Vargas was described as homeless and as a serial killer and cannibal.

He was said to have confessed to eating up to 10 men in the last two years preceding his arrest in 1999.

Dorancel Vargas told reporters:

“Sure I eat people,” the candid cannibal told reporters.

Press and local commentary included doubts about the veracity of his story, despite “the large number of bones found buried around his shack.”

Some locals speculated that Vargas may have been being used as a scapegoat for a ring of human organ traffickers.

In September 2006, a Chilean reporter working for Megavision traveled to San Cristobal, Venezuela, to interview Dorancel Vargas. The account stated that Dorancel was at that time in jail after being accused of killing at least 20 men.