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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Railway Killer/The Railroad Killer



Angel Maturino Reséndiz, The Railway Killer/The Railroad Killer, (1959 – 2006) was a convicted serial killer, executed in the U.S. state of Texas. A Mexican citizen, he wandered the United States on trains to commit his 30 murders. He was 39 years old when he was arrested in July 1999.

He evaded authorities for a considerable time, having no fixed addresses, and making undocumented international
 transit between Mexico, the United States, and Canada until he was captured. Local residents in the area of the Benton and the Sirnics' murders were terrified that he might reappear, especially those living near train tracks.

Reséndiz killed as many as 15 people with rocks and other blunt objects, mainly in their homes. After each murder he would linger in the homes for a while, mainly to eat; he took sentimental things and laid out the victims' driver's licenses to learn a bit about the lives he had taken. He stole jewelry and other items and gave them to his wife in Mexico. Much of the jewelry was sold or melted down. Some of the items that were removed from the homes were returned by his wife after his surrender/capture. Money, however, was sometimes left at the scene. He raped some of his female victims; rape served as a secondary intent. Most of his victims were found covered with a blanket, or otherwise obscured from immediate view.

He was executed on June 27, 2006, by lethal injection. In his final statement, Reséndiz said "I want to ask if it is in your heart to forgive me. You don't have to. I know I allowed the Devil to rule my life. I just ask you to forgive me and ask the Lord to forgive me for allowing the devil to deceive me. I thank God for having patience in me. I don't deserve to cause you pain. You do not deserve this. I deserve what I am getting."
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

He attacked me in the Brandon movie theater just outside of Tampa, Florida in February of 1998. There was a railway behind the theater. I was one of the lucky ones and got away. He got what he deserved as regards the death sentence. Yet, I'll never forgot the vacant look in his eyes when I looked at him; it was the empty look of a sociopath: i.e., like lights being turned out in a home, if that's at all a good analogy. I never reported it to police at the time because I was so overwhelmed and busy with my work schedule while doing locum tenens as a diagnostic radiologist. I realize that was a mistake, but hindsight is always 20/20 isn't it?

L.P.-G., M.D.

Anonymous said...

I am glad you survived.