Former El Salvadoran policeman accused of having dozens of bodies buried around 'House of Horrors' residence
A former police officer in El Salvador is accused of having dozens of bodies, most of them women, buried around his residence and is facing charges of at least four counts relating to homicide.
Hugo Osorio, 51, allegedly told police there could be up to 40 bodies in several graves around his property in Chalchuapa, roughly 50 miles from the capital city of San Salvador, according to a now-deleted confession published on June 12 by Revista Factum. Osorio was discharged from the National Civil Police in 2005 for having sexual relations with a minor and raping an underage person and spent five years in prison.
While El Salvador is known for its history of high crime rates, the incident has led some news outlets to call the home the "House of Horrors." Authorities have found at least 17 bodies surrounding the home, according to a report by Reuters.
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Neighbors reported screaming and that a woman fled the residence on May 7, but she was allegedly hit in the head by Osorio, who used a metal pipe, and dragged her back inside.
Reports said that Jacquelinne Palomo Lima, 26, and her mother were lured to the windowless home after Osorio promised them information pertaining to Palomo's missing brother. When police arrived at the home on May 7, Palomo Lima's body was found along with the bodies of her mother and the missing brother, including 14 other corpses discovered in a mass grave behind the home, Justice and Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro told reporters on May 19.
Palomo Lima's 79-year-old grandfather, Jose de la Cruz, said a trail of blood left by his granddaughter is the primary evidence that led to the discovery of his slain family.
"If it had not been for her, I would still be looking for them," the grandfather told Reuters.
Osorio was charged on May 12 on two counts of femicide, killings that deliberately target women. He later received an additional two counts of homicide. At least nine other people have been charged with aggravated homicide and femicide in connection to the deceased bodies.
Prosecutors offered Osorio a deal in exchange for his testimony and collaborating in nine cases involving other alleged accomplices, they said in a May 21 press conference. The deal was referred to as an "opportunity of partiality," and no other information was disclosed about the agreement, according to the outlet.
The confession published by Revista Factum alleging that up to 40 victims were buried around the residence was taken down on June 14, two days after El Salvador's attorney general obtained a court order forcing it to do so.
All known bodies surrounding the residence in Chalchuapa were exhumed earlier this month, Villatoro said at a July 14 news conference. He did not disclose the total number of victims. A criminologist overseeing the investigation, Israel Ticas, was sanctioned by the government for suggesting to the media there could be at least 40 victims, according to Reuters.
Salvadoran Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado has dismissed any reports alleging at least 40 victims, saying they are unproven, the outlet added.
Data from the United Nations show El Salvador has long been a dangerous country for women. The country recorded 10.2 femicides per 100,000 women in 2017, making it the highest rate of such crimes in Latin America. A survey conducted in the same year by the U.N. found 67% of Salvadoran women had experienced some form of violence in their lives.
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Despite the country's government reporting 1,322 homicides in all of 2020, marking an 80% drop from five years prior, some human rights organizations have questioned the validity of recent government homicide reports. The government has also claimed a 61% decline in femicides in the first six months of 2020, compared to the first half of 2019.
U.N. data from 2018 show one woman was killed in a femicide every 24 hours in El Salvador, according to the Organization of Salvadoran Women for Peace.
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Tags: News, Crime, El Salvador, murder, Central America
Original Author: Kaelan Deese
Original Location: Former El Salvadoran policeman accused of having dozens of bodies buried around 'House of Horrors' residence
