Ramiro Artieda, known as “the actor assassin”, was one of the worst serial killers in Bolivian history. He was responsible for raping and killing at least seven women and also his own brother.
Born on September 4, 1889, Artieda’s victims were young women, all 18 years old, who bore similar characteristics to his ex-fiancée. After sexually abusing them, he would strangle them. Being an actor, he used different personas, such as a professor, producer, or monk, to deceive his victims and achieve his objective.
His criminal activity began with his brother, Luis Artieda, whom he killed in the early 1920s. He did this for financial reasons. Artieda faked a robbery, claiming his brother had been killed, with the goal of becoming the sole heir to the family fortune and property. This was intended to allow him to offer his fiancée a better standard of living. However, when she learned he was involved in the crime, she left him, an event that marked him for life. Despite the suspicion, the justice system could not initially prove that Artieda had murdered his brother.
Artieda emigrated to the United States, where he became an actor. He returned to Bolivia at the end of that decade. Between the 1930s and 1938, he killed seven young women in the departments of Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Oruro, La Paz, and Tarija.
His first victim was Margarita Ríos, whose body was found in an abandoned building in Cochabamba. A similar fate befell Luisita Toranza in Oruro. In La Paz, Rosalina Villavicencio was murdered after being lured to an apartment by Artieda, who pretended to be a film company executive. Teresa Ardiales was murdered in Villa Montes on the Pilcomayo River in Tarija. In Sucre, he added María Pérez to his list of victims by deceiving her while posing as a professor. Subsequently, he killed Mariana Aramayo after pretending to be a monk; her body was found behind an altar. The last known victim of this serial killer was Julia Cáceres, whom he strangled after pretending to be a street vendor. Her body was discovered in an abandoned house on December 4, 1938.
A particular detail of all the murdered women was that, beyond being 18 years old, they resembled his ex-fiancée.
Artieda attempted to kill an eighth woman – who would have been his ninth victim – on May 9, 1939. However, this woman managed to escape and reported him.
“The actor assassin” was arrested at his home in Cochabamba, which he was renting under the false name of Alberto González. Artieda made a full eight-page confession. He was declared guilty in all cases and sentenced to death. The serial killer was finally executed by a firing squad on July 3, 1939, in the courtyard of the Cochabamba prison.
