In Ecuador, serial killers haven’t been a widespread phenomenon, but they are profoundly disturbing. Unlike countries where these cases are part of a more frequent criminological pattern, in the Andean nation their appearance has been sporadic, almost always surrounded by social upheaval, intense media coverage, and uncomfortable questions about the justice system, mental health, and the social conditions surrounding these crimes.
The recent case of Andreína Lamota, a woman convicted of murdering her mother and linked to another previous crime, reopened a seemingly dormant discussion: the existence of killers with repetitive patterns in the country and the difficulty in detecting them in time.
The name that inevitably appears in any account is that of Juan Fernando Hermosa. In the early 1990s, when Quito was still grappling with the magnitude of what was happening, Hermosa, a teenager of just 15, murdered multiple people in a string of crimes that sparked widespread panic.
His victims included taxi drivers and other motorists, and his modus operandi combined direct violence with a coldness that baffled even experienced investigators. The press dubbed him the “Boy of Terror,” a name that reflected both his age and the brutality of his actions. His case marked a turning point in the perception of criminal violence in Ecuador.
