Alfredo Galan (1978-?)
Alfredo Galan, also known as the Playing Card Killer or the Deck of Cards Killer, is a Spanish serial killer who killed 6 people and wounded 3 between January 4-March 18, 2003. Alfredo Galan Sotillo was born on April 5, 1978, in Puertollano, province of Ciudad Real, Castille-La Mancha, Spain. Galan was class president in high school, but he is recalled as unremarkable and introverted. In September 1988, he joined the Spanish Army and became a corporal in the Parachute Regiment of Alcala de Henares and was part of humanitarian missions in Bosnia. Galan was sent back to Spain during the Prestige oil spill. He stole a car and was sent to the Gomez Ulla Military Hospital in Madrid, where he was diagnosed with neurosis and anxiety and continued drinking. In March 2003, he began working as a security guard at Madrid-Barajas Airport.
On January 24, 2003, Galan shot Juan Francisco Ledesma, 50, in the head in front of his 2-year-old son. On February 5, the body of 28-year-old airport cleaner Juan Carlos Martin Estacio was found shot in the head with an ace of cups card nearby. On March 7, 2003, Santiago Eduardo Salas, 27, was shot in the face by Galan, but survived. Salas’s friend, 29-year-old Anahid Castillo Ruperti, was able to escape uninjured. A three of cups was dropped at the crime scene. It wasn’t originally Galan’s intention for playing cards to be his “signature” – he only began leaving cards after the media sensationalised the fact that a card had been found by a victim’s body.
On July 3, 2003, Galan surrendered at a police station and confessed to being “The Playing Card Killer”. It was reported that in some of the killings, Galan had wished his victims good morning before ordering them to kneel down. He would then shoot them. He smuggled the gun into Spain by hiding it in a television set. He was sentenced to 142 years and 3 months in prison.
