(1868-1913) A Spanish serial killer, aka "The
Vampire of Barcelona": a
sociopath with a business plan.
She arrived in Barcelona in 1888 and began working as a maid, but found that she could earn more working as a prostitute. A quick learner, she took the chance to overhear the perverse secrets of the wealthy. Soon she opened a brothel, prostituting children ages 5 through
14 to the city's
rich pedophiles. Always adept at capturing children, she would dress in rags and visit the destitute Raval district, where the children looked the most abandoned. She could then go to the galas at the opera house in all of her finery, meeting with her clients. In 1909, her brothel was discovered by
police, but her wealthy contacts intervened, saving her from prison.
Enriqueta's next move was the cosmetic needs of the wives and mistresses of her clientele; she began procuring children ages twelve and under, killing them and using their bone marrow,
blood, and
fat as face creams, love potions, charms, and cures for typhoid, tuberculosis, syphilis, and other diseases. In February, 1912, the reports of six-year-old Teresita Guitart's abduction and a suspicious neighbor's sighting of the missing girl led to Enriqueta Martí's downfall. Her list of contacts was discovered among bloody clothes of children, knives, scalps of blond hair, jars of
blood and
fat, various scorched
bones, and an old book of potions.
Enriqueta Martí adamantly stated that her clients were the monsters, but not her; it was just her business. Child prostitutes for the gentlemen, elixirs and face creams for the ladies.
The high-
class women who brought Enriqueta's "face creams" knew where these products came from, but a street child was little more than a piece of trash to them.
The
police arrived in time to save Teresita and another six-year-
old, Angelita, but too
late to save Pepito, a boy of the same age; Angelita saw Martí
kill him and serve his flesh as a meal.
Enriqueta Martí was killed in 1913 by her fellow inmates, but none of her clients was ever brought to justice.
