José Antonio Rodríguez Vega

José Antonio Rodríguez Vega (3 December 1957 – 24 October 2002), nicknamed El Mataviejas (The Old Lady Killer), was a Spanish serial killer who raped and killed at least 16 elderly women, ranging in age from 61 to 93 years old, in and around Santander, Cantabria, between August 1987 and April 1988.

Biography Rodríguez Vega was born in Santander, Cantabria, Spain. Rodríguez Vega hated his mother because she had thrown him out of the house when Rodríguez Vega beat his father, who was terminally ill. His behaviour while in prison, and his ability to charm his victims into forgiving him led to a reduction in his sentence to 8 years.

Trial and sentence His trial began in November 1991 in Santander. He was convicted for murdering 16 women and eventually sentenced 440 years in prison.

Rodríguez Vega was diagnosed as a psychopath who was a fastidiously neat individual. His killing was well organized in that he would first identify a victim, and then observe her until he was familiar with every aspect of her routine.

Death On 22 October 2002, Rodríguez Vega was transferred to a FIES jail module for dangerous inmates; there has been some controversy about the possible reasons for this, given that he had been a model prisoner during his sentence and he was just a few years away from being released.

His lack of remorse while discussing his crimes with fellow inmates Enrique del Valle (‘El Zanahorio’) and Daniel Rodríguez Obelleiro, as well as Rodríguez Vega's reputation as a rapist and a jail snitch, sealed his fate within the first 24 hours of his stay in the FIES module.

On 24 October 2002, Rodríguez Vega was walking in the prison common grounds when del Valle and Obelleiro attacked and brutally stabbed him 113 times as prison guards watched without intervening. Rodríguez Vega was buried the next day in a poor coffin. The burial was attended by only two gravediggers.