Roberto Martínez Vásquez
Chilean robber and serial rapist
About Roberto Martínez Vásquez
Lived 1976 – 2002 (aged 26). Roberto Martínez Vásquez was a Chilean robber and serial rapist.
José Roberto Martínez Vásquez (19 April 1976 – 13 December 2002), known by his friends as "Tila" and posthumously referred to as the "Psychopath of La Dehesa" was a Chilean serial rapist and robber. Born and raised in poverty, he would usually target high-class homes (usually located in Central Santiago, Las Condes, Vitacura, and Lo Barnechea) as part of a social vendetta. He was arrested multiple times, but was ultimately detained in June 2002 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, 16-year-old Maciel Zúñiga, which occurred the previous month. He committed suicide by hanging in his prison cell during a blackout in December of that year.
His long history of violence, coupled with his antisocial tendencies and anti-systematic modus operandi, have been used as a failed example of Chile's National Service of Minors (Servicio Nacional de Menores, SENAME), which is in charge of detainees under 18 years of age, the Chilean Gendarmerie, which is in charge of Chile's prison system as a whole, and the Chilean economic system as a whole as someone who was "left behind".
Biography Roberto Martínez Vásquez was born in Central Santiago as the son of José Martínez Yaeger, a watch merchant, and Matilde Martínez Martínez, being the third of four children. When his younger brother, Alberto, was born, José Martínez left home, effectively becoming absent in the life of his son Roberto. His mother suffered from schizophrenia and typically physically abused her children. Already suffering from antisocial tendencies and normalized to violence by his family upbringing, at the age of 15 he committed his first home robbery, also raping the home's resident, a German teacher. At 17 years old, he escaped from the San Miguel Diagnostic Orientation Center (Centro de Orientación Diagnóstica, COD), after which he was captured and transferred to the section for minors in the Puente Alto prison. He was arrested 10 times before he was 18 years old. According to Martínez, he killed her after she decided to abort their unborn child. He convinced her to let him tie up her hands as a sexual practice and proceeded to stab her in the throat. After a couple of hours, he dismembered and burned her corpse. After committing two other robberies, on 12 June, he was arrested for the murder of Zúñiga by the Investigations Police (Policía de Investigaciones, PDI) of Chile, who, after a couple of weeks of investigations, realized that he was the most wanted serial rapist in the nation.
He was confined in the Colina II Penitentiary Compliance Center until 13 December 2002, when, during a power outage, he took his own life by hanging himself with the cord of an electric typewriter.
The Chilean film El Tila: Fragmentos de un psicópata (2015) is inspired by his biography, where actor Nicolás Zárate plays his role.
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Important facts
People in Roberto Martínez Vásquez's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Roberto Martínez Vásquez's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Roberto Martínez Vásquez?
Chilean robber and serial rapist
When was Roberto Martínez Vásquez born?
Roberto Martínez Vásquez was born on 19 April 1976 in Santiago.
When did Roberto Martínez Vásquez die?
Roberto Martínez Vásquez died on 13 December 2002 in Colina.
What was Roberto Martínez Vásquez's occupation?
Roberto Martínez Vásquez was a robber and serial rapist.
What nationality was Roberto Martínez Vásquez?
Roberto Martínez Vásquez was Chilean.
Sources & further reading
· Wikipedia: Roberto Martínez Vásquez
· DBpedia: Roberto Martínez Vásquez
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Roberto Martínez Vásquez. https://biography.guide/roberto-martinez-vasquez/
MLA: "Roberto Martínez Vásquez." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/roberto-martinez-vasquez/.
Chicago: "Roberto Martínez Vásquez." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/roberto-martinez-vasquez/.
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