Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 311
October 23, 2018
October 22, 2018
The Lucha Libre Silent Serial Killer You’ve Never Heard Of: La Dama Del Silencio
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
As far as most killers are concerned, they typically save donning a mask for when they commit crimes, not for their day job. Nothing about the pink butterfly mask of Mexican professional wrestler La Dama del Silencio hinted at the sinister secret of the heinous acts committed by the real-life, criminal alter ego that made her Mexico’s most prolific serial killer. Translated to English as “The Lady of Silence,” in Mexican pop culture, La Dama del Silencio is better known as la Mataviejitas: “The Old Lady Killer.”
A photo recreation at the Mexico City police museum.
From the late nineties to the mid-aughts, the death toll had been mounting in central Mexico. Despite already being a high crime-rate area, the elderly were typically seen as off-limits. This is what made la Mataviejitas’ crimes especially shocking: her targets were all women sixty and older. The killer’s modus operandi was to approach elderly women (typically those who lived alone) and gain entry to their homes under the pretext of being a social worker offering to sign-up the victim for welfare programs. La Mataviejitas would then beat or strangle them to death, afterward stealing items of religious significance as trophies.
It was not until 2006 that la Mataviejitas’ reign of terror finally came to an end. The culmination of a two-year manhunt came after an elderly woman was strangled to death with a stethoscope in a borough of Mexico City. Following her murder, a breakthrough occurred: an eyewitness reported a suspect fleeing the scene who was described as a sturdily-built, middle-aged woman. Initially, the police were certain the killer was a crossdresser—after all, criminologists had determined the killer to be a man.
Subsequent to the suspect’s apprehension, Mexico was in for a shock when it was discovered that el Mataviejitas (as the press referred to the killer prior to capture) was actually 48-year-old, Juana Barraza.
As her arrest became public, bits and pieces of her story slowly began to emerge. She came from an abusive household and, later, her son was murdered in an attempted mugging. This incident led her already dark life down an even darker path. Despite only being charged for post-millennium crimes, speculation has since linked her to a series of murders that began in the late nineties when she was in her early forties, which would place the start of these killings in the same timeframe as the aftermath of her son’s murder. Police criminologists now believe that “Barraza was so damaged by her experiences, she ended up targeting old ladies because she identified them with her mother.”
The onion continued to unravel. The police investigation led to the discovery that she had a shrine in her home devoted to Santa Muerte, the “Saint of Death.” Another discovery from that search quickly became a lasting piece of Mexico’s cultural zeitgeist: the discovery of a picture of Barraza dressed as a luchadora. In it, Barraza poses with short, bleached blonde hair and is outfitted in pink spandex with golden accents, completed by a butterfly motif on her waistline and in the form of a lucha libre mask, which is ubiquitous throughout the tradition of Mexican professional wrestling. Over her shoulder, she proudly sports a championship belt.
A Santa Muerte shrine in Mexico City.
Her career in the colorful world of lucha libre was largely confined to the bottom-tier, in the independent outskirts of lucha libre. When police asked about how she chose the ring name of “La Dama del Silencio,” she responded that she chose the moniker “because I am quiet and keep myself to myself.”
A former criminal justice professor presented the theory that “in Barraza’s day-to-day life, presenting herself in public as a wrestler is what provided her with a plausible cover for traveling, being awake at odd hours, and having access to all kinds of people. They’re intertwined, in my opinion.”
On the condition of anonymity, Ripleys.com spoke to several veterans of lucha libre that are based out of central Mexico—la Mataviejitas’ former predatorial hunting territory—to see if they had ever crossed her path. It turns out, they had. They had dealt with her not in the capacity as a professional wrestler, but for events, she promoted in the year prior to her arrest.
“She didn’t look like a killer.”
The luchadores tell Ripley’s that, while they admittedly didn’t know her well, “she didn’t look like a killer.” She was clean, polite, and conducted herself respectably. “She had a good reputation and was a friend of many.”
Unsurprisingly, these days it is difficult to find a luchador who will admit to having known her: “No one wants to say they worked with her because of her crimes. At the time, no one knew of her crimes, and no one said anything after she got caught. We were shocked that we were so close to a murderer. Everyone was scared of the Ministerio Público (Police Department), so no one said anything.”
When all was said and done, Barraza confessed to the murder of four victims but has since maintained that she is being used as a scapegoat for the rest. She was ultimately convicted of killing eleven women. However, it is believed that she has committed as many as 24 to 49 murders. To date, that number is unsurpassed by any known serial killer in Mexico. She is currently serving a 759-year prison sentence for her crimes.
Barraza’s case recently took another bizarre turn when, in 2015, she “found love” and wed another inmate who was also being held for murder. The two would divorce the following year.
By Kris Levin, contributor for Ripleys.com
Kris Levin is a professional wrestling referee and everybody’s favorite nephew. He can be seen internationally on IMPACT Wrestling as their most junior official, #KidRef Riley, and on social media at @RefKrisLevin.
Source: The Lucha Libre Silent Serial Killer You’ve Never Heard Of: La Dama Del Silencio
October 21, 2018
October 20, 2018
October 19, 2018
Cats Airlifted Out of Hurricane-Ravaged Florida
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[October 14-20th, 2018] A birthday that runs in the family, beer for dogs, the true use of a T. Rex’s hands, and the great Florida feline airlift.
A Hereditary Birthday
Christopher Pavloski was born at a hospital in Liverpool, England, on October sixth. He doesn’t get the day all to himself though, because it’s also the same day his father and grandfather were born. Believe it or not, three generations of the Pavloski family now have their birthdays on October sixth.
Beer For Dogs
With the popularity of pet-friendly bars and restaurants on the rise, Megan and Steve Long of Houston, Texas, decided it was only natural to offer a hoppy beverage to their customers’ canine companions. Owning a bar themselves, they launched two craft brews: Mailman Malt Licker and IPA Lot in the Yard.
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A post shared by GoodBoyDogBeer (@goodboydogbeer) on Aug 25, 2018 at 6:15pm PDT
Scientists Think T. Rexes Clapped
Studying the arm bones and musculatures of modern-day alligators and turkeys, scientists at Stockton University have found that the king of all lizards was a clapper, not a slapper. They explain that the T. Rex’s tiny arms were positioned so that the palms faced inward, not outward. They think this means that the dinosaur could use its arms in some way that helped it feed.
Noble Nobel Winner
Since George P. Smith won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on connecting peptides and antibodies—a technique that has aided cancer research—the University of Missouri has been looking for their own way to honor the distinguished professor. They first thought to give him his own parking space, but Professor Smith bikes to work. Instead, they gave him his very own dedicated bike rack.
Cats On A Plane
In the wake of Hurricane Michael in Florida, many pets wound up lost or homeless. To help get these animals cared for, 100 cats were airlifted from Florida to Delaware. Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Malik Jackson paid for the flight with Wings of Rescue as animal shelter workers prepare for an influx of animals.
October 18, 2018
Nevada’s Breathtaking Valley Of Fire Blazes In The Sunlight
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Located about 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, the Valley of Fire State Park contains striking examples of Aztec Sandstone peering out of the desert’s sands.
Elephant Rock
The rock formations of the Valley of Fire formed in the shifting sandstones of prehistoric deserts 150 million years ago. Dated to the Jurassic period, these rocky outcroppings have born witness to the desert through all of human history. Petroglyphs created by the ancient Anasazi people can be found throughout the park, often consisting of carved and stained renderings of animals.
For 1,500 years, these indigenous people hunted and gathered food in the harsh Mojave. The dry environment likely meant that the Anasazi traveled through the area, instead of staying for long periods of time.
In 1933, the Federal government took interest in protecting the unique features of the Valley of Fire. In the midst of the Great Depression, Civilian Conservation Corps workers built trails, campgrounds and stone cabins in the park before handing it over to the Nevada State legislature.
Ripley’s recently headed out to the Valley of Fire to showcase the strange dance moves of Solto Esengulov, check the video below for a view of both the Mutant of Dance and the Valley of Fire.
From conga-dancing dogs and bicycling ballerinas, to hair-raising feats of strength and death-defying motorcycle stunts, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! A Century of Strange! is sure to delight readers of all ages. With over 1,200 weird-but-true stories from around the world and 256 pages of wild and wonderful photography, this year’s collection of all things odd is not-to-be-missed.
QUIZ: Which A Century of Strange Personality Are You?
Have your own moves to match the Mutant of Dance? Find out which friendly (or freaky!) face from Ripley’s Believe It or Not! A Century of Strange you are! Take this quiz to find out!
Don’t miss out on being an ODDthority on everything strange, get your copy on Amazon today!
Source: Nevada’s Breathtaking Valley Of Fire Blazes In The Sunlight
How Many Spiders Are You Swallowing While You Sleep?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Or Not
In today’s world many misconceptions have been perpetuated—becoming modern day “facts”—when, in reality, myths and hearsay have taken over. Sorry to burst your bubble, but in this weekly column, Ripley’s puts those delusions to the test, turning your world upside down, because you can’t always…Believe It!
Today: Midnight spider snacks?
For some reason, many individuals have a strange and completely false belief that the average person, while sleeping, swallows somewhere between eight spiders a year and eight spiders in a lifetime. This is quite a jump in numbers, but most people are likely to have heard at least one variation of this theory involving involuntary nighttime spider guzzling.
In some parts of the world, eating insects and spiders is common.
Thankfully, the truth is you probably won’t swallow even one spider in your sleep for your entire life based on a number of human and spider science-related reasons. Still, where did this belief come from, and why is it so prevalent?
The Mysterious Spider Ingestion Myth
Though this urban legend seems old as time itself, it actually has most of its origin stories in recent trickery. For example, it was once presented as “Real Fact” #31 on a Snapple cap (although, Snapple’s website doesn’t list it among its current “Real Facts”).
However, there are other sources that swear this myth came from an article in PC Professional magazine in 1993. Columnist Lisa Holst supposedly wrote a number of fake facts to show how people were too likely to believe what they read in email chains, the spider story being among them. The strange thing the article itself cannot be found through a Google search and the results don’t yield any actual quotes from it. There’s even a conspiracy that states the piece never actually existed in the first place!
So, where exactly did the rumor originate? It’s hard to say for certain, but with relief, Ripley’s can promise you that you’re not likely to swallow a spider while snoozing any time soon.
Humans vs. Spiders: Nighttime Edition
You and all your arachnophobe friends can rest easy with the knowledge that spiders aren’t climbing into your mouth while you slumber. First of all, spiders sense vibrations and humans are putting off all kinds of them while in dreamland. We breathe, our hearts beat, and we are probably snoring, so spiders know not to go spelunking in our mouths if they want to stay safe. According to Scientific American, Rod Crawford, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture’s arachnid curator, states, “A sleeping person is not something a spider would willingly approach.”
What’s more, people who are sleeping are likely to wake up if they feel something moving across their faces, and most people don’t sleep with their mouths open wide enough for a spider to crawl inside. Though Crawford says people often tell him they have swallowed spiders while sleeping, they don’t usually have any evidence of the encounter, and no one has ever documented such an event. Since eight spiders a year seems like a lot for absolutely no concrete proof, it’s best to put this rumor to bed.
So, before you sew your mouth shut or cover it with Duct tape tonight, remember you’re probably not going to swallow a spider any time soon, even though the exact origin of this weird myth remains shrouded in a little bit of mystery.
By Julia Tilford, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: How Many Spiders Are You Swallowing While You Sleep?
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