Morales, Gustavo
Name: Gustavo Adolfo Morales Parada
Nickname: "El Directo".
Born: 1982 in San Miguel, near San Salvador - El Salvador.
Died: Still alive. Paroled in 2002, re-imprisoned in 2004.
At 17, he was sentenced for the murder of seven people, including several women he raped. Member of a gang in a poor suburb, this teenager has horrified the Salvadoran public, accustomed to violence. His young age and the savagery of his crimes are there for something.
Personal Information
Gustavo Morales, as his friends call "Tavo," grew up very poor in the suburbs of San Miguel, about 130km east of the capital of El Salvador.
At age 10, his mother withdrew him from school because the other kids beat him every day. He found a job in a bakery in the morning and working from his afternoon playing football in the streets with a ball of cloth.
Aged 13, he joined a gang (a " mara "), most of which are run by criminals Salvadorans living in the United States and were deported to El Salvador.
It does not appear that his father was very present, if there ever was one.
Crime and Punishment
In April 1999, this 17 year old boy was accused of killing 17 people.
As the evidence was a little "light" for 10 murders, the judge ruled that Gustavo Adolfo Morales would be charged for the murders of seven people and was sentenced to ... Seven years in prison for the maximum sentence a minor Salvador, whatever his crime! Morales could be released in 2003 for good behavior ...
This case led to the creation of a "national movement" that attempts to change the law regarding penalties for minors.
Gustavo Morales swore he was innocent, and that he was persecuted because of his "style", not evidence that could exist against him. "My hands were not killed," he told a press conference. "The judge thinks it is me because of my tattoos and my clothes. Nobody believes me."
Gustavo Adolfo's mother, Dora Alicia Morales has claimed that his son would never have committed crimes so horrible. "He could never rape anyone".
She also said that Gustavo joined the gang "Salvatrucha" simply because he liked to wear jeans "baggy" ... She told the agency the Associated Press: "The girls are always seeking", "My son is not a monster. Everyone accused without knowing it."
His first murder - and one of those for which he was convicted - was that of a young woman with whom he came. He was 14 years, and she had rejected his sexual advances. According to the indictment, he abducted her and took her to a secluded spot where he raped her. He cut his chest with a knife and threw the young woman - still alive - in a well, which he left in agony ...
The prosecution alleged that other members of his gang have corroborated this version.
The charge would not provide details on the six other murders, except that in several of them, there was rape.
It is very rare that a murderer face the front pages of newspapers in El Salvador, but prosecutors said that while Gustavo Adolfo Morales was distinguished by its brutality.
Although El Salvador is a very violent country (nowadays, the murder rate is 12 times higher than New York and more people are killed each week during the Civil War!), This teenager and his crimes shocked the entire nation.
In 1999, about 20 families fled the neighborhood where Gustavo Morales grew when the young killer - with 7 other minors in custody - knocked a guard and fled a few hours. "I left because I was scared and because I had been warned that the gang would remove one of my daughters," said a neighbor, who did not give his name for fear of reprisals.
Fortunately, they were able to return home as quickly Gustavo Morales was caught while trying to board a bus.
His escape has also prompted President Francisco Guillermo Flores Perez, to propose the elimination of certain protections for juvenile offenders.
A local rap group, Mecate, released a song that tells the "exploits" of Gustavo Adolfo Morales. This song was a hit on local radio, until the Minister of the Interior officially called radio stations to remind them "the right of the government to ban a song that offends public decency" ...
Gustavo Adolfo Morales was imprisoned in the high security zone of a detention center, a former army barracks. His fellow prisoners were men, adult prisoners for crimes they committed when they were minors.
In February 2002, he gave an interview to a newspaper. He said he had changed, becoming better, having studied and learned to work with his hands.
He wanted to remove his tattoos and leave El Salvador to work as a carpenter. He claimed to have "found God."
Morales injuredHe was released in 2002, one year before the date scheduled for a parole.
He was arrested again shortly after, for illegal possession of a firearm.
Then in 2003, a bicycle theft.
And in 2004 for assault, during which he was shot.
Each time, he explained that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, poor victim of coincidences and corrupt police officers ...
It seems he is still imprisoned.
Casualties
At least seven victims.
Names, details and descriptions are unfortunately not available at this time.
Modus operandi
No information available at this time.
Motivations
Prosecutors do not have the right - under the law of Salvador - to discuss the matter publicly, but two of them spoke to the agency the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
They described a teenager "forced to become more violent to impress his friends gang. The brutality helped him become one of the leaders of the gang. "
El Salvador is a country in South America where the population density is highest, but also the most industrialized country in Central America. He underwent many social inequalities and many earthquakes.
In the '80s, El Salvador was ravaged by Civil War, the result of a huge inequality between the elite and wealthy minority (which dominated the government and the economy) and the majority of the people who lived (and still live ) in the greatest misery, but also between the extreme right and the Marxist guerrillas. The Civil War claimed the lives of nearly 100,000 people, ravaged the country, and precipitated major political reforms.
The Civil War officially ended in 1992.
In 1998, El Salvador was again ravaged by Hurricane Mitch, in 2000 and 2001 earthquakes. 1200 people have died and more than 2 million are homeless.
Poverty, civil war, natural disasters and the changes they have caused have left their mark on Salvadoran society, which is already among the most violent in South America.
Citations
"This case tells us just how things go wrong in our country" Armando Calderon Sol, President of El Salvador.
"Gustavo Adolfo is, somehow, the painful face of the society we have created" Monsignor Gregorio Rosa Chavez, auxiliary Archbishop of San Salvador.
Name: Gustavo Adolfo Morales Parada
Nickname: "El Directo".
Born: 1982 in San Miguel, near San Salvador - El Salvador.
Died: Still alive. Paroled in 2002, re-imprisoned in 2004.
At 17, he was sentenced for the murder of seven people, including several women he raped. Member of a gang in a poor suburb, this teenager has horrified the Salvadoran public, accustomed to violence. His young age and the savagery of his crimes are there for something.
Personal Information
Gustavo Morales, as his friends call "Tavo," grew up very poor in the suburbs of San Miguel, about 130km east of the capital of El Salvador.
At age 10, his mother withdrew him from school because the other kids beat him every day. He found a job in a bakery in the morning and working from his afternoon playing football in the streets with a ball of cloth.
Aged 13, he joined a gang (a " mara "), most of which are run by criminals Salvadorans living in the United States and were deported to El Salvador.
It does not appear that his father was very present, if there ever was one.
Crime and Punishment
In April 1999, this 17 year old boy was accused of killing 17 people.
As the evidence was a little "light" for 10 murders, the judge ruled that Gustavo Adolfo Morales would be charged for the murders of seven people and was sentenced to ... Seven years in prison for the maximum sentence a minor Salvador, whatever his crime! Morales could be released in 2003 for good behavior ...
This case led to the creation of a "national movement" that attempts to change the law regarding penalties for minors.
Gustavo Morales swore he was innocent, and that he was persecuted because of his "style", not evidence that could exist against him. "My hands were not killed," he told a press conference. "The judge thinks it is me because of my tattoos and my clothes. Nobody believes me."
Gustavo Adolfo's mother, Dora Alicia Morales has claimed that his son would never have committed crimes so horrible. "He could never rape anyone".
She also said that Gustavo joined the gang "Salvatrucha" simply because he liked to wear jeans "baggy" ... She told the agency the Associated Press: "The girls are always seeking", "My son is not a monster. Everyone accused without knowing it."
His first murder - and one of those for which he was convicted - was that of a young woman with whom he came. He was 14 years, and she had rejected his sexual advances. According to the indictment, he abducted her and took her to a secluded spot where he raped her. He cut his chest with a knife and threw the young woman - still alive - in a well, which he left in agony ...
The prosecution alleged that other members of his gang have corroborated this version.
The charge would not provide details on the six other murders, except that in several of them, there was rape.
It is very rare that a murderer face the front pages of newspapers in El Salvador, but prosecutors said that while Gustavo Adolfo Morales was distinguished by its brutality.
Although El Salvador is a very violent country (nowadays, the murder rate is 12 times higher than New York and more people are killed each week during the Civil War!), This teenager and his crimes shocked the entire nation.
In 1999, about 20 families fled the neighborhood where Gustavo Morales grew when the young killer - with 7 other minors in custody - knocked a guard and fled a few hours. "I left because I was scared and because I had been warned that the gang would remove one of my daughters," said a neighbor, who did not give his name for fear of reprisals.
Fortunately, they were able to return home as quickly Gustavo Morales was caught while trying to board a bus.
His escape has also prompted President Francisco Guillermo Flores Perez, to propose the elimination of certain protections for juvenile offenders.
A local rap group, Mecate, released a song that tells the "exploits" of Gustavo Adolfo Morales. This song was a hit on local radio, until the Minister of the Interior officially called radio stations to remind them "the right of the government to ban a song that offends public decency" ...
Gustavo Adolfo Morales was imprisoned in the high security zone of a detention center, a former army barracks. His fellow prisoners were men, adult prisoners for crimes they committed when they were minors.
In February 2002, he gave an interview to a newspaper. He said he had changed, becoming better, having studied and learned to work with his hands.
He wanted to remove his tattoos and leave El Salvador to work as a carpenter. He claimed to have "found God."
Morales injured
He was arrested again shortly after, for illegal possession of a firearm.
Then in 2003, a bicycle theft.
And in 2004 for assault, during which he was shot.
Each time, he explained that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, poor victim of coincidences and corrupt police officers ...
It seems he is still imprisoned.
Casualties
At least seven victims.
Names, details and descriptions are unfortunately not available at this time.
Modus operandi
No information available at this time.
Motivations
Prosecutors do not have the right - under the law of Salvador - to discuss the matter publicly, but two of them spoke to the agency the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
They described a teenager "forced to become more violent to impress his friends gang. The brutality helped him become one of the leaders of the gang. "
El Salvador is a country in South America where the population density is highest, but also the most industrialized country in Central America. He underwent many social inequalities and many earthquakes.
In the '80s, El Salvador was ravaged by Civil War, the result of a huge inequality between the elite and wealthy minority (which dominated the government and the economy) and the majority of the people who lived (and still live ) in the greatest misery, but also between the extreme right and the Marxist guerrillas. The Civil War claimed the lives of nearly 100,000 people, ravaged the country, and precipitated major political reforms.
The Civil War officially ended in 1992.
In 1998, El Salvador was again ravaged by Hurricane Mitch, in 2000 and 2001 earthquakes. 1200 people have died and more than 2 million are homeless.
Poverty, civil war, natural disasters and the changes they have caused have left their mark on Salvadoran society, which is already among the most violent in South America.
Citations
"This case tells us just how things go wrong in our country" Armando Calderon Sol, President of El Salvador.
"Gustavo Adolfo is, somehow, the painful face of the society we have created" Monsignor Gregorio Rosa Chavez, auxiliary Archbishop of San Salvador.
