Yusjaras Homeless Shelter scandal

Yusjaras Homeless Shelter scandal
Part of anti-homeless sentiment in Creeperopolis
The arrests of Yusjaras Homeless Shelter managers Martín Gómez Martí (left) and Alberto Fajardo López (right).
Location	Yusjaras Homeless Shelter, Yusjaras, Helam, Creeperopolis
Date	16 July 2013 – 15 October 2014 (1 year, 2 months, 4 weeks and 1 day)
Target	Homeless people of Yusjaras
Attack type	Mass murder and money laundering scheme
Deaths	825 verified, believed to be 1,300–2,300
Perpetrators	Staff of the Yusjaras Homeless Shelter Yusjaras government officials Creeperian Mafia
No. of participants	48
Motive	Anti-homeless sentiment
Verdict	Guilty (45) No decision (3)
Convictions	Mass murder Money laundering Forced cannibalism Aiding a terrorist organization Rape Bribery
Sentences	Death (44) Death in absentia (1)

The Yusjaras Homeless Shelter scandal (Creeperian – Creeperian: Եսծընդալո դել Րեֆփգիո դե Վագաբփնդոս դե Յփսջարաս; Creeperian – Iberic: Escándalo del Refugio de Vagabundos de Yusjaras), also known as the Yusjaras mass murder scandal (Creeperian: Եսծընդալո ասեսինատո մասիվո դե Յփսջարաս; Iberic: Escándalo asesinato masivo de Yusjaras), occurred over a 1 year and 3 month period between between July 2013 and October 2014 where hundreds and up to possibly thousands of homeless people in Yusjaras, Helam, were abused, tortured, and murdered in the Yusjaras Homeless Shelter. During this time, the homeless shelter was jointly managed by Alberto Fajardo López and Martín Gómez Martí.

Under their management, abuse of homeless individuals in the shelter was commonplace and any homeless people who entered were blocked off from leaving, and those who attempted to leave were tortured and murdered. The workers of the shelter participated in the abuse, most of whom willingly participated as they were all friends or members of the mafia hired by Fajardo López and Gómez Martí. Rape of female homeless people by workers was common place and the homeless were fed the flesh of their deceased homeless who were murdered by the workers. The Creeperian Mafia became involved with the shelter and used is as a money laundering facility, which the managers participated in themselves. In June 2014, José Pérez Buenaventura, a worker at the shelter, made his intentions to report the shelter to the departmental government clear, and because of his intentions, he was murdered by the Creeperian Mafia on orders of both Fajardo López and Gómez Martí. The initial investigation by the Creeperian Imperial Police, however, placed blame of the murder on a homeless woman, who was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment, as both the Mayor and Chief of Police of Yusjaras accepted large bribes from the shelter to ignore the atrocities.

The National Intelligence Directorate began an investigation into both the Mayor and Chief of Police as the organization had noticed a sudden increase in wealth, suspecting that they had accepted a bribe from local gangs in exchange for leaner punishments. After a thorough investigation, the DINA believed that they were using the Yusjaras Homeless Shelter as a money laundering facility and staged a raid on 15 October 2014. During the raid, the DINA discovered the living conditions in the shelter and piles of dead bodies. Immediately, every worker in the facility was arrested and the DINA requested immediate humanitarian aid from the national government. Forty-eight people were arrested, and forty-five, including Fajardo López and Gómez Martí, were found guilty of multiple charges and sentenced to death.

Background

Anti-homeless sentiment in Creeperopolis

In Creeperopolis, a heavy stigmatism against homelessness is held in society. Although the Creeperian Catholic Church urges its members to help the homeless however they can, anti-homeless sentiment is still widespread in society to the point that most precincts of the Creeperian Imperial Police have an "Anti-Homeless Violence Prevention Unit" which combats violent crimes being committed against homeless people. The homeless are one of the most targeted groups for robberies and have high murder rates compared to other groups. In May 2013 alone, the department of Zapatista reported that 635 homeless people were robbed and that 153 were murdered, or 20.5 robberies per day and 4.9 murders per day.

The five departments with the largest homeless populations as of 2014 in descending order are San Salvador, Castilliano, Salvador, Atlántida, and Adolfosburg. The five departments with the largest homeless rates, however, as of 2014 in descending order are Zapatista, Abdan, Helam, Senvar, and Jakiz, all of which are in southern Creeperopolis and four of which are associated with the Zapatista Triangle.

Yusjaras Homeless Shelter

The Yusjaras Homeless Shelter in 2012.

The Yusjaras Homeless Shelter (Creeperian – Creeperian: Րեֆփգիո դե Վագաբփնդոս դե Յփսջարաս; Creeperian – Iberic: Refugio de Vagabundos de Yusjaras) was a privately-operated homeless shelter located in Yusjaras, the second largest city in the Creeperian department of Helam. The shelter was established in 1998 by Julio Ernesto Chavarría y Bosque, a retired priest of the Creeperian Catholic Church. The shelter was established as a non-profit independent from Church management. Chavarría Bosque died in 2007 at the age of 79 and management of the shelter was transferred to Domingo Alberto Hurtado y Yagüe, a friend of Chavarría Bosque.

On 14 May 2013, a resident of the shelter, José Alfonso Hernández y Urías, was murdered by a fellow resident, Isaías Orlando Ortega y Murillo, after being stabbed 17 times. The incident was the first violent act reported at the shelter, and only a month later on 16 June 2013, resident Anastasia Emilia Tejón y Bermúdez was raped and decapitated by fellow resident Zacarías Santiago Melléndez y Melléndez. The two murders in a one month span put pressure on Hernández Urías to take action against such violent actions in the future. On 29 June 2013, he stated his intentions to sell ownership and management of the shelter, stating that he was unable to continue operating the shelter. On 12 July 2013, the shelter was purchased by Alberto Arturo Fajardo y López, an ex-soldier of the Creeperian Army and owner of a bicycle repair business, and Martín José Gómez y Martí, Fajardo López's son in law, for ₡1,500,000 colóns. Hurtado Yagüe officially transferred ownership of the shelter to Fajardo López and Gómez Martí on 16 July 2013. Fajardo López stated that the shelter would be taken in a "new direction" to better ensure the safety of its residents.

Timeline

Initial murders and abuses

On 17 July 2013, Fajardo López and Gómez Martí informed the residents of the shelter that they were prohibited from leaving the shelter. They did not provide a reason as to the decision when asked by the residents of the shelter, and when three residents attempted to force their way out of the building, they were attacked by workers of the shelter and taken into the basement where supplies were held. Then, the two managers told the residents that any attempt to leave would be "met with force." On 18 July 2013, after the three men were taken into the basement, they were dismembered and murdered with machetes. The three murdered men were later identified as José Guillermo Ramírez Morales, Juan Sebastian Ureña López, and Tomás Fidel Ortíz Ruíz after being found buried underneath a water heater which was installed in August 2013 which only supplied heat to the employee's quarters of the shelter. The workers who attacked and murdered the men were newly hired friends of the two managers.

On 18 July 2013, the same workers had all the residents of the shelter, estimated to have been 120 at the time, shackled and handcuffed and all crammed into six rooms towards the center of the building, keeping them away from rooms with windows. They were then locked into their rooms and had the lights turned off so that they were stuck in crammed pitch black rooms. They were only allowed a small portion of rice and beans and two cups of water each once per day at 6:00 p.m. TSS. On 25 July 2013, workers entered all six rooms and had one resident forcibly removed from each room. They were taken into the shelter's kitchen where they were dismembered and decapitated. They were then cooked and fed to the residents. The residents were only informed that the meat that they had eaten was human after they had all finished eating. By the start of August 2013, all previous workers of the shelter had been replaced by friends of the two managers who all held anti-homeless sentiments and sought to torture and murder the homeless residents of the shelter.

Mass murder

In mid-August 2013, the shelter announced to the public that it was ready to begin accepting new homeless residents at the shelter as all the "reforms" necessary had been completed. Many homeless people of Yusjaras, unaware of the abuses occurring inside the shelter, began to enter the shelter in search of food and clothing and shelter, but instead, they were taken by workers and shackled in dark rooms with other residents.

In September 2013, a report was filed by a worker that one of the residents had attempted to break open the door of a room. In response, Fajardo López ordered all of the residents in the room, numbering 18, out and into the basement, with some being forced out. In the basement, every resident of the room was struck in the head several times by hot pans and were then left handcuffed. After five days, all those being held in the basement had died of dehydration. The incident was the first of several where entire rooms of residents were massacred in the basement of the shelter, while others were massacred in the same room they were held in.

New homeless people who entered the shelter were fed well on their first meal there, however, the meal contained human flesh unbeknownst to the individuals.

Murder of José Pérez Buenaventura

Events of the murder

José Pérez Buenaventura, 2013.

Convictions and sentences

Individuals found guilty

Trial	No.	Convicted	Birth date	Convictions	Sentence	Executed
Managers' trial	1.	Alberto Arturo Fajardo López	14 December 1969	Mass murder Money laundering Forced cannibalism Aiding a terrorist organization Rape Bribery	Death	12 January 2015(2015-01-12) (aged 45) by garrote
	2.	Martín José Gómez Martí	15 March 1988			12 January 2015(2015-01-12) (aged 26) by garrote

Individuals left with no decision

No.	Defendant	Birth date	Charges	Date of death	Manner of death
1.	José Antonio Buenaventura Salinas	17 June 1972	Murder Forced cannibalism Aiding a terrorist organization Rape	19 October 2014(2014-10-19) (aged 42)	Suicide by hanging
2.	Ronaldo Fidel Carpio Funes	13 November 1987		1 November 2014(2014-11-01) (aged 26)	Murdered by prison guards
3.	Manuel Romero Menéndez Campos	11 December 1988		1 November 2014(2014-11-01) (aged 25)

"Yusjaras tapes"

See also: Creeperian torture videos

During the managers' and workers' trials, evidence was presented outlining and detailing the contents of various VHS tapes and CDs which depicted the abuse of the residents of the shelter. The prosecution stated that there were three VHS tapes and two CDs which depicted said abuses.

The first VHS tape, labeled "Calentador" on the side, was described to depict a man identified as José Romero Juárez Calles handcuffed to the water heater in the basement. He had his faced pressed agains the water heater for minutes at a time, burning his face in the process until he had sustained third-degree burns across much of his face. His torture lasted 1 hour and 21 minutes and then he had steaming water dropped on him, inducing more third degree burns across his body. When the tape's time marker indicated 4:15:16 p.m., the film skipped ahead to 6:38:19 p.m. where Juárez Calles was shown being decapitated by workers with a machete. The film then showed his body being taken into the kitchen where it was cooked and later fed to residents of the shelter, who, despite knowing it was human flesh, ate it regardless due to their emaciated state as they were deprived of proper food rations. The total length of the tape was 2 hours, 24 minutes, and 39 seconds, and was dated to 17 February 2014.

The second VHS tape, labeled "Tres Primeros" on the side, was described to depict the first three murders which occurred at the shelter on 18 July 2013. The three men, identified as José Guillermo Ramírez Morales, Juan Sebastian Ureña López, and Tomás Fidel Ortíz Ruíz, were berated by workers of the shelter who condemned them for being in the situation that they were in, stating that "The homeless belong in Hell with Baphomet." The video showed Ramírez Morales being dismembered with machetes, followed by Ureña López and then Ortíz Ruíz. The three were then decapitated and buried in the basement. The total length of the tape was 23 minutes and 1 second.

The third VHS tape, labeled "La'Mara" on the side, depicted an unidentified man who allegedly was an ex-member of the gang Mara Salvatrucha, with tattoos on his body identifying him as such, however, it is impossible to verify if the tattoos were genuine or of they were tattooed on his body by the workers of the shelter. In the video, the workers forced the man to strangle three unidentified children of the shelter which are commonly believed to be his own children given the context. He was held at gunpoint and yelled at by the workers while strangling the children in the video. He was then forced to strangle an unidentified woman whom the workers identified as the man's wife. After strangling the children and his wife, the man was whipped 165 times by the workers on the back and chest while he was chained and suspended from the roof. While being whipped, he was forced to drink the blood of his wife which was collected into a cup by a worker. He then had his hands and feet cut off and then had his small and large intestines ripped out of his body, killing him. The total length of the tape was 1 hour, 2 minutes, and 29 seconds, and was dated to 12 October 2014, just four days before the shelter was raided.

None of the video recordings on the three VHS tapes or the two CDs were ever released to the public, with the only evidence of their existence being the accounts presented by the prosecution at the trials. The so-called "Yusjaras tapes" are considered to be one of the most sought after pieces of "lost media" in many internet communities, with websites which host so-called "Creeperian torture videos" having the videos' discovery in high demand. The Creeperian government has stated that is has no intentions of ever releasing the tapes. According to Creeperian journalist Santiago Cárdenas Valdéz, the leak of the tapes would "highly likely" result in every torture video released by every gang and cartel being rendered "child's play" and "mild" in comparison to the "Yusjaras tapes."

Notable survivors

• Yolanda González Velázquez, homeless rights activist
• Gustavo Hidalgo Ortíz, founder of the Yusjaras Homeless Charity Fund for survivors
• Alberto Molina Ortega, homeless rights activist

In popular culture

• In 2015, the Creeperian video game company V.J. Sur hinted that it was considering making a video game based on the events of the Yusjaras Homeless Shelter for their anticipated 2017 video game release. After online protest at the idea by homeless rights activists and Helami politicians, V.J. Sur announced that it had abandoned any intentions on making a video game about the shelter, instead releasing 1978 about the 1978 San Juan race riots in 2017.
• The 2018 documentary 456 Días covers in depth the atrocities committed in the homeless shelter in the 456 days under the management of Gómez Martí and Fajardo López.

See also

Creeperopolis portal Terraconserva portal

• Human rights in Creeperopolis