José Engatare Contreras

In this Creeperian name, the first or paternal surname is Engatare and the second or maternal family name is Contreras.

José Engatare Contreras
A mugshot of Engatare Contreras, 1929.
Born	c. 1875 Xaibil, San Salvador, Creeperopolis
Disappeared	4 January 1933(1933-01-04) (aged 57–58) Adolfosburg, Adolfosburg, Creeperopolis
Nationality	Creeperian
Other names	Joseph Engatare
Occupation	Salesman
Criminal status	Legally deceased
Spouse(s)	Fátima Gaitán Huerta (m. 1899; died 1924)
Parent(s)	Marcus Engatare Claudia Contreras Molina
Motive	Anti-Creeperian sentiment Misogyny
Conviction(s)	Capital murder (x34)
Criminal penalty	Death
Escaped	4 January 1933
Details
Victims	34
Span of crimes	1911–1929
Country	Creeperopolis
Weapons	Knife
Date apprehended	15 December 1929
Imprisoned at	Adolfosburg National Prison

José Lukeni Engatare y Contreras (c. 1875 – disappeared 4 January 1933), also known as Joseph Engatare, was a convicted Creepero-Lyoan serial killer. He murdered thirty-four women, including his wife and mother, between 1911 and 1929, and attempted to pickle their bodies under his home. He is considered one of Creeperopolis' first known serial killers.

He was sentenced to death by an Adolfosburg criminal court on 1 March 1930, however, he escaped from the Adolfosburg National Prison during the initial days of the Creeperian Civil War on 4 January 1933. He was never apprehended and the Ministry of Law Enforcement officially declared him legally dead on 1 January 2005, when he would have been 130 years old. His ultimate fate is unknown.

Early life

José Lukeni Engatare y Contreras was born sometime around 1875 in Xaibil, Creeperopolis. His father was Marcus Joseph Engatare Mbogo and his mother was Claudia María Contreras y Molina de Engatare, both of whom owned and operated a pupuseria in Xaibil.

His father was a Nagata and was the great great grandson of Kemoh Engatare, a military officer of the Captaincy General of Lyoa during the early 1800s. His great great grandfather immigrated to Creeperopolis after the fall of the captaincy general to the Old Lyoa Kingdom in 1837 to escape capture and possible death and settled in Xaibil. His mother was a Creeperian, but very little is known about her ancestry.

He bore the given name of José, the Creeperian form of Joseph, at the insistence of his mother. He sometimes went by the Jackian form, Joseph, and dropped the use of his maternal surname, going by simply Joseph Engatare. He also stopped using his middle name of Lukeni due to Lukeni I's support from the Creeperian Legions during the Lyoan Imperial Wars and Lukeni II being a puppet of the Captaincy General of Lyoa. He also objected to his great great grandfather's allegiance to the captaincy general. Historians have generally agreed that Engatare held anti-Creeperian racist beliefs and a hatred of women, however, the reason for his prejudices is unknown, but it is believed that some traumatic event during his childhood or adolescence may have caused his prejudices.

Criminal activity

Exact details regarding Engatare's serial murders are only known through his own personal testimony. He began his serial murder spree when he stabbed Julia María Ortega Ussía to death in April 1911. Between 1911 and 1929, he murdered a total of 34 women, including his own wife, Fátima Esmeralda Gaitán Huerta de Engatare, in 1924 and his own mother in 1927. Despite his relationships to his wife and mother, he was never suspected by the police of the murders. On 15 December 1929, Engatare was caught in the act of committing another murder against Diana Cassandra Guerrero Nariño de Obregón.

He was arrested shortly after fleeing the crime scene, and during his interview, he proudly confessed to committing 34 murders during the preceding 18 years. He additionally stated that all of his victims were hidden underneath his house inside of barrels filled with water, and when the police investigated his home, the police discovered 33 barrels filled with the corpses of the 33 women he claimed to have murdered, effectively confirming his confession.

The following is a list of Engatare's victims:

1. Julia María Ortega y Ussía; c. 1894 – c. 1911 (aged 16–17)
2. Isabela Claudia Fuentes y Fuentes; c. 1890 – c. 1911 (aged 20–21)
3. Clara Fátima Yagüe y Ramírez de Salinas; 5 March 1885 – c. 1912 (aged 26–27)
4. Alexandra María Linares y Enríquez; June 1891 – c. 1912 (aged 20–21)
5. Daniela Marisa Linares y Enríquez; February 1893 – c. 1912 (aged 18–19)
6. Melina María Gutiérrez y González; 1890 – c. 1912 (aged 21–22)
7. Angelina Isabela Huerta y Hidalgo de Castillo; 1870 – c. 1913 (aged 42–43)
8. Rita María Quesada y Ramírez de Melléndez; c. 1869 – c. 1913 (aged 43–44)
9. Clara Verónica Regalado y Escalón; c. 1898 – c. 1914 (aged 15–16)
10. María Leonora Salinas y Moreno de Gatián; 1890 – c. 1915 (aged 24–25)
11. Yolanda María Herrera y Dávalos de Moreno; 7 January 1888 – c. 1915 (aged 26–27)
12. María Sofía Yagüe y Molina de Castillo; March 1888 – c. 1915 (aged 26–27)
13. Cassandra Esmeralda Tejón y Vázquez; 8 September 1900 – c. 1916 (aged 15–16)
14. Adriana Estefania Castillo y Obregón; c. 1892 – c. 1916 (aged 23–24)
15. Barbara Clara Guzmán y Jalisco de Mena; 9 December 1870 – c. 1916 (aged 45–46)
16. Ana Alexandra Guzmán y Jalisco de Salazar; 4 April 1873 – c. 1917 (aged 43–44)
17. Julia Dominga Franco y Franco de Fuentes; c. 1893 – c. 1918 (aged 24–25)
18. María Fátima Castro y Ruíz de Castro; 1890 – c. 1919 (aged 28–29)
19. María Ana Henríquez y Galván de Salinas; c. 1887 – c. 1920 (aged 32–33)
20. María Gabriela Herrera y Nariño; 1908 – c. 1920 (aged 11–12)
21. Isabela María Guzmán y Carpio; 1905 – c. 1921 (aged 15–16)
22. Anabela María Guzmán y Carpio; 1907 – c. 1921 (aged 13–14)
23. Magdalena Xihomara Mena y Castro; c. 1905 – c. 1922 (aged 16–17)
24. Rubí Cassandra Carpio y Flores de Gutiérrez; 8 March 1900 – c. 1923 (aged 22–23)
25. Fátima Esmeralda Gaitán y Huerta de Engatare; 8 March 1880 – c. 1924 (aged 43–44)
26. Mía Esmeralda López y López de Guzmán; 1885 – c. 1925 (aged 39–40)
27. Juana María Jiménez y Salinas de Gaitán; 1880 – c. 1926 (aged 45–46)
28. Xihomara Iris López y Castro de Salinas; 1900 – c. 1926 (aged 25–26)
29. Alberta María Fuentes y Reyes de Ugarte; 1903 – c. 1926 (aged 22–23)
30. Claudia María Contreras y Molina de Engatare; July 1850 – c. 1927 (aged 76–77)
31. Anette Camila Huerta y Jiménez de Menéndez; c. 1890 – c. 1928 (aged 37–38)
32. Fátima María Molina y Molina de Hidalgo; 1899 – c. 1929 (aged 29–30)
33. María Bertila Quijada y Ortega de Guerrero; June 1900 – c. 1929 (aged 28–29)
34. Diana Cassandra Guerrero y Nariño de Obregón; 11 September 1890 – 15 December 1929(1929-12-15) (aged 39)

Trial and imprisonment

Engatare's trial began on 7 February 1930. He was charged with 34 counts of capital murder, and his confession during his interview with the police and the discovery of the barrels with bodies under his home were used by the prosecution as primary evidence against him. Engatare was found guilty on all counts of murder by a jury on 15 February 1930 and was sentenced to death by judge Alexander José Velázquez y Serrano on 1 March 1930. He was imprisoned at the Adolfosburg National Prison. In 1932, his execution was scheduled for 1 February 1933 by firing squad.

Escape

On 2 January 1933, the Creeperian Civil War began between the far-right Catholic Imperial Restoration Council and the far-left National Council for Peace and Order. On 4 January 1933, a prison riot erupted at the Adolfosburg National Prison, with hundreds of prisoners attempting to escape from the prison amidst the start of the civil war. During the prison escape, dozens of prisoners and guards were killed, however, an estimated 70 prisoners managed to escape. After the riot was crushed, Engatare was not identified among the dead, wounded, or imprisoned, and he was declared to have escaped from the prison by warden Armando Juan Guzmán Herrera on 5 January 1933, with an order for his immediate arrest being issued.

Disappearance and sightings

Since his escape, several reported sightings of him have been made as late as 1960, when he would have been in his 80s and 90s. Most historians believe that Engatare most likely died sometime during the Creeperian Civil War, either through natural causes, from death during combat, or as a victim of an atrocity.

Engatare was never apprehended, and on 1 January 2005, he was declared legally dead by the Ministry of Law Enforcement when he would have been approximately 130 years old. His ultimate fate is unknown.

See also

• José Menjívar López