José Dorángel Vargas Gomez, also known as Dorángel Vargas or the infamous “People Eater,” is a well-known criminal figure in Venezuela.
His background encompasses a challenging upbringing in rural Mérida, leading to brutal killings and a startling prison uprising that resulted in deaths among inmates who were purportedly utilized as sustenance.
Vargas was born on May 14, 1957, in Caño Zancudo, Mérida, to impoverished farming parents associated with the Venezuelan Liberation Forces. Reports from locals suggested that Vargas exhibited signs of malevolent possession from a young age and had limited education, only attending school until the sixth grade.
During his youth, Vargas distanced himself from his family and began a transient lifestyle, engaging in petty crimes like theft of livestock, establishing a pattern of opportunistic delinquency.
His initial significant encounter with the law occurred in 1995 when he murdered a fellow transient, Baltazar Cruz Moreno, and consumed his flesh.
After this incident, Vargas was committed to the Peribeca Psychiatric Rehabilitation Institute for two years for treatment. Despite a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, he was eventually released, raising concerns about his potential for violence.
In the late 1990s, Vargas resurfaced in San Cristóbal, Táchira state, engaging in a series of murders between November 1998 and January 1999 along the Torbes River and in Parque 12 de Febrero.
He targeted robust men, including laborers, athletes, and occasional drunkards, utilizing weapons like a metal tube or rocks to bludgeon them to death. Notably, he avoided women, children, the elderly, and overweight individuals based on his selective criteria for flesh quality.
Following the killings, Vargas dismembered the victims’ bodies, some of which he consumed, cooked, or preserved in containers, while other remains were disposed of in various ways.
The extent of his atrocities came to light in February 1999 when authorities discovered human remains, body parts, and vessels containing flesh in a shack where Vargas resided, revealing a grisly trail of at least ten murdered men.
Upon his apprehension, Vargas gained nationwide attention, earning the moniker “The Hannibal Lecter of the Andes,” drawing parallels to the fictional cannibal character.
Psychological assessments indicated Vargas suffered from paranoid schizophrenia with psychopathic inclinations, rendering him legally non-accountable in Venezuela. Consequently, he was confined in a secure Táchira prison to prevent further violent acts.
Despite incarceration, Vargas’s violent tendencies persisted, culminating in a deadly riot at the Táchira Detention Center in October 2016, where two inmates were gruesomely murdered, their remains reportedly fed to other prisoners.
Eyewitnesses and investigations implicated Vargas in the dismemberments, suggesting he was recruited by a gang within the facility. The government did not officially confirm the cannibalism allegations but acknowledged the fatalities.
Presently, Vargas remains under strict isolation in Táchira due to his erratic and violent behaviors, expressing no remorse for his crimes in interviews.