*Please be aware that I will be sharing some sensitive details in this post that will include child abuse, elderly abuse and addiction. I will, as always, aim to be as sensitive as I can be with sharing the details without taking away from the facts of the case. If you have any questions or comments about the post, please feel free to email at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com*
From a appalling childhood plagued with physical and psychological abuse at the hands of an alcoholic mother and struggles financially, when Juana Barraza became one of the most respected female wrestlers Mexico had ever seen, it was seen as a story of triumph despite the odds against her. At a time when female wrestlers were still working hard to be taken seriously, Like Chyna, Juana was helping pave the way for strong female wrestlers who had overcome many difficult barriers in their private lives to work their way to the top through sheer grit, hard work and determination.
The future looked bright for Juana, who wrestled under the name 'La Dama Del Silencio' meaning 'The Lady of Silence'. For her build, strength and demeanor it seemed an odd choice of name for her character but nonetheless, wrestling fans were in awe of what she was able to achieve in the ring. Juana didn't just catch the attention of wrestling fans in Mexico, people from all over the world were transfixed with her wrestling abilities and it seemed that she would go far, maybe end up in America at some point? The possibilities for her seemed endless but unfortunately Juana's life was to take another road, a very, very dark one at that.
Born Juana Dayanara Barraza Samperio (shorted to Juana Barazza) in Epazoyucan, Hidalgo (Mexico) on the 27th of December 1957. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, her childhood was hell. Her mother was a chronic alcoholic who basically did anything to ger her hands on booze...even if it meant prostituting out her own daughter in order to get alcohol. Juana's life was a nightmare, a horrendous non-stop ordeal which would shape the rest of her life. She ended up pregnant as a result of one of the horrendous r*pes that she was forced to endure. She soon found herself the mother of four children and struggling to make ends meet when she finally did escape her mother.
The road to freedom from her mother's evil abuse was not an easy one and more tragedy was to come for Juana when her son was murdered during an attack and robbery, he sadly passed away from his injuries. With so much pent up anger and several scars from her childhood, Juana threw herself into training and workouts. People would comment on how strong she seemed and that she should get into sports especially wrestling. Juana became a wrestler and wasn't sure if it would work out but it did. It took a lot for her to be able to stand in front of a crowd of people and prove herself as an athlete alongside other professional wrestlers but like Chyna (who I wrote about in a previous post in this series) she gave it her all and won the hearts of wrestling fans.
Everything was going great but the pain and memories of what happened in her childhood never escaped her. She may have been able to escape her Mother's evil grasp but the horrible memories that remained were not as easy to escape from. Despite her success as a wrestler she was suffering with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and had never had professional help and guidance in how to manage these painful thoughts and memories.
In an attempt to block out the pain she turned to alcohol and drugs but these were a temporary fix. As they wore off the memories and dreadful thoughts would come rushing back and her addictions were becoming expensive to maintain. Soon enough her wrestling career was suffering and eventually she found herself turning her back on what was to be a promising career by further spiralling out of control. Filled with anger at the past and anger that her career was ruined, she blamed her mother for everything and the more she would sit and dwell on the past, the more angry she became.
Sadly, Juana began to look at older women with misplaced hostility, she would see them and think of her mother. Thinking of the past she would fantasize about revenge and she would make herself feel better by taking her anger out on poor, defenceless elderly women. She would cast these innocent women in the role of her mother and she would murder them, often by strangulation. Juana would target an elderly woman and would appear on her doorstep dressed in smart clothing, with a fake ID, a stethoscope (which she often used to strangle her victims) and government papers in the pretence that she was a government official who was there to provide support and advice on how the women could claim welfare. It was cold and calculating how she was able to manipulate these vulnerable women by appearing to be nice and friendly until she had gotten into their homes.
For seven years, Juana stalked the streets of Mexico City murdering elderly women in what she would later say was in revenge for her childhood and the abuse she endured from her mother. The police found a difficult task on their hands when trying to investigate these murders as any witnesses that did come forward described the possible perpetrator as a 'man dressed in women's clothing'. With this common description given, the police questioned numerous transsexual prostitutes but seemed to be getting nowhere. Eventually they were able to come to a conclusion that the murderer was a woman with masculine features and there was an information poster that was shared around which fit the description of Juana. As she looked like the image she was brought in for questioning and her fingerprints matched 40 of the crime scenes in which elderly women had been strangled.
With the evidence all stacked against her she had no choice but to give in and confess. She said she murdered the women because of her mother. She claimed that she was helping society by murdering these elderly women. Juana was found guilty in March of 2008. She confessed to just three of the murders but her DNA was found in all of the cases that she was suspected of. She was found guilty of murdering eleven women but suspected of killing as many as 40. She was sentenced to 759 years in prison so it's a certainty that she will die behind bars.
Juana is currently serving her sentence at Santa Martha Acatitla, a maximum-security women's prison in Mexico City. She is reportedly a model prisoner who spends her time cooking for fellow prisoners, making money by selling tacos and personal training sessions. Despite being behind bars, Juana uses some of the money she makes to help support her family on the outside. She had also said to have had some romantic relationships with various men through a pen-pal service, even been married at one point but has since divorced.
The story of Juana is a heartbreaking one, her childhood of misery which was so traumatic that it affected the rest of her life. She tried to make something of herself and she was doing so well but the anger of the past had eaten away at her and innocent people were murdered. She not only managed to destroy her career, her life, herself but also the lives of these poor women and their loved ones. It's just a really tragic story all around. If only she had gotten the proper psychological help that she needed but even then, the horrendous abuse that she suffered was something that would never be able to be healed fully, she would probably need intense counselling and possibly medication for the rest of her life. In the poor circumstances in which she and many others were living, it just wasn't possible.
My heart goes out to the innocent women who were murdered and their families. I also feel for the trauma that Juana went through in her childhood, nobody deserves that. The only positive we can take from this is that she is behind bars and nobody else can come to harm at her hands again and also hopefully there is the opportunity there for her to have professional help for her trauma.
Further Reading & Sources:
- Juana Barraza: Article | BBC News
- Juana Barraza: Article | The Guardian
- Juana Barraza: Article | New York Post
Thank you as always for checking out my latest post, in particular this sixth part of my Dark History From The World of Wrestling, I really appreciate it. I welcome your thoughts either below in the comments section or by email: jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com
I hope you will join me in the seventh part of this series and in the meantime, I hope to see you on my Socials
Take care until next time......x
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