Suspect says he killed, not ate, his girlfriend
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican writer suspected of frying and eating pieces of his ex-girlfriend after strangling her has confessed to murdering the woman but denies being a cannibal, a government prosecutor said on Tuesday.
Police burst into Jose Luis Calva's Mexico City apartment last week and found fried human flesh on a dining table set with cutlery. They found more flesh in the refrigerator and an unfinished book by Calvo called "Cannibal Instincts."
The mutilated body of Alejandra Galeana, 32, was in the bedroom closet.
Calva told prosecutors he killed Galeana after an argument, then cut an arm and a leg off of her body so that he could dispense of it in parts.
"He denies having tasted her flesh," Mexico City's chief homicide prosecutor Gustavo Salas told reporters. "According to him, he thought it was better to cook the meat so he could feed it to the dogs."
Prosecutors also suspect Calva of strangling and dismembering two other women in the last two years. One victim, Veronica Martinez, had lived with Calva before her death.
Calva denied any involvement in those crimes.
Galeana's mother had reported her missing for two weeks and said she suspected her daughter's former lover was involved.
Calva kept books on black magic and apparently made a living selling his writings on the street. He was injured falling from his balcony when he tried to escape police as they forced their way into his apartment.
Police found copies of the Hannibal Lecter films, which tell the tale of a genius serial killer who eats his victims.
A former girlfriend told police Calva was a jealous, possessive lover who believed in witchcraft and practiced rituals, including hammering a cow's tongue to a board.
