Cops hunting a serial woman killer who cut the ears off his victims have arrested a suspect.
Carlos Andrés Rivera Ruiz was nicked while travelling on a bus.
He was arrested on suspicion of the murder and sexual abuse of eight women.
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He was caught thanks to clues from another victim, who survived his attack but with grave injuries.
Rivera, 42, was dubbed the “monster of Tabio”, a town near Bogotá in Colombia, where his last alleged killing took place.
The Colombian national spent several days hiding on a farm there before the authorities found him on Monday (27 May).
His other alleged murders took place in Medellín, Bello, Copacabana, and Ciudad Bolívar.
The attack that led to his downfall was carried out in Fusagasugá, near Bogotá, as reported on Need To Know.
Before his capture, the authorities were offering a reward of 200m COP (£41,000) for his whereabouts.
He evaded capture for so long by moving around the country using a false identity and changing his appearance.
Rivera’s first-known alleged victim was 46-year-old Ruth Estela Álvarez Munera, who was attacked with a sharp weapon as she walked through Bello in 2019.
His last alleged victim was Cecilia Santana, 58, who was last seen on a morning walk in Tabio.
She was found dead near a riverbank two days later, on 21 May this year.
Other alleged victims have been named as Luz Enith Villa Arenas, 57, Lina María Castillo Londoño, 39, Sandra Milena Lezcano, 42, Yenifer Alexandra Sánchez, and María Teresa Penagos.
The police identified Rivera as the same alleged killer from his modus operandi of cutting an ear off his victims.
They say he threatened them with a knife before taking them to remote, wooded areas.
There, he systematically beat and sexually abused them before killing them by suffocation, cops say.
According to the authorities, he was first arrested in June 2015 on suspicion of a violent sexual assault.
However, he was released a year later when the prescriptive period expired.
Rivera is charged with multiple counts of femicide, violent sexual assault, and theft with aggravating factors.
He has been remanded in custody.
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