Transcription
Today we are looking at a case from the early 20th century, so sit back as we go to Argentina.
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Cayetano Santos Godino was born on the 31st of October 1896 in the impoverished neighborhood of Parque Patricios in Buenos Aires. Ten years earlier, his parents had come to Argentina from the Calabria region of Italy. Like many Italians at the time, they found few opportunities in Italy to enable them to improve their circumstances. Land and property had become divided over generations. Many small towns did not have any modern industries, so life had become increasingly more difficult. It is estimated that between 1876 and 1900, 220 thousand Italians left the country every year, most of them migrating to South America or the USA.
Cayetano was the youngest of nine children. He had three brothers and five sisters. His father, named Fiori, worked as a builder and would also play the guitar in the street to make ends meet. As he had a large family to look after, his mother, named Lucia, stayed at home to bring up the children. His parents had only ever received a basic education, and neither of them were able to read more than a few words.
From an early age, Cayetano experienced violence. His father would drink and would often beat him. He suffered similar abuse from his elder brother, named Antonio. His start to life was particularly difficult. His father had syphilis when he was conceived, which resulted in Cayetano suffering ill health during his childhood. He was raised in one of the poorest areas of Buenos Aires, and from a very young age, would spend as little time as possible in the very small and crowded house where he lived with his family. He was very small for his age, and to everyone who saw him, he seemed like a quiet, shy, and somewhat harmless child.
He went to school but struggled to pay attention in his lessons, and due to his behavior, was frequently transferred from one school to the next. Although he would often not attend his classes and instead just spend the day roaming the streets. Children his own age would make fun of him because he was small and had big ears. They would cruelly call him "El Patisso," which means "the big-eared [ __ ]." He would often be seen alone, so started to befriend four younger children who trusted him because of his small stature.
By now, he was seven years old, and his behavior became even more problematic. He was seen by a local policeman throwing a two-year-old boy into a ditch. The policeman took him to the station, but as he was so young, he was only told not to do such a terrible thing again. A year later, he threw stones at a young girl who was not yet two years old. Again, this was witnessed by a policeman. He was taken back to the police station, where he stayed in a cell until his parents arrived to collect him.
On March 22nd, 1906, a three-year-old girl named Maria Rosa Fassi went missing. The police investigated what had happened to her, but she was never found. No one suspected that nine-year-old Cayetano could have anything to do with her disappearance. Eventually, her parents moved back to Italy, and the investigation was closed.
He set fire to a warehouse in Barracas. The fire brigade arrived to put it out, and the police arrested him. For some reason, however, they did not charge him and released him soon after. The police had become concerned about Cayetano's behavior. They'd received many reports from the public that he was cruel to animals and would kill birds, which he then placed in a shoebox. His parents had already told the local police inspector that he kept the shoebox under his bed, and the police inspector had already asked his officers to keep an eye out for a young boy with big ears when they were out on patrol.
In 1908, he tried to drown a two-year-old boy in a horse trough, but fortunately, the stable owner arrived in time and rescued the victim. On another occasion, he burnt the eyelids of a 20-month-old infant with cigarettes. The child's mother arrived, and before Cayetano could do anything else, he ran off.
By now, Cayetano's parents were so concerned about his constant bad behavior, they persuaded the authorities to put him in a young offenders institution. By 1911, when he was 14 years old, he was released. He had learned to read and write, and his family were hopeful that he would now move forward with his life. He managed to find employment in a factory that made wire, but he was soon dismissed. He then drifted from factory to factory, never lasting anywhere for very long. He was found to be an unreliable worker and a poor timekeeper.
By 1912, Cayetano again found himself spending his days walking around the streets of Buenos Aires.
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On the 26th of January, the body of a child was found in a house in Barracas. The body was later identified to be that of a young boy named Arturo Laura. The police investigated, but under-resourced and without any leads, they were unable to apprehend the person responsible for the crime.
Six weeks later, on the 7th of March, a five-year-old girl named Reina Vanikov was looking in a shop window. She was out with her grandfather. Suddenly, she started screaming. People turned and saw that the little girl's dress was on fire. A local policeman frantically tried to put out the flames. Eventually, with the help of passers-by, he managed to do it. A crowd of onlookers had gathered to see what was happening, most just watching, probably horrified at what they were seeing. Amongst them was a rather odd-looking teenager with large ears. Reina was taken to hospital, where she died days later.
More fires broke out in the city, but the police were unable to discover who had started them. Then, on the 24th of September, a horse was attacked with a knife. On the 8th of November 1912, Cayetano was found with a two-year-old boy named Roberto Russo near a ditch. The little boy had a rope tied around him. Cayetano was taken to the police station and questioned, but he claimed he was rescuing the child as he had fallen. There was very little evidence to charge him, so he was released.
Despite being arrested and released, Cayetano Santos Godino continued to commit his crimes. On the 16th of November, he was seen by a police officer hitting a young girl named Carmen Giattoni, but before the police officer could reprimand him, Cayetano ran off. Four days later, he attempted to abduct a two-year-old named Carolina Niolena. Luckily, she started to scream, and her cries were heard by concerned neighbors.
All of his incidents happened in the most impoverished places in the city, areas known for poor housing, overcrowding, and high levels of crime. Cayetano knew this area of the city well. He knew the streets and the deserted buildings. After all, he'd been roaming the same parts of Buenos Aires for as long as he could remember. The police, however, were suspicious of him. To them, it seemed odd that he was always around when children were in distress or needed to be saved.
On the 3rd of December, Señor Antonio Giordano looked out of his window, as he could no longer hear his son, Jesualdo, who had been playing outside at the time. It was common for very young children to play in the streets. When Señor Giordano went to the front of his house, there was no sign of the young boy. He looked nearby; he could not see him. Now very worried, he walked around the neighborhood, but still no sign of Jesualdo. Eventually, he went to the police station and reported that his son was missing. The police, however, were unconcerned and just said that the child was very young, so could not have gone far.
Señor Giordano continued his search. A local shop assistant told him that she had seen his son with a strange-looking teenager who had big ears and had bought him some sweets. Other people had also seen Jesualdo and described how he was walking with a big-eared teenager. Cayetano took the child to an abandoned, run-down area named Quinto Moreno. There was nothing there except rusty sheds left behind when the brick factory closed down. There were holes in walls; it was a type of place bored teenagers would come to. Rubbish was scattered about, and by now, Jesualdo was starting to cry. As he did, Cayetano would feed him sweets and tried to pacify him, but the small child was very anxious, and his crying continued. Cayetano tied the little boy's arms and legs with rope and knocked him to the floor. Although this area was abandoned, people would walk through it to go from one neighborhood to the next, so someone was bound to hear a young boy in distress. But before anyone went by, the crying stopped.
Many people were now looking for little Jesualdo, and as Cayetano left, he was approached by Señor Giordano, who inquired if he had seen his son. Cayetano replied that he had not and advised the gentleman to go to the police station. Cayetano then wandered off. Señor Giordano found himself in the rundown area of Quinto Moreno. He looked around, thinking that this was the type of place that children would hide. Suddenly, he noticed something that looked strangely out of place, leaning against a wall. As he approached, he could see the object was covering a hole. He moved it and peered in. There, on the floor, he could see the lifeless body of a small child, covered with a sheet. Peeling it back, his heart sank as he realized that the child was his son. He had been killed by strangulation and a nail in his forehead.
The police came and inspected the scene. There were no real clues, just the bodies surrounded by discarded cans and paper left by teenagers. The body of Jesualdo was taken back to his parents' house and prepared so mourners could come and pay their respects. People would ask each other, "What kind of monster could do this to a poor, innocent child?" One of the mourners was Cayetano. He stayed silent for a few moments before walking up to the body and touching the head. He then retreated back into the crowd of onlookers and left.
The death of three-year-old Jesualdo Giordano was reported widely in the press. They knew that stories such as this generated much interest from the Buenos Aires public, and by the time the evening papers came out, it seemed that everyone in the city had heard about it. Witnesses came forward who told the police that they had seen a child walking and eating sweets in the company of a small teenager with big ears.
The following day, Wednesday, December the 4th, 1912, the police went to the home of Cayetano and arrested him. They found pieces of rope in his pockets, which matched the rope found on the body of little Jesualdo. Cayetano, however, was not about to deny that he had committed the murder. He did not only tell the police the whole grisly tale of the events that happened the previous day; he also told them about previous crimes he had committed, including the murder of Maria Rosa Fassi in March 1906. Unfortunately, this site had been developed, and the police were unable to investigate his claims.
Cayetano was taken to an asylum and examined by doctors and psychiatrists. They eventually declared him to be insane. Here, his violent behavior continued when he attacked a fellow patient. Pressure mounted in the press for Cayetano to stand trial, and in 1915, he was sentenced to life in prison. At first, he was sent to Las Heras prison, then he was transferred to the Ushuaia prison, which was three thousand kilometers from Buenos Aires and, at the time, was the most southerly prison in the world.
In general, he was a good inmate. He was given work duties, which he undertook without fuss. He twice applied for parole, but each time it was denied by the Argentine authorities. Cayetano became institutionalized into the prison system, and possibly because they were ashamed of his notoriety, his family returned to Italy and broke off all contact with him. Cayetano died on the 15th of November 1944. The official cause of death was internal bleeding due to a gastric ulcer, but years later, one of the guards told how he had died from his injuries when he was attacked by fellow inmates after he had killed the prison cats.
The prison was closed down in 1947 and is now a museum. There are wax figures of some of the famous inmates, and of course, one of them is Cayetano Santos Godino.
Hello everyone, and thank you so much for listening. As usual, if any of you have any comments or feedback, they're always very much appreciated, and I hope to see you all again in the next brief case.