Cause of death Hanging Span of killings 1836–1840 Role Robber | Victims 70+ Name Diogo Alves Date apprehended 1840 | |
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Other names O assassino do Aqueduto das Aguas Livres, O Pancadas | ||
Bring me the head of diogo alves
Diogo Alves (1810 – 19 February 1841), also known as "O assassino do Aqueduto das Aguas Livres" ("The Assassin of Aguas Livres Aqueduct"), was a Spanish serial killer and robber who was suspected of killing over 70 people in Portugal from 1836 to 1840.
Contents
Preserved Head of Diogo Alves | Diago Alves full Story
Biography
Diogo Alves was born in Galicia, Spain in 1810. He moved to Portugal at an early age.
Starting in 1836, Alves would throw his victims off the Aguas Livres Aqueduct after robbing them, simulating a suicide. Alves had obtained a false key to the aqueduct and it was only found out to be the work of a criminal after a family of four was killed. The aqueduct was then temporarily closed. Alves had also started a gang by this time. He had a female companion, Gertrudes Maria, throughout some of the crimes. He was caught after murdering a doctor and his family during a robbery in 1840. Alves was sentenced to death and hanged on February 19, 1841 in Lisbon. He was suspected of killing over 70 people. After his death, his head was kept in a jar of formaldehyde at the Escola Medico-Cirurgica de Lisboa to later study the mind of a criminal and it is still intact today at the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa. A Portuguese film, Os Crimes de Diogo Alves, was made in 1911 about his crimes.
