#rbpc1971

INFOPOST: Carlos Eduardo Robledo Puch: “The Angel of Death”

Carlos Eduardo Robledo Puch (born in 1952) is Argentina’s most notorious serial killer. In just 1971–72 he and accomplices robbed dozens of places and murdered 11 people (mostly night watchmen) by shooting them in the back or while they slept. He was captured in February 1972, tried in 1980, and sentenced to life (indeterminate) imprisonment. Puch has served over 50 years in prison – longer than any other South American inmate – and continues to be denied parole despite repeated petitions. His case generated a national shock: media dubbed him “Ángel de la Muerte” (Angel of Death) or “Ángel Negro” (Black Angel), books and a 2018 film (El Ángel) depict his life.

Carlos Robledo Puch was born on 19 January 1952 in Buenos Aires into a comfortable middle-class family. His father Víctor was a General Motors technician of Spanish descent, and his mother Aída Habendank was an immigrant German-Argentine housewife. Parents had waited years for a child (symbolically calling his birth “miraculous”), and young Carlos (“Carlitos”) was doted on in a strict, German-influenced household. He studied piano and learned German, and by many accounts had an angelic face and quiet manner. However, he was shy and bullied in school; as a teen he shoplifted and joyrode a motorcycle, earning short stints in juvenile detention. By late 1969 he had dropped out of school and begun hanging out with Jorge Antonio Ibáñez, a 17-year-old schoolmate. The two quickly escalated from petty theft to armed robbery in 1970–71, taking money and goods in Buenos Aires suburbs.

Starting March 1971, Robledo Puch’s violent spree exploded. Between March 1971 and Feb 1972 he killed 11 people (nine men, two women) and wounded others in a series of midnight hold-ups. His signature was sheer brutality: he would burst into nightclubs, shops or suburban homes, shoot the victim (often in the head) even if unresisting, then rob the safe. Victims were usually security guards or sleepy proprietors – men shot from behind at point-blank range. His first two murders came on 15 Mar 1971: he and Ibáñez raided the “Enamour” nightclub in Olivos. They found two men (the barman Manuel Godoy, age 23, and manager Félix Mastronardi, 35) sleeping in the back office. Puch shot both dead with a .32 revolver. (According to one source these men were surprised sleeping, underscoring the cold-blooded nature.) Over the next year, Robledo Puch (initially with Ibáñez, later with new partner Héctor Somoza) committed dozens of robberies and 9 more homicides, almost all by shooting victims in their sleep or while unarmed. Notable crimes include:

3 May 1971 (Vicente López): Patrolman José Bianchi (29) killed by Puch; his wife Diana was shot and r4p3d. In that attack Puch fired at the couple’s ten-month-old baby in the crib, a bullet lodged in the wooden bar. (The baby survived; it’s unclear whether Puch meant to shoot the child or simply missed.)

24 May 1971 (Olivos): Janitor Juan Scattone (61) gunned down at the Tanti supermarket; Puch and Ibáñez celebrated over his body.

13 June 1971 (Pilar): Teenage student Virginia Rodríguez (16) kidnapped, raped and executed by Puch on the Pan-American Highway.

24 June 1971 (Olivos): Model Ana María Dinardo (23) abducted outside a bar, raped and shot dead at the same Pan-American spot.

5 Aug 1971: Jorge Ibáñez (17), Puch’s accomplice, is killed in a car accident (vehicle driven by Robledo Puch). Officially deemed an accident, this incident later prompted speculation that Puch may have murdered Ibáñez (see Controversies below).

15 Nov 1971 (Boulogne): Guard Raúl Del Bene (50) shot dead at the Rincón supermarket during a robbery. Somoza was now Puch’s partner.

17 Nov 1971 (Vicente López): Ex-policeman Juan Carlos Rozas (65) slain at an auto dealership by Puch and Somoza.

25 Nov 1971 (Acassuso): Watchman Bienvenido Ferrini (63) murdered at a car agency.

3 Feb 1972 (San Fernando): In Carupá’s Masseiro Hermanos hardware, Puch and Somoza shot guard Manuel Acevedo (58) dead. According to accounts, Puch then unexpectedly turned on Somoza during a scuffle and shot him twice. He doused Somoza’s body with alcohol and burned the corpse’s face and hands with a torch to foil identification. (Remarkably, Puch forgot to take Somoza’s ID from the body pocket, which led police straight to him.) That same night the police found Robledo Puch and arrested him – he was 20 years old. (Robledo Puch claimed later that only Somoza killed the victims and that Puch himself was innocent of murder; he admitted only to some robberies.)

By the time of his 1972 arrest, Robledo Puch was accused of 11 murders, 17 robberies, 2 kidnappings, 1 rape (and attempted rape), plus other assaults. A contemporary journalist noted he had “asesinado a por lo menos once personas y cometido una treintena de atracos” (at least eleven murders and dozens of robberies). Victims ranged from 16- to 65-years-old; Puch’s nickname “Chacal” (“Jackal”) spoke to the merciless way he preyed on defenseless people.

Puch’s slip-up with Somoza’s ID led to a swift arrest on 4 Feb 1972. He was initially jailed at Olmos Prison. A few months later he escaped on 7 July 1973 (at age 21), along with another inmate, sparking a 68-hour nationwide manhunt. The pair were recaptured soon after and returned to custody. The formal trial did not occur until a few years later. On 27 November 1980, the Chamber of Appeals in San Isidro found Puch guilty on 10 counts of aggravated (premeditated) murder, 1 of simple homicide, plus assorted robberies and related crimes. He was sentenced to reclusión perpetua por tiempo indeterminado – Argentina’s harshest penalty (essentially life in prison). The 1980 verdict quotes Puch as calling the proceedings “a Roman circus” and protesting that he was “prejudged”. In fact, Puch maintained his innocence at trial: he claimed he had only participated in robberies and that his accomplices (Ibáñez or Somoza) were the actual killers. This defense was rejected. When convicted, reporters labeled him “monstruo” (monster) and “bestia humana” (human beast), framing the trial as the end of a national horror.

Puch’s legal team pursued appeals and parole hearings, but none have succeeded. His petitions were denied repeatedly, especially when judges noted that he showed no remorse and had no family support on the outside. For example, after famed mass-murderer Ricardo Barreda got house arrest in 2008, Puch applied for conditional freedom – and was promptly turned down in May 2008. He appealed again in 2011 and 2013 and was refused. Notably, in 2013 he even asked to be executed by lethal injection (Argentina has no death penalty). The Supreme Court flatly rejected his requests for sentence review or execution.

By March 2026 Puch has served 54+ years behind bars – making him the longest-serving prisoner in South America. He is now 74 and housed in the Sierra Chica Prison in Buenos Aires Province. (He refuses to be transferred to open regimes or outside custody.) Over the decades he has become physically frail: suffering from hernias, cataracts and other ailments. In interviews he bizarrely insists he is “suffering horribly” and again demands poison – even as courts have offered more lenient measures (like limited free outings), which Puch surprisingly declines (“estoy acostumbrado a esto,” he said).

In popular perception, Puch’s case is sometimes compared to other sadistic killers (he even “surpassed Charles Manson” in years incarcerated). Some victims’ families still demand justice and speak out at his parole hearings. Meanwhile, an odd footnote: he receives fan letters and has a cult following of true-crime. Psychologically he’s been discussed in criminology as a rare example of organized youth violence (killing spree at age 19). Journalists like Osvaldo Soriano even used him to critique society (“the press called him a monster to avoid their own responsibility”).

Fun Facts!!

The press called him both Ángel Negro and Ángel de la Muerte because of his calm appearance (“angel-faced”) and murderous deeds.

He had striking pale blue eyes; a newspaper called him “el ángel de ojos azules” (the blue-eyed angel).

In jail he learned Portuguese and studied theology (he professes religious faith). He also played music – famously sending a letter to dictator Galtieri offering to fight in the Malvinas War (of course, he never left prison).

As of 2025, he’s served over 53 years, surpassing even Charles Manson’s 46-year prison record. He holds Argentina’s record for longest incarceration.

The 2018 film El Ángel fictionalized Puch’s story, making him into a cinematic antihero. Ironically, the real Puch did not like the movie and publicly distanced himself from it.