“I am Juan José Moreno Cuenca, although everyone calls me Vaca or Heifer. I was born here, on this other side of society, and I never could, or never knew, to cross over to the other.” This is how the movie Yo, ‘el Vaquilla’ began, which hooked hundreds of people to the television. Everyone wanted to know the adventures of that juvenile delinquent who had such an impact in the eighties. Almost four decades later, when Netflix added the film to its catalogue, it led the most viewed ranking for several days and when Enrique Figueredo and Pere Cullell spoke about it in their Dossier Negro podcast, the most listened to on La Vanguardia, it also became the most listened chapter.

“El Vaquilla is a phenomenon that transcends its death. He was a thief but people considered him a Robin Hood. Probably because he started out as a kid who made fun of the Police. He drove very fast and very well, with bricks in his shoes to get to the pedals”, explains Figueredo, who together with his partner publishes Mala gente (Destino / Columna), a book in which they compile some of the most horrifying and media events. of Spain, and which includes the story of this rogue who began his criminal career at the age of 9.

“Precisely because it was a myth, they tried to reinsert him several times, even going so far as to offer him a job at Seat. The authorities wanted to use his case as an example but to no avail. Although there are cases in which it was possible, such as that of José Rabadán, the murderer of the katana. He got married, has a daughter and is living within the law again,” Cullell notes. His case froze more than one in 2000. He had just turned sixteen when this lover of martial arts killed his parents and his sister with the Japanese sword that his father had given him a long ago.

Not all crimes are related to someone known. “There is the case of Volker Eckert, the German trucker who killed prostitutes at random, since he considered them the weakest link. They agree to have sex, because it is his job, and he promised them a lot of money in exchange for tying them up. But once he did, there was no escape. He was a psychopath, ”says Figueredo, who acknowledges that there is a case that at the time caught his attention even more, that of the exorcism of Almansa.

“That we access that matter and such close people, and refresh a case that seems to be from the 17th century, is completely heartbreaking.” It happened in the 90s. Two half-naked women left their house running in terror after a local police patrol showed up at their home. Inside, there was a dead minor who, according to her mother, one of the fleeing women, had become pregnant by the same demon.

In addition to the aforementioned cases, the authors review others, such as that of Josep Marimón, the greatest mass murderer in the history of Spain; that of Puerto Hurraco, which led two families to threaten each other to death; or the murder of Asunta Basterra, by her parents.

The expectation of all these crimes led them to ask both journalists what it is about black chronicle that attracts so much. “Not even the journalist himself has a firm answer. The thing is, when you start on the trail of events, you can’t stop,” acknowledges Cullell, who began investigating crimes “on the rebound. A few years ago I was doing a history series about the civil war and they asked me to do another one about assassins. I said why not. I think that except writing economics, I could try anything, with more or less success, of course. I accepted and then I realized that there is a supernatural force that makes you always keep an eye on cases, even if you are no longer in the area of ​​events.

Figueredo, who also started by chance, fondly remembers when he was called years ago by a newspaper to join that section. “I was canine for working so I accepted without blinking. Any area would have seemed fine to me at the time, so I gave it my all. And although later throughout my career I have been in different sections, I have never strayed from the events nor do I think I will ”, he concludes.