October 31, 1896 - Cayetano Santos Godino
His victims were almost exclusively young children, and his crimes began when he himself was still a child — a detail that made his case both medically puzzling and socially alarming to Argentine authorities in the early twentieth century. The attacks spanned years and combined homicide with arson, suggesting a pattern of compulsion rather than opportunism. Even after institutionalization, he continued to harm those around him, ultimately rendering himself too dangerous for psychiatric care.
From Wikipedia
Cayetano Santos Godino (31 October 1896 – 15 November 1944), also known as El Petiso Orejudo (Spanish: The Big-Eared Midget), was an Argentine serial killer and arsonist who murdered four children, attempted to kill seven others, and set fire to seven buildings, psychologically enjoying fires.
Deemed insane by doctors, he was initially hospitalized in a psychiatric facility, but was quickly sent to prison after he attacked vulnerable and non-violent patients. In November 1944, Godino died at the Ushuaia Penitentiary in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego Province, presumably killed by other inmates who were angry at him for killing a pet cat.
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