Cayetano Domingo Grossi

Cayetano Domingo Grossi
Image published in a note of the weekly Caras y Caretas of April 14, 1900
Born	1854 Italy
Died	April 6, 1900(1900-04-06) (aged 45–46) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cause of death	Executed by firing squad
Other names	"The Man in the Bag"
Criminal penalty	Death
Conviction(s)	Murder
Details
Victims	5
Span of crimes	1896–1900
Country	Argentina

Cayetano Domingo Grossi (born 1854 in Italy - died April 6, 1900 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) was the first serial killer in Argentinian history. He murdered 5 of his newborn children that he had as a result of violations that his two stepdaughters were subjected to. For this reason he was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad on April 6, 1900.^[1]

History

On May 29, 1896, he found himself near a fat factory, with a bag containing an arm of a newborn baby. The head of Police Station 12 reported the finding, ordered an inspection of the place, and among the trash found a shattered skull, legs, and the other arm, leaving the site under surveillance, that same day when one of the collector trucks unloaded waste, completing the baby's body this way. The autopsy revealed that baby died from a skull fracture, but the investigation did not yield any positive results, leaving the crime unsolved.

Two years later, on May 5, 1898, a new body of a newborn with a shattered skull in advanced state of decomposition was found. On his arms and neck were signs of first and second degree burns. The body, according to the forensic tests carried out, lived four days like that and it died from severe compression of the anterior part of the neck.

During the investigation, someone noticed that the body appeared to be wrapped up in burlap, black casimir, used often in repairs. It was established that a car had collected the garbage and human remains.

Interviewing a man named Carretero, he confessed that he had seen the remains, but of fear of being considered involved, had decided to say nothing to police.

Thoroughly reviewing the collected items, the researches noticed that the bag had numerous patches, had a remarkable wear on the trellises, as if it had been used by a peddler carrying baskets with straps and that in his pockets were remains of cigarettes and anise grains, which made the authorities consider that the perpetrator was either Spanish or Calabrian, since they had a habit of carrying anise seeds. The other garments, by their quality and condition, showed that their owner was poor.

Thus, the police, started staking out the garbage cart and directing the search towards people with scarce resources; they were able to locate and take cognizance on May 9, 1898, that on Artes Street 1438 (now Carlos Pellegrini) in the Retiro neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, there was a family that always dressed in the morning.

The aforementioned family consisted of a woman named Rose Ponce de Nicola, her spouse, Cayetano Domingo Grossi (a carter by profession); Rosa's two older daughter Clara and Catalina, and three younger children.

The police learned from neighbours' testimonies that Grossi had intimate relationships with his stepdaughters. It was also established that Clara had been pregnant a short time before, and a few days later, she was in a normal state, not knowing what happened to her baby.

A day later, on May 10, a police commission ordered an inspection of a room occupied by the family, which revealed a tin containing the body of an infant wrapped in rags, thus confirming their suspicions. Grossi explained that the sack was found in a garbage bin belonging to his son Carlos, and that he had killed the baby at Clara's request. He also said about the other baby had been born dead.

That night, Rosa and her daughter Clara declared that the latter had two children with Grossi. He initially denied having sex with his stepdaughters, blaming the boyfriends for their pregnancies. Finally, a few days later, he confessed to murdering the first found baby in 1896; at the same time he confessed to incinerating several more babies, but without assuming they had died.^[2]

In subsequent interrogations, Grossi acknowledged having one child with Catalina and four with Clara, strangling three, the remaining two being burned by his and stepdaughters. Rosa, Clara and Catalina accepted the five crimes but blamed Grossi for the deaths of the newborns.

This caught the police's attention, the strange degree of submission of women to the criminal which had led them to be so silent for so long. It was alleged that on one occasion Grossi tried to rape one of Rosa's younger daughters but the sisters prevented it. Finally, it was established that Grossi himself helped with the births and then threw the babies into fires, which was witnessed by the women.^[3]

Death sentence and execution

Grossi's concubine Rosa and her daughters, Clara and Catalina, were considered "concealers" of the homicides and were sentenced to 3 years of effective prison each and paying court costs. Ultimately, Catalina's sentence was reduced to 2 years in prison.

Having established the responsibilities of the accused, Cayetano Domingo Grossi was found guilty as the perpetrator of the murders of the babies. He was sentenced to death by Judge Ernesto Madero.

The day of his execution, at 5 o'clock in the morning Grossi's children entered the prison chapel, the first to enter being a 19-year old man. He hadn't seen his father in over a year, but he showed no emotion on his face. The youngest son, Lorenzo, 6 years old, did not want to approach his father and shied away from his caresses. Teresita, his daughter, cried when she saw him, also resisted hugging him.

First lientenants Rosa Burgos and Calisto García and captain Manuel Medrano were in charge of his execution. He was put on the bench, his eyes were blindfolded, his hands and foot were tied. Grossi was executed by firing squad on April 6, 1900 at 8 AM. Second lieutenant Emilio Lascano approached his body and shot him in a coup de grace.^[4]

He is the first serial killer in Argentinian history and not Cayetano Santos Godino, as most believe.

See also

• Death penalty

References