Claudia Mijangos
Claudia Mijangos Azrac (born 26 May 1956, in Mazatlan, Sinaloa) is a Mexican murder ex-convict who was condemned in 1990 for filicide.[1] Mijangos stabbed her three children to death declaring she was obliged by a diabolical entity that possessed her.[2] She was diagnosed with Schizoaffective disorder and temporal lobe epilepsy. Therefore, she was only condemned to 30 years in prison, the minimum sentence for such a crime in Mexico.[3][4]
Hiena de Queretaro | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 26, 1956 |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Other names | "La hiena de Querétaro " (The Hyena of Queretaro) |
| Occupation | Catechism teacher and ex-beauty queen. |
| Known for | Committing filicide against her three children. |
| Criminal status | Released. |
| Spouse(s) | Alfredo Castaños Gutiérrez (?-) (divorced) |
| Children | Claudia María Castaños Mijangos (1978-1989), Ana Belén Castaños Mijangos (1980-1989) and Alfredo Antonio Castaños Mijangos (1983-1989). |
| Parent(s) | Antonio Mijangos & María del Carmen Arzac |
| Motive | Serious mental disorders |
| Criminal charge | 3 counts of murders with ingravescent by consanguinity relation |
| Penalty | 30-years prison |
Capture status | Free. |
| Details | |
| Victims | Her 3 children |
| Date | 24 April 1989 |
| Country | Mexico |
| State(s) | Queretaro |
Date apprehended | 24 April 1989 released on 24 April 2019 after 30 years on prison. |
According to local legends, the house where she committed the crime is haunted. The site was televised by the Mexican paranormal television program, Extranormal[5] and by the Mexican parapsychologist Carlos Trejo.
Background
Claudia Mijangos was raised in a functional middle-class family. In her youth, she was named Mazatlan's beauty queen.[6] After graduating in commerce, she married Alfredo Castaños Gutiérrez. They had three children. After the death of her parents, the family inherited a sizable amount of money and moved to Queretaro City, Queretaro. There, the three children were enrolled in the Catholic school Colegio Fray Luis de León, where Claudia Mijangos worked as a Catechism teacher.[7] Claudia later opened a fashion store downtown.
In the late 1980s Claudia and her husband Alfredo began to develop marital problems. She began to display signs of emotional instability, according to relatives and friends. The couple attended marriage counseling with Dr. Jaime Flores of Instinto Asesino, a television show on Discovery Channel. Dr. Flores asserted that the power struggle apparent within the marriage was irreconcilable. Shortly after, Claudia became obsessed with Father Ramón, another teacher at the Colegio Fray Luis de León.[8] Claudia and Alfredo separated in 1989.
Murders
When Claudia was 33-years-old she began to experience severe psychotic attacks in the months preceding the murders. These attacks reportedly involved hallucinations of demons and angels which left Claudia psychologically decomposed.
On April 23, 1989, Claudia's husband picked up their children from school and brought them to Claudia's house. There, Castaños and Claudia engaged in an intense argument. He probed her about Father Ramon and articulated his desire to get back together. Furious, Claudia defended Father Ramon and rejected Castaños's desire to rekindle their relationship. Before he left, Claudia threatened Castaños saying he would be sorry.[9] After locking the door behind him, Claudia went upstairs to tuck her children in bed and went to sleep.
A few hours later on April 24, 1989, at around 4 in the morning, Claudia Mijangos awoke to loud voices in her head. She stated that the voices told her Mazatlan had disappeared and that "all of Queretaro was a spirit". Desperate, Claudia called her friend Veronica Vazquez who asked Claudia to calm down. Her friend Veronica promised to come in the morning to help her. Following the call, Claudia got out of bed, dressed, went to the kitchen and took three knives while her children still slept peacefully.
At about 5 in the morning Claudia woke up her 6-year-old son Alfredo and attacked him with a knife. Leaning on the child's bed, she grabbed his left hand and completely amputated it. The boy screamed in pain and terror. Awakened by the noise, Alfredo's eldest sister, 11-year-old Claudia Maria, came to the room and begged her mother to stop. Switching knives, Claudia rushed over her eldest daughter and stabbed her six times. Wounded, Claudia María managed to leave the room and loudly pleaded her mother for mercy. The screams of pain and despair woke up the neighbors. Claudia took the third knife and stabbed her nine-year-old daughter Ana Belén in the heart. Claudia ran downstairs, searching for Claudia Maria who had fainted on the dining room floor and stabbed her again. She then dragged her upstairs and placed her lifeless body in the master bedroom.[4]
Crime scene and evidence
- Pictures taken in the crime site
The dress that Mijangos used during the murders.
Bed in the principal room, there she placed the bodies.
Knives set in the kitchen, the weapons that she used not shown.
References
- Rosado, Isaías (April 24, 2015). "A 26 años del caso Mijangos" [To 26 years of the Mijangos case]. ADN Informativo (in Spanish). Queretaro, Queretaro. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
- Pino, Ángeles (September 16, 2011). "La trágica historia de Claudia Mijangos" [The tragic history of Claudia Mijangos]. El Universal (in Spanish). Mexico City. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
- "Claudia Mijangos, la Hiena de Queretaro". Escrito con sangre (in Spanish). Escrito con sangre blogspot. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
El diagnóstico fue epilepsia del lóbulo temporal, acompañado de esquizofrenia, por lo que se suspendió el proceso penal ordinario y se acordó aplicar una medida de seguridad de 30 años de prisión...
- "Claudia Mijangos, la Hiena de Queretaro". Escrito con sangre (in Spanish). Escrito con sangre blogspot. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
Hubo rumores y artículos de periódico afirmando que había salido de prisión y se había ido del estado, pero no era verdad...
- "Claudia Mijangos: la mujer que sacudió Querétaro". Ciudadypoder.com.mx. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
- "Claudia Mijangos, la Hiena de Queretaro". Escrito con sangre (in Spanish). Escrito con sangre blogspot. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
Claudia Mijangos Azrac nación en 1956 en Mazatlán, Sinaloa (México). Su infancia y adolescencia fueron felices, nunca sufrió maltratos y tuvo sus necesidades materiales y afectivas cubiertas. Estudió la Carrera de Comercio. Cuando era una jovencita fue elegida Reina de Belleza en Mazatlán...
- Rampoldi, Juan Manuel (director); Ayala, Héctor (pollee); Castellanos, Rigoberto (pollee) (February 2011). Instinto asesino. Temporada 2, Cap. 5: La Hiena de Querétaro [Instinto asesino. Season 2, Chapter 5: The Hyena of Queretaro] (Television production) (in Spanish). Discovery Channel - Endemol Argentina. Event occurs at First part of video. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
Por la cercanía de Querétaro con el DF, buscando una mejor calidad de vida, muchas parejas jóvenes deciden radicarse en está ciudad durante los 80s. (...) Claudia Mijangos nace en Mazatlán era hija de una familia acomodada. Sus padres fallecen y le dejan una herencia a Claudia, muy generosa. Ella en ese momento estaba casada con Alfredo Castaños y tenía 3 hijos... (...) (Ayala, Héctor. 2011) ... Colegio Fray Luis de León. Ella tenía 3 hijos en el colegio, en la primaria también era miembr de un grupo de madres catequistas... (Castellanos, Rigoberto. 2011)
- Rampoldi, Juan Manuel (director); Dr. Flores, Jaime (pollee); Castellanos, Rigoberto (pollee) (February 2011). Instinto asesino. Temporada 2, Cap. 5: La Hiena de Querétaro [Instinto asesino. Season 2, Chapter 5: The Hyena of Queretaro] (Television production) (in Spanish). Discovery Channel - Endemol Argentina. Event occurs at First part of video. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
Una vez que se establece en Querétaro abre una tienda de ropa exclusiva para mujeres. (Narrator) A mi me tocó atender al Sr. Alfredo Castaños y a la Sra. Claudia Mijangos comomo terapeuta de pareja. Ellos tenían una lucha de poder, en donde ceder significaba ponerse uno debajo del otro por ello se negaban a ceder uno frente al otro... (Dr. Flores, Jaime. 2011) Pues ella buscaba disolver su matrimonio por la Iglesia, durante eses platicas me di cuenta que a veces ella se transformaba, ella no era ella, después de un rato ya se comportaba como normalmente... (Castellanos, Rigoberto. 2011). También se expeculaba que ella tuvo una relación con el padre Ramón. (Ayala, Héctor. 2011)
- "A 26 años del caso Mijangos | ADN Informativo | Noticias de Querétaro". adninformativo.mx. Archived from the original on 2017-02-18. Retrieved 2017-01-04.