Sara Aldrete, Mexico's 'Narco-Satanist', Asks for Freedom After 31 Years in Prison

"MX" for Borderland Beat

Sara Aldrete in 1989

After spending 31 years behind bars, Mexican convicted serial killer Sara Aldrete issued a formal petition asking federal authorities to grant her release.

Aldrete is widely known as La Narcosatánica (The Narco-Satanist) for her leadership involvement in cult responsible for multiple killings in the 1980s, including the gruesome 1989 murder of American student Mark Kilroy in Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

According to Mexico's Federal Penal Code, convicted inmates can request up to nineteen different measures when they are found guilty of a crime. Among these measures is supervised release, which Aldrete is requesting. In Aldrete's case, she requested a judge to grant her release and allow her to spend the 19 years she has left in freedom with an ankle monitoring device and extra surveillance.

Background

Sara Aldrete was born in Matamoros in 1964 and was a top student and cheerleader at Texas Southmost College. Her involvement in drug trafficking began after she began dating Gilberto Sosa, a drug trafficker linked to the family of Gulf Cartel member Saul Hernandez Rivera. Sometime in 1987, she met a Cuban-American drug dealer and cult leader Adolfo Constanzo ("The Godfather"). He befriended Aldrete and appointed her as the cult's recruiter since Constanzo wanted an introduction to Sosa's drug gang.

Constanzo was a charismatic cult leader. As a kid, his mother introduced him to introduced him to Palo Mayombe, an Afro-Caribbean religion that involves animal sacrifice. Other sources stated he was also introduced to Santería. Constanzo eventually reached the status of high-priest, "padrino". In 1984, he moved to Mexico City to start his life as a tarot card reader and eventually developed a cult following.

Adolfo Constanzo (left) and Sara Aldrete (right)

His outgoing personality, physical attractiveness (he previously worked as a male model), and claimed psychic talent granted him the opportunity to mingle with Mexico City's upper class. His reputation for predicting the future and offering ritual cleansing became popular with some drug dealers, musicians and police officers. With his underworld connections, Constanzo became involved in drug trafficking and moved to Tamaulipas.

Cult killings
Constanzo brain-washed his followers and told them that human sacrifice granted them immunity from law enforcement for their drug smuggling operations.

In March 1989, Aldrete's cult kidnapped American student Mark Kilroy in Matamoros while he was visiting for Spring Break. He was taken by his abductors to a ranch where he was tortured and sodomized for hours before being murdered in a human sacrifice ritual. Kilroy was killed with a machete blow and then had his brain removed and boiled in a pot.

His killers then inserted a wire through his spinal column, amputated his legs at the knees, and buried him at the ranch along with 14 other people who had been killed there before him.

The killing drew worldwide media attention and initiated an international police manhunt because of the unusual circumstances of the crime.

Aldrete's arrest and sentence
On 6 May 1989, the Mexican police surrounded the home where Constanzo and other cult members (including Aldrete) were hiding. During the standoff, Constanzo grew impatient and ordered one of his henchmen to kill him with a machine gun. Aldrete was arrested at the scene and imprisoned in Santa Martha Acatitla, a women's prison in Mexico City.

Aldrete in the early 2000s

In 1994, she was sentenced to 62 years in prison. She was convicted of multi-homicide (31 years), possession of narcotics (12 years), involvement in organized crime (5 years), police impersonation (2 years), illegal body desecration (2 years) and illegal possession of firearms (10 years). Her sentence was later reduced to 50 years. Her expected release date if she is not granted this early release appeal is in 2039.

Note: This post includes excerpts from the Wikipedia page of the Murder of Mark Kilroy, which was published by "MX" in February 2017. It includes over 140 sources.