Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo(November 1, 1962 – May 6, 1989) was a Cuban-American serialkiller, drug dealer, and cult leader who led an infamous gang thatwas dubbed the Narcosatanists (Spanish: Los Narcosatánicos) by themedia. His cult members nicknamed him The Godfather (El Padrino).Constanzo led the cult with Sara Aldrete, whom followers nicknamed"The Godmother" (La Madrina). The cult was involvedin multiple ritualistic killings in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico,including the murder of Mark Kilroy, an American student killed inMatamoros in 1989.
Early life
Adolfo Constanzo was born in Miami,Florida, to Delia Aurora González, a Cuban immigrant mother in 1962.She gave birth to Adolfo at the age of 15 and eventually had threechildren, by different fathers. Delia moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico,after her first husband died and remarried there. Constanzo wasbaptized Catholic and served as an altar boy, but also accompaniedhis mother on trips to Haiti to learn about Vodou.
Constanzo's family returned to Miami in1972 and his stepfather died soon after, leaving the family with somemoney. As a teenager, he became apprenticed to a local sorcerer andbegan to practice a religion called Palo Mayombe, which involvesanimal sacrifice. Delia remarried and his new stepfather was involvedin both the religion and drug dealing. Constanzo and his mother werearrested numerous times for theft, vandalism, and shoplifting. Hegraduated from high school, but was expelled from prep school.
As an adult, Constanzo moved to MexicoCity and met the men who were to become his followers: MartínQuintana, Jorge Montes, and Omar Orea. They began to run a profitablebusiness casting spells to bring good luck, which involved expensiveritual sacrifices of chickens, goats, snakes, zebras, and even lioncubs. Many of his clients were rich drug dealers and hitmen whoenjoyed the violence of Constanzo's "magical"displays. He also attracted other rich members of Mexican society,including several high-ranking corrupt policemen who introduced himto the city's powerful drug cartels.
Constanzo started to raid graveyardsfor human bones to put in his nganga, or cauldron. Before long, hiscult decided that the spirits of the dead that resided in the ngangawould be stronger (providing the cult more powerful protection) withlive human sacrifices instead of old bones. The resulting killingssoon totaled more than twenty victims, whose mutilated bodies werefound in and around Mexico City. This process escalated untilConstanzo eventually decided that the gang needed the power of abrain from an American student, culminating with the 1989 murder ofMark Kilroy.
Murders
Constanzo began to believe that hismagic spells, many of which he took from Palo Mayombe, wereresponsible for the success of the cartels and demanded to become afull business partner with one of the most powerful families he knew,the Calzadas. When his demand was rejected, seven family membersdisappeared. Their bodies turned up later with fingers, toes, ears,brains, and even (in one case) the spine missing. Constanzo soonmade friends with a new cartel, the Hernandez brothers. He also tookup with a young woman named Sara Aldrete, who became the highpriestess of the cult. Constanzo made Aldrete second-in-command ofhis cult, and directed her to supervise his followers while he wasshipping marijuana over the border into the US.
In 1988, Constanzo moved to RanchoSanta Elena, a house in the desert. It is there where he carried outmore sadistic ritual murders, sometimes of strangers and other timesof rival drug dealers. He also used the ranch to store huge shipmentsof cocaine and marijuana.
On March 13, 1989, Constanzo's henchmenabducted a pre-med student, Mark Kilroy, from outside a Mexican barand took him back to the ranch. Kilroy was a US citizen who had beenin Mexico on spring break. When Kilroy was brought to the ranch,Constanzo murdered him. Under pressure from Texan politicians,Mexican police initially picked up four of Constanzo's followers,including two of the Hernandez brothers. Police quickly discoveredthe cult and that Constanzo had been responsible for Kilroy's death;he sought a "good"/superior brain for one of hisritual spells. Officers raided the ranch and discovered Constanzo'scauldron, which contained various items such as a dead black cat anda human brain. Fifteen mutilated corpses were dug up at the ranch,one of them Kilroy's. Officials said Kilroy was killed by Constanzowith a machete chop to the back of the neck when Kilroy tried toescape about 12 hours after being taken to the ranch.
Death
Constanzo fled to Mexico City with fourof his followers. They were only discovered when police were calledto the apartment because of an unrelated dispute taking place there.As the officers approached, Constanzo, mistakenly believing they hadlocated him, opened fire with a machine gun. This brought in policereinforcements. Determined not to go to prison, he handed the gun tofollower Álvaro de León and ordered him to open fire on him andMartín Quintana. By the time police reached the apartment, bothConstanzo and Quintana were dead. De León, known as "ElDuby", and Sara Aldrete were immediately arrested.
A total of 14 cult members were chargedwith a range of crimes, from murder and drug-running to obstructingthe course of justice. Sara Aldrete, Elio Hernández and SerafínHernández were convicted of multiple murders and were ordered toserve prison sentences of over 60 years each. De León was given a30-year term. If co-leader Aldrete is ever released from prison,American authorities plan to prosecute her for the murder of MarkKilroy.
Possible accomplices
Abel Lima "El Sodomita deIztapalapa" (alleged suspect for the kidnappings in themid-90s).
Rubén Estrada "PatitasCortas"
Christian Campos "ElPanzas"
Emmanuel Romero "ElTrompas"
Saúl Sánchez "El Macaco"
Ricardo Peña "El Cepillín"
Documentaries
The Discovery Channel series Most Evil,by Dr. Michael Stone, profiled Constanzo in the last episode ("CultLeaders") of the second season. Constanzo's "evillevel" was 22, the highest.
Constanzo was also profiled in thedocumentary Instinto Asesino, which aired on Discovery en Español in2010. The episode was entitled "El Padrino".
On July 13, 2013, the InvestigationDiscovery Channel profiled this crime in its Poisoned Passionsseries. The episode is titled "Sacrificial Evil".Constanzo was portrayed by actor Aldo Uribe.
On March 1, 2018, the ID Channel seriesPandora's Box: Unleashing Evil portrayed the crimes in an episodeentitled "The Devil's Ranch".
Pop culture
The song "SacrificialShack" by the band Pain Teens is sung from the point of viewof a cult member who confesses his crimes to the police after he iscaptured, taking the police to the Constanzo's ranch for anexplanatory tour.
Borderland is a 2007 film looselybased on Constanzo and his cult.
Gruesome Fate, a Texas death metalband, performs a song called "Padrino de la Matamoros".It is a song about the ritual killings which is a lead track on their2016 release.
Brujeria, a death metal band whoselyrics focus on Satanism, anti-Christianity, sex and drug smuggling,put a picture of a severed head (later nicknamed Coco Loco) on theiralbum Matando Güeros. The head is believed to be of a victim ofAdolfo Constanzo cult.
Japanese doom metal band Church ofMisery reference Constanzo in their song "El Padrino"(Godfather, in Spanish). It appears on their Houses of the Unholyalbum, each song being about a serial killer/mass murderer.
Danish Psych Rock/Noise Rock bandNarcosatanicos is allegedly named after the cult headed by Constanzo.
In the film Perdita Durango, twowhite American teenagers are kidnapped by Hispanic criminals (escapedfrom the DEA), who attempt a Santeria human sacrifice.
Podcasts
"Adolfo Constanzo: TheNarcosatanists & The Matamoros Cult Killings," Lights OutPodcast. 26 March 2021.
Adolfo Constanzo was the focus ofthe 1st episode of Unexplained Realms the podcast, titled, DevilsRanch .
The Last Podcast on the Left -Episodes 430-432
"Los NarcosatanicosMurders," This is Awful. 25 Feb 2021.
Parcast Cults did a two episodestory on Constanzo and the Narcosatanists, released on 19 June and 26June, 2018.