Juan Fernando Hermosa was 15 years old when, in November 1991, a series of killings began in Quito, Ecuador. By the time police reached the family home in January 1992 the press was counting between 15 and 23 dead, and the country was talking about a teenage leader of a small group that spent its weekends in the city's nightlife districts. Because he had not turned 16, the law treated him as a minor. Ecuadorian press accounts describe a four-year term, the maximum then available for a minor, and no criminal conviction. He escaped, was caught in Colombia, served out the term and was released in 1996. On February 28, 1996, his 20th birthday, he was found dead near Nueva Loja, in the province of Sucumbíos. No charge over his death is on record.
The totals, the dates of some events and the legal wording all remain in dispute.
Hermosa was born on February 28, 1976. Infobae and El Diario, a newspaper in Ecuador, place his birth in the coastal province of Los Ríos; another piece in El Diario and Mexico's El Tiempo give Shushufindi, in the Amazon region. The accounts say he was adopted as a small child and brought to Quito. His adoptive father was a military man who owned land in the eastern part of the country and was often away on it.
The family lived in a neighborhood in the north of Quito. Later accounts say that his behavior changed when he learned about his origins. No court made a finding on it.
By the age of 15 Hermosa was leading a group of about ten young people, according to NVI Noticias and El Tiempo. El Diario places the group's evenings in bars, nightclubs and video arcades in the center of the city. The accounts describe weekend outings that began as nights out.
Infobae, NVI Noticias and Meganoticias agree on the first date. On November 22, 1991, after an evening out, Hermosa was involved in the death of a man. Who was with him is not settled.
About a week later, the accounts say, a second man died after an argument with Hermosa. It was a separate event, on a different night.
The totals vary widely and none comes from a verdict.
Noticias RCN says he was charged with "at least 15" homicides over a little more than a year.
Infobae says "at least 20" people in about four months, and its 2022 article says police records credited him with about 23.
El Diario, in 2025, says 22 deaths in about four months. Another article in El Diario puts the figure at 23.
Meganoticias, NVI Noticias and El Heraldo, of Honduras, give 20 or more.
The accounts agree on one point: the deaths were separate events spread over roughly two months, from late November 1991 to early January 1992, and he is accused of leading them. Whether each death was charged separately is not on record.
By the new year police had a lead. According to El Diario and Infobae, a member of the group, T.A., was arrested during another police operation and named Hermosa under questioning. On January 9, 1992 police carried out an operation at the family home in Quito, led by Major Fausto Terán. His adoptive mother died during the operation; how it unfolded is disputed.
Hermosa was taken into custody. Infobae and Meganoticias quote a statement he made after his arrest, in which he gave his full name and said that he would turn 16 on February 28. The statement was evidently meant to establish that he was a minor, and it fixes his age at the time of his arrest at 15. El Diario reports that he confessed to the killings but said he had not intended to kill.
He was held at the García Moreno prison in Quito, according to Meganoticias, and the press named him publicly in February 1992.
No judgment, charge sheet or court order is on record.
Because he was a minor, he was dealt with as one. Infobae, El Diario, NVI Noticias and El Heraldo say that he received a term of four years, which they describe as the longest the law then allowed for a minor in Ecuador. Infobae and NVI Noticias add that a Tribunal de Menores is named in a release document later found with him. El Diario's article from September 2025 on the case describes his time in custody in a juvenile facility run by Jesuits. A Colombian broadcaster, Noticias RCN, calls the place a home for minors.
The legal basis is not on record. The outcome was a juvenile measure, reported in the press as a four-year term, and not a criminal conviction. The 15 to 23 deaths remain accusations and press counts; no record shows them judged as separate counts.
About 16 months into the term, according to Infobae, El Diario and NVI Noticias, Hermosa escaped with about ten other adolescents. The accounts report that an officer or guard died during the escape; no court outcome for that death is on record. He crossed into Colombia and went to Bogota. Infobae reports that he supported himself there with thefts of jewelry and that his face was already widely known from the Ecuadorian press.
Colombian authorities identified him. He was returned to Ecuador and served the rest of the term. No separate proceedings for the escape are on record.
Hermosa left custody in 1996. The accounts say he moved to Sucumbíos, in the Amazon region, to live with his father. Infobae and NVI Noticias report that he was identified after his death from documents he carried, among them his release document.
He was found dead on February 28, 1996, his 20th birthday, near Nueva Loja, the provincial city also called Lago Agrio. Infobae's 2022 article says that official reports counted about five people as involved in his death. The death was never solved, and no charge or trial over it is on record.
The number of deaths. Press totals run from 15 to 23, and none is attached to a verdict. The one fact the accounts share is that the deaths were separate events.
His birthplace: Los Ríos or Shushufindi.
His age at his first killing: most accounts say 15; one account gives 16.
The name of the adoptive father differs between accounts.
The date of his release: every account that states it gives 1996; the month is not given.
The legal measure: a four-year term and a Tribunal de Menores are reported in the press; no document is quoted.
The officer or guard who died during the escape: the accounts give no name and no outcome.
Hermosa is described in Ecuadorian and Latin American press as the youngest person accused of serial killing in the country. The case still resurfaces in the Ecuadorian press decades later. In 2025 El Diario carried an account by the television presenter Gisella Bayona, who said that photographs of her had covered his bedroom wall and that she never met or interviewed him.
February 28, 1976: born; adopted and raised in Quito.
November 22, 1991: first killing in the sequence reported by the press.
About late November 1991: a second killing reported, about a week later.
January 9, 1992: arrested in Quito at the family home; his adoptive mother died during the operation.
1992: dealt with as a minor; the press reports a four-year term.
About 16 months into the term: escaped with about ten other adolescents, fled to Colombia and was recaptured.
1996: released; moved to Sucumbíos.
February 28, 1996: found dead near Nueva Loja; the death is unsolved.