'The Cannibal Poet'

Investigators have assembled a psychological profile of the murder suspect that is nothing short of chilling. Prosecutor Salas Chávez describes José Luis Calva as a chronic alcoholic and heavy cocaine consumer who is prone to bouts of depression and attempted suicide. The profile depicts a man of average intelligence who craves social acceptance but never achieves it. Calva was living alone at the times when he allegedly killed the three female victims, yet he has a profound aversion to solitude. Both Alejandra Galeana and Veronica Martínez were single mothers of small children in their early thirties who worked as pharmacy clerks when he made their acquaintance. And for all his supposed social inadequacies, Calva certainly knew how to charm his way into the arms of a woman he fancied. Veronica's mother Judith says he showered her daughter with flowers, gifts and love poems, even though Judith, like Soledad Garabito, couldn't stomach his smug personality and endless braggadocio.

Calva's father died when he was two years old, and as an adult the self-styled man of letters frequently dropped his paternal surname and introduced himself as "José Zepeda." Salas Chávez describes his mother Elia Zepeda as a "domineering" woman who imposed a regimen of "harsh discipline" throughout his boyhood. In January 1975 the then six-year-old José Luis stumbled upon Elia and his oldest sister in a room of the family home as they were setting out gifts for a Mexican post-Christmas children's holiday known as the Three Wise Men. According to a report prepared by Dr. Rodolfo Rojo Urquieta, head of the expert services division of the Mexico City district attorney's office, Elia smacked José Luis and shattered the toy she had bought for him as punishment. He ran out of the house and began shining shoes in the neighborhood to save up enough money to buy a toy truck as a replacement gift for himself. When he came home, Elia grilled José Luis about the little truck—and upon learning how her son had obtained the item, Calva told investigators, she flew into a rage, beat him again and destroyed the newly purchased toy.

Relations with his family remain strained to this day. As the police began their search of his apartment on the morning of Oct. 8, Calva tried to escape the premises and fell from a balcony of his building in the process, and neither Elia nor any of his five siblings has yet visited him at the hospital where he was admitted for his injuries later that day. Elia Zepeda told investigators she wanted nothing to do with her errant son, and his sister Claudia Fabiola declined to speak with NEWSWEEK. When contacted by phone last week, Jorge Calva Zepeda limited himself to one terse comment: "My only crime is to have been the brother of José Luis." If the authorities' accusations are proven in court, the same will never be said of his allegedly homicidal blood relative.

© 2007