Woman wrestler 'Old Lady Killer'

MEXICO CITY - Mexican police yesterday arrested a female wrestler known as the Silent Lady who they believe is the country's most-wanted serial killer sought in the strangling or beating deaths of dozens of elderly women.

Police said they caught Juana Barraza as she fled the scene of her latest crime, the strangling of a woman in her early 80s with a stethoscope.

Fingerprint evidence makes it almost certain that Barraza, is the feared "Little Old Lady Killer" responsible for at least 10 other murders in recent years, Bernardo Batiz, Mexico City's chief prosecutor, said. "Fingerprints match in 10 murder cases as well as one attempt."

Police said she may have killed about 40 elderly women in total. Police had been unsure if the killer they were hunting was a man, a woman or a transvestite as witnesses had given conflicting reports.

- REUTERS