"El Brujo" Death 35 Years On: Prison Leave Debate Rekindled
Thirty-five years after Dámaso Rodríguez Martín, "El Brujo," was killed by police in Tenerife following a manhunt sparked by his failure to return from prison leave, questions about the management of such leaves and public safety are resurfacing.
Thirty-five years after the death of Dámaso Rodríguez Martín, known as "El Brujo" (The Wizard), during a police operation in Tenerife, questions are once again being raised about how prison leave is managed and its impact on public safety. His death on February 19, 1991, brought an end to a tense manhunt that had the Canary Islands on edge, especially with the capital's Carnival celebrations fast approaching.
In 1981, Rodríguez Martín was sentenced to 55 years in prison for murder, sexual assault, and illegal weapons possession. This followed a brutal attack on a couple in El Moquinal, within the Anaga mountains. During the attack, the man was shot and killed, and the woman was seriously injured after being sexually assaulted. Despite this severe sentence, he was given a prison leave less than ten years into his sentence at the Tenerife II prison. On January 17, 1991, he failed to return, triggering the first search operation.
Public fear grew significantly after the bodies of German citizens Karl Flick, 82, and his wife Marta Küpper, 87, were found in the Anaga area on January 23 and 24, 1991. Investigators linked these murders to Rodríguez Martín, prompting the Civil Guard to step up their search. Extra officers were brought in from mainland Spain, and access to the mountains was restricted. People in the nearby city worried that the fugitive might slip past the police cordon and disappear among the thousands celebrating Carnival.
Dámaso Rodríguez managed to avoid capture for over a month thanks to several factors. He knew the Anaga mountains, his birthplace in El Batán, extremely well. His military background in the Legion also gave him great physical stamina and skill with weapons. This combination allowed him to move expertly through the difficult terrain and thick plant life, making it very hard for police officers and sniffer dogs to track him.
Finally, on February 19, 1991, a tip from a citizen about someone in an empty house in El Solís led police to set up a final perimeter. After a shootout with officers, Dámaso Rodríguez Martín was killed by a gunshot. The official report at the time stated that he died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound, having realized there was no way out.