Beltrán Cortés
Encyclopedia
Beltrán Dalay Cortés Carvajal (21 November 1908 - 11 June 1984) was a convicted Costa Rican murder
er, mostly known for the killings of Ricardo Moreno Cañas
and Carlos Echandi
. He is one of the most famous former prisoners of San Lucas Island
.
, Heredia
. By 1938 he was living with his mom and three sisters in Santa Bárbara. He finished the first levels of elementary school and then went to work as a farmer, never getting married or having children. A door accidentally fell on him as a kid in Heredia's
market which resulted in a head wound that left him a permanent scar and a humerus fracture
in his right arm that never aligned because it was not properly treated in time.
and then he had two follow up surgeries on July 23 by Dr. Echandi and August 3 by Dr. Moreno. On August 2, 1929, Dr. Moreno gave him metal plate implants, yet these were extracted on April 4, 1932. At this point his diagnosis was an unconsolidated humerus due to syphilis
.
. On July 28, 1934 while on duty he killed his partner Benjamín Garita Ramírez, for which he was convicted to a 5 year sentence in San Lucas Island however he got years taken off his sentence by performing manual labour. When he left prison he got a job at Chapuí Asylum, which he quickly quit to sell merchandise in the streets.
ordered the construction of a 2 square metre cell for him that would allow all visitors to see him. During several years tourists were brought from Puntarenas
up to the island to see him exhibited in this cell. José León Sánchez
mentioned him in his book La isla de los hombres solos. President Otilio Ulate Blanco
ordered that he be taken out of that cell and placed with the other prisoners during a visit to the facility. During President José Figueres'
administration the country's penal code was reformed limiting Costa Rica's maximum penalty to 30 years in prison. Since Cortés had already being incarcerated for 32 years at this point he was immediately released. He died of prostate cancer on June 11, 1984 at the age of 75 in his sister's house in Santa Bárbara.
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
er, mostly known for the killings of Ricardo Moreno Cañas
Ricardo Moreno Cañas
Ricardo Moreno Cañas was a Costa Rican politician. He was assassinated by Beltrán Cortés....
and Carlos Echandi
Carlos Echandi
Carlos Manuel Echandi Lahmann was a Costa Rican surgeon murdered by Beltrán Cortés. Prior to killing Echandi, Cortés also killed his boss Ricardo Moreno Cañas and would go on to kill one more person and injure two more while escaping from Echandi's house...
. He is one of the most famous former prisoners of San Lucas Island
San Lucas Island
San Lucas Island is an island located off the Pacific shore of Costa Rica.It is part of the 11th district of Puntarenas Canton of the province of Puntarenas.Formerly serving as an island prison, it is now a National Park....
.
Family and early years
Beltrán Cortés was born on November 12, 1908 as the youngest of his 18 siblings to his parents Rosendo Cortés Madrigal and Amelia Carvajal in Santa BárbaraSanta Bárbara Canton
Santa Bárbara is the name of the fourth canton in the province of Heredia in Costa Rica. The canton covers an area of 53.21 km², and has a population of 31,152. The capital city of the canton is also called Santa Bárbara....
, Heredia
Heredia Province
Heredia is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the north-central part of the country. As a result, the province covers areas as diverse as the agriculture rich Northern plains of San Carlos as well as the more metropolitan areas like the city of Heredia located in the Central Valley...
. By 1938 he was living with his mom and three sisters in Santa Bárbara. He finished the first levels of elementary school and then went to work as a farmer, never getting married or having children. A door accidentally fell on him as a kid in Heredia's
Heredia, Costa Rica
Heredia is a city located in the Heredia province of Costa Rica and is the capital of that province. It is currently undergoing a rapid process of industrialization and is located 10 kilometers north of the country's capital, San José....
market which resulted in a head wound that left him a permanent scar and a humerus fracture
Humerus fracture
A humerus fracture can be classified by the location of the humerus involved: the upper end, the shaft, or the lower end.Certain lesions are commonly associated with fractures to specific areas of the humerus. At the upper end, the surgical neck of the humerus and anatomical neck of humerus can...
in his right arm that never aligned because it was not properly treated in time.
The surgeries by Dr. Moreno and Dr. Echandi
In 1928 at the age of 20 he had surgery three times three times by doctors Moreno and Echandi; on June 1 both doctors surgically wired his right humerusHumerus
The humerus is a long bone in the arm or forelimb that runs from the shoulder to the elbow....
and then he had two follow up surgeries on July 23 by Dr. Echandi and August 3 by Dr. Moreno. On August 2, 1929, Dr. Moreno gave him metal plate implants, yet these were extracted on April 4, 1932. At this point his diagnosis was an unconsolidated humerus due to syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
.
Criminal background
He then served as a police officer in San Rafael de HerediaSan Rafael Canton
San Rafael is the name of the fifth canton in the province of Heredia in Costa Rica. The canton covers an area of 48.39 km², and has a population of 39,636...
. On July 28, 1934 while on duty he killed his partner Benjamín Garita Ramírez, for which he was convicted to a 5 year sentence in San Lucas Island however he got years taken off his sentence by performing manual labour. When he left prison he got a job at Chapuí Asylum, which he quickly quit to sell merchandise in the streets.
The doctors' murders
Cortés became obsessed with the failed surgeries over time. At least one doctor told him they had been the surgeons' fault while an attorney convinced him Dr. Moreno should compensate him for the hardship and pain suffered. Cortés later stated that he had gone to the hospital to get treated for a pain in his leg and that Dr. Moreno took advantage of this to take a graft of bone from his healthy arm for a foreign patient. Even before the killings he had threatened several times with killing the two doctors, leading his mother to ask that he be admitted into Chapuí Asylum. Cortés bought a gun from a police officer and on August 23, 1938 at 7:30 p.m (local time) he knocked on Dr. Moreno's door. When the maid opened the door he ran into the living room where Dr. Moreno was reading the newspaper and shot him three times. He escaped out of the place and immediately went to Dr. Echandi's house, even stopping along the way to ask for directions since he did not the location too well. When he got there he once again knocked on the door and was received by the footman. Dr. Echandi was on his way out, as he had heard on the radio the news of Dr. Moreno's death and wanted to go to the crime scene. Cortés shot him twice from the front gate, although only one of the shots actually hit him as the other one bounced off the door. During his escape Cortés also killed a Canadian man called Arthur Maynard and severely injured two people by the names of Egérico Vargas Loría and Rodolfo Quirós Quirós before being caught.San Lucas Island
On June 23, 1938 he was convicted to a sentence of undefined length at San Lucas Island. President León Cortés CastroLeón Cortés Castro
-Biography:León Cortés Castro served as President of Costa Rica from 1936 to 1940.During his term he introduced new bank reforms, supported banana plantations in the South Pacific region, and established ports at Quepos and Golfito. He was the last of a series of relatively conservative Presidents...
ordered the construction of a 2 square metre cell for him that would allow all visitors to see him. During several years tourists were brought from Puntarenas
Puntarenas
Puntarenas is the capital and largest city in the province Puntarenas, Costa Rica, at the Pacific coast. The eponymous and oddly shaped province has its largest section in the South, far from the capital.Some 100,000 live in the city and close towns...
up to the island to see him exhibited in this cell. José León Sánchez
José León Sánchez
José León Sánchez Alvarado is a Costa Rican novelist born in 1930, best known for his works Isla de los hombres solos and Tenochtitlan. He was born in Cucaracho del Río Cuarto, Puntarenas. A movie adaptation of his novel, Isla de los hombres solos was made and released by a Mexican...
mentioned him in his book La isla de los hombres solos. President Otilio Ulate Blanco
Otilio Ulate Blanco
Luis Emilio Rafael Otilio Gonzalez Ulate y Blanco served as President of Costa Rica from 1949 to 1953. His French heritage comes from his mother, Ermida Blanco...
ordered that he be taken out of that cell and placed with the other prisoners during a visit to the facility. During President José Figueres'
José Figueres Ferrer
José María Hipólito Figueres Ferrer , served as President of Costa Rica on three occasions:1948–1949, 1953–1958, and 1970–1974....
administration the country's penal code was reformed limiting Costa Rica's maximum penalty to 30 years in prison. Since Cortés had already being incarcerated for 32 years at this point he was immediately released. He died of prostate cancer on June 11, 1984 at the age of 75 in his sister's house in Santa Bárbara.
External links
- Muere un hombre, nace un mito, Historia Visual de Costa Rica, La Nación.com. Consultado el 20 de agosto de 2008.
- Dr. Ricardo Moreno Cañas(en inglés), Infocostarica Staff. Consultado el 20 de agosto de 2008.