Juan Vallejo Corona was an infamous serial killer who killed at least 25 men in 1971. An immigrant from his native Mexico, Corona worked as a labor contractor in Yuba City, CA, where he hired migrant workers for nearby fruit farms. Preying on the desperate men he so often encountered, Corona became one of the most prolific serial killers in California's history.
At odds with mental illness and a loathing for his own sexuality, something in Corona snapped in the spring of 1971. He went on a crazy killing spree and became a murderer who defined a type, as all his victims were essentially farmworkers. He didn't admit culpability until nearly 50 years later. A man as mysterious as he is sadistic, here are some startling facts about Juan Vallejo Corona and the crimes he committed.
11 Gruesome Facts About Migrant Worker Serial Killer And Rapist Juan Corona,
Corona Had A History Of Mental Illness And State Hospital Stints
Juan Corona was born in Mexico in 1934 and moved to Yuba City, CA, in the '50s. In 1956, well before his string of murders, Corona was diagnosed as schizophrenic and was institutionalized after a series of intense hallucinations related to a flood that had killed dozens in the area. After several rounds of electroshock therapy, Corona was released and went on to marry and have several children. Though his illness seemed to be at bay - he had quickly worked up to a labor contractor position - Corona became unraveled in February of 1971 when the murders began, and some speculate that he was battling an intense self-loathing with his own homosexuality.
He Was A Sexual Sadist And Assaulted All Of His Victims
Aside from being stabbed and mutilated, Juan Corona's victims were also sodomized prior to their deaths. Believed to be a sexual sadist, Corona developed a pattern of picking a victim, digging a hole, and then sexually assaulting them prior to their murder. His habits as a serial rapist are believed to have began much earlier, but very little is known about his life in Mexico. Much of that chapter remains a mystery.
Did His Brother Actually Do It?
Around the time of the murders, Juan's half-brother, Natividad Corona, mysteriously fled from his home in Marysville, CA, allegedly taking refuge in Mexico. Natividad had owned a restaurant called the Guadalajara Cafe and he had just been sued by a former patron for $250,000. The plaintiff in that suit alleged he had been brutally attacked by Natividad with a machete in the restaurant's men's room after re-buffing his sexual advances. Natividad defaulted on the judgment and opted to skip town.
Later, when Juan Corona went to trial, his defense team attempted to pin the murders on Natividad, whom they claimed suffered from syphilis, which sent him into fits of rage. Conveniently, Corona's lawyers claimed Natividad had passed away from his disease, though some light investigation showed that this was likely false. Though Natividad seemed to have some history of violence, it was widely assumed he had left the country prior to the migrant murders.
He Kept A Ledger Of His Murders
After the discovery of evidence in some victims' graves that led to Corona, authorities descended on his property and executed a full search. During their investigation, police found a machete, a meat cleaver, a pistol, blood-spattered clothing, and digging equipment. Beyond those items, authorities also found a "death ledger," that contained the names of eight of Corona's victims, as well as the dates of their murders.
He Killed At Least 25 Men
When all was said and done, 25 bodies were uncovered along the banks of the Feather River near Yuba City. All the victims were men and itinerant workers that Corona personally oversaw. At the time of the discovery, it was one of the worst cases of serial murder in US history. Juan Corona remains one of the most prolific serial killers in California's history.
His Killing Spree Lasted For Six Weeks
Though he amassed a staggering body count, Juan Corona's murder spree only lasted about six weeks. Beginning in the Spring of 1971, Corona went crazy with killing, as his bloodlust seemed to be accelerating at an unsustainable rate. It's likely that the frequency of his crimes is what ultimately made him reckless about covering his tracks. Some psychiatrists theorized that the warming weather set something off in Corona.
He Killed His Victims By Brutally Stabbing Them To Death
Juan Corona's method of murder was a particularly brutal one. Save for one victim, who was shot, he repeatedly stabbed people in the chest. All of his victims were buried face up, with their arms above their heads and their shirts over their faces. Occasionally, their corpses were further desecrated by having their pants pulled down to their ankles.
He Buried His Victims With Way Too Much Evidence
On May 20, 1971, a local peach grower named Goro Kagehiro noticed a freshly filled hole on his property. Believing that someone had illegally buried their garbage, he called authorities. When local police did a little digging, they uncovered what would be the first of 25 bodies - a man repeatedly stabbed, his head mutilated by a machete or cleaver.
As police uncovered more bodies, they found some pretty damning evidence. For whatever reason, Corona had buried some of his victims with grocery receipts that featured his own name. This was enough to put authorities on his trail.
He Recruited His Victims To Work Before Killing Them
Corona provided for his family by working as a successful labor contractor. He was a man of some repute around Yuba City for his ability to set up farmers with migrant workers, and though he had a short-temper, he was mostly thought of as a normal guy.
His line of work meant that Corona dealt with a lot of destitute men with no family in the area. These workers were often elderly, alcoholic, and on the margins of the community. This meant that their absence often went unnoticed, making them the perfect targets for a serial killer. As Corona housed these man and dictated their whereabouts, it's quite possible that without his own eventual error, he would have never been caught.
He Mutilated The Faces Of All His Victims
As authorities uncovered more and more bodies, a strange, grisly pattern emerged. Beyond succumbing to a deep puncture to the chest, Corona's victims also bore significant facial mutilation. The men's heads, as it appeared, had been brutally hacked at by either a machete or large knife shortly after their death. Bizarrely, Corona also carved a cross on the back of each victim's skull.