Former Brownsville, TX, deputy sheriff George Gavito recounts the 23 grisly "palo mayombe" human-sacrifice torture-sex killings perpetrated by the gang led by Adolfo Constanzo in Matamoros, Mexico which ended in April, 1989 and are basis for the Zev Berman feature film Borderland (2007). Gavito was one of the bilateral investigators who "broke" the case of missing rich kid Mark Kilroy ("Phil" in the feature and "John" in this short) sensationalized by Geraldo Rivera at the time. This brief documentary uses archival news, police photos and videotape to prove the truth of the crimes is even stranger than the fictionalized feature film.
Production
Actual police footage of the horror house.
Writing
Gavito's deadpan cop narration is unreal.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Mark Kilroy was a pre-med student at UT—his disappearance sparked the FBI-Mexican federales raid that exposed the cult. Geraldo Rivera literally broadcast from the crime scene while families watched.
Palo Mayombe is a legitimate Afro-Cuban religion—Constanzo perverted it into 'narco-satanism' that still influences cartel folklore today. The documentary barely explores this exploitation.
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