La Bestia Follow-up wCourtney (More about Colombia) - Part 2

On December 25th and 26th of 2025; we released a 2-parter on Luis Garavito (aka The Beast).  Heather was joined by Cole (who suggested the disturbing case) to discuss Luis Alfredo Garavito Cubillos, also known as La Bestia (The Beast), was a Colombian serial killer, pedophile, sex offender, and necrophile. Between 1992 and 1999, he sexually assaulted over 200 victims and is believed to have sexually assaulted and murdered at least 193 children, primarily young boys, across western Colombia.

But as Heather and Cole were recording, they realized that there were a lot of unanswered questions about Columbia and the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ related to him going undetected for so long.  Well; lucky for you, we have a resident researcher who also has a degree in international studies!  

Courtney came to the studio and dropped some knowledge in this 2-parter about Colombia, before, during, and after his disgusting crime spree.

Books and Documentaries mentioned:

• Conquistadores: A New History of Spanish Discovery and Conquest by Fernando Cervantes
• When the Mountains Tremble (roughly 1 hr and 23 min).  Filmed in 1982, this film is a prequel to the documentary Granito: How to Nail a Dictator
• Still Life with Bones: Genocide, Forensics, and What Remains By Alexa Hagerty
• A Flower Traveled in My Blood by Haley Cohen Gilliland

Books to learn about Colombia:

• The Shape of the Ruins (La Forma de las Ruinas) by Juan Gabriel Vásquez (is a great historical novel about 20th century Colombian politics)
• One Hundred Years Solitude by Gabriel García Márque
• Every Day The River Changes; Four Weeks Down the Magdalena by Jordan Salama
• Magical Realism for Non-Believers; A Memoir of Finding Family by Anika Fajardo
• The Book of Emma Reyes: A Memoir by Emma Reyes (Author) & Daniel Alarcón
• The Night Will Be Long by Santiago Gambo
• The Making of Modern Colombia: A Nation in Spite of Itself by David Bushnell 
• There Are No Dead Here: A Story of Murder and Denial in Colombia by Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno
• Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle by Ingrid Betancourt
• Between Legitimacy and Violence: A History of Colombia, 1875–2002 (Latin America in Translation by Marco Palacios and 1 more)
• Colombia: A Concise Contemporary History by Michael J. LaRosa and 1 more

Until next time; stay inside, stay alive.