Manuel Blanco Romasanta

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Manuel Blanco Romasanta
Charcoal drawing from Romasanta's medical report
Born	Manuela Blanco Romasanta (1809-11-18)18 November 1809 Regueiro, Esgos, Ourense, Galicia, Spain
Died	14 December 1863(1863-12-14) (aged 54) Ceuta, Spain
Other names	Werewolf of Allariz Fat Extractor
Occupations	Dressmaker traveling salesman
Years active	1844–1852
Conviction(s)	Murder x9
Criminal penalty	Death by garrotte (commuted to life imprisonment)
Details
Victims	9 confirmed 13 confessed 20+ suspected

Manuel Blanco Romasanta (né Manuela; 18 November 1809 – 14 December 1863) was Spain's first recorded serial killer. In 1853, he admitted to thirteen murders, but claimed he was not responsible because he was suffering from a curse that caused him to turn into a wolf. Although this defense was rejected at trial, Queen Isabella II commuted his death sentence to allow doctors to investigate the claim as an example of clinical lycanthropy. Blanco has become part of Spanish folklore as the Werewolf of Allariz^[1] and is also known as The Tallow Man, a nickname he earned for rendering his victims' fat to make high-quality soap.