Alfredo Galán and the “Card Killer” Murders

Between January and March 2003, a series of shootings in Madrid, Alcalá de Henares, Tres Cantos and Arganda del Rey was eventually attributed to former professional soldier Alfredo Galán. Six people were killed and three survived attempted murders. Galán surrendered to police in July 2003 and initially confessed, although he later retracted that account and challenged the evidence at trial.

The series of attacks

The crimes began on January 24, 2003, when a building porter was killed in Madrid. On February 5, a second victim was killed at a bus stop in the Barajas district, and later that day two people were murdered and another seriously wounded at a bar in Alcalá de Henares. In March, two people survived an attack in Tres Cantos, and a Romanian couple were killed in Arganda del Rey.

Contemporary and appellate reporting identifies playing cards at some scenes. That recurring detail shaped the nickname used by the Spanish press. The final judgment, however, did not depend on a simplistic “signature killer” narrative; it evaluated Galán's statements together with corroborating evidence and the circumstances of the individual offenses.

Surrender, confession and retraction

On July 3, 2003, Galán presented himself at a police station in Puertollano and admitted responsibility for six killings and three attempted killings, providing details known to investigators. He later withdrew that confession and maintained that he was not responsible.

The retraction became a central defense issue. It did not automatically invalidate the earlier admissions, and the courts considered them alongside other prosecution evidence rather than treating confession alone as conclusive proof.

Madrid Provincial Court judgment

In March 2005, the Provincial Court of Madrid convicted Galán of six completed murders and three attempted murders, as well as unlawful weapons possession and a home-invasion offense connected with one of the killings. The aggregate sentence was 142 years and three months.

Spanish sentencing rules meant that the nominal total was not the time he could physically serve without limit. The judgment set the effective maximum period of imprisonment at 25 years under the rules applicable to the case.

Supreme Court: convictions confirmed

On March 10, 2006, Spain's Supreme Court rejected Galán's appeal and the appeals brought by private prosecutors, confirming the Provincial Court judgment in full. The Supreme Court therefore left intact the six murder convictions, three attempted-murder convictions and the overall sentence.

The defense had argued, among other points, that the conviction violated the presumption of innocence because Galán later refused to testify at trial after retracting his confession. The Supreme Court concluded that the incriminating evidence as a whole was sufficient and upheld the verdict.

The cards and the public narrative

The “Card Killer” label can make the case sound more stylized than the evidence warrants. Reporting from the investigation indicated that Galán said he had not deliberately left the first playing card associated with the series and only began leaving cards after seeing the press attention surrounding that detail.

Crime by Region therefore treats the cards as part of the documented investigative history, not as mythology or a reason to romanticize the offender. Six people lost their lives and three others survived attempts to kill them; those human consequences are the core of the case.

Timeline

1. January 24, 2003
   First murder in Madrid

   A building porter is killed in the first offense later included in the prosecution.

2. February 5, 2003
   Three further victims killed

   One person is killed at a bus stop and two are killed at a bar in Alcalá de Henares; another person survives serious injuries.

3. March 2003
   Further attacks

   Two people survive an attempted killing in Tres Cantos, and a Romanian couple are murdered in Arganda del Rey.

4. July 3, 2003
   Galán surrenders

   He presents himself to police in Puertollano and confesses, later retracting his account.

5. March 2005
   Provincial Court conviction

   Galán is convicted of six murders, three attempted murders and related offenses and sentenced to 142 years and three months, subject to a 25-year effective maximum.

6. March 10, 2006
   Supreme Court judgment

   Spain's Supreme Court confirms the convictions and sentence.

Current status

The Alfredo Galán case is solved / adjudicated. His convictions for six murders and three attempted murders were confirmed by Spain's Supreme Court in 2006. The archive uses the popular nickname only for identification and does not attribute uncharged or speculative crimes to him.