Andrés Aldije Monmejá, known simply as El Francés, hailed from Agen, France. At some point, he relocated to Peñaflor, a small town in the Province of Seville, Spain. There, he partnered with José Muñoz Lopera to run a clandestine gambling house. Beyond facilitating illegal gaming, the duo preyed on unsuspecting visitors, some were robbed, others were murdered and buried in the lush garden behind their premises. This quiet little operation hid a gruesome secret: six men vanished between roughly 1889 (noted in English sources) or 1898 (per Spanish sources), all never to be seen again. Monmejá’s pre-criminal backstory, childhood, personal relationships, or background remains undocumented in available records.

From about 1898 to 1904, Andrés Aldije Monmejá, known as El Francés (The Frenchman), originally from Agen, France teamed up with José Muñoz Lopera to run a nightly, underground casino in the outskirts of Peñaflor, Seville. The lure was simple: cash‑rich gamblers seeking quick profits, drawn by promises of easy wins in a private garden estate boasting greenery, discretion, and no legal eyes on them.

Their victims were mostly wealthy or middle‑class visitors—like Miguel Rejano, a man from Posadas who arrived in 1904 with a hefty sum of 28,000 reales (modern-day value around €35,000–42,000). He vanished after entering the garden, never to return. His disappearance triggered a search that ended in terror: the investigators discovered six buried bodies in the garden, including Rejano’s and those of José López Almela, Benito Mariano Burgos, Enrique Fernández Cantalapiedra, Federico Llamas, and Félix Bonilla.

As victims walked along a narrow garden path toward the house, Lopera played the bait, calling on them with tales of easy wins. Monmejá, always trailing behind, wielded a heavy iron bar dubbed “el muñeco.” At a pre-arranged moment, he'd shout, “Pepe, cuidado con la cañería,” causing the victim to lean forward reflexively and a brutal blow armed with that iron bar, followed by a final blow with a hammer. The bodies were then stripped and buried in the garden’s soft soil.

The case became one of early 20th century Spain’s more infamous in criminal chronicles. The trial kicked off in March 1906 and captured massive local attention. The pair faced charges of murder, robbery, and corpse concealment. As their defense, they claimed that the victims willingly participated in illegal gambling and that any deaths were accidental. It didn’t fly. The court found them guilty.

On 31 October 1906, both Monmejá and Lopera met the garrote vil at Seville’s Pópulo Prison, paying for their crimes with their lives. According to some sources, Lopera suffered convulsions during the execution, while Monmejá reportedly quipped to the executioner