José Muñoz Lopera lived in Peñaflor, a sleepy town in Seville’s province. Not much is known about his childhood, schooling, or personal links, which gives him a dim mysterious glow. What we do know is that he partnered with Andrés Aldije Monmejá or known as El Francés to open a clandestine gambling den in a garden estate outside town. Their racket targeted those who came looking to gamble big and win easy. Lopera played the bait in their deadly scheme, using charm and greed to lure in unsuspecting victims to a picturesque garden.

Between 1898 and 1904, Lopera and El Francés executed a  plan in their “Huerto del Francés” (Frenchman's Garden). Locals and passing merchants were promised easy money in illicit gambling sessions. One key case: Miguel Rejano, a farmer from Posadas, went missing in 1904. He carried a bundle of saved earnings, approximately 28,000 reales (around €35k–€42k today). Lopera enticed him, promising high-stakes play with El Francés. Rejano disappeared. That disappearance triggered an investigation. Guardía Civil traced his steps to the garden, where diggers unearthed six buried bodies, including Rejano's and five others: José López Almela, Benito Mariano Burgos, Enrique Fernández Cantalapiedra, Federico Llamas, and Félix Bonilla. 

The murder routine was twistedly elegant: victims walked down a narrow garden path toward the alleged gambling den. Lopera approached them, chatting them up. El Francés tailed behind with a heavy iron bar he called “el muñeco.” At a chosen moment, he’d shout “Pepe, cuidado con la cañería” to distract the target as they bent forward, then the bar hit them hard, followed by a hammer blow. Bodies were looted and buried right there under the soft soil of the garden. 

The trial began in March 1906 and became one of Spain’s earliest media sensations. Lopera even staged a hunger strike at his trial, collapsing on a pillow making him a dramatic figure in newspapers across the country. The duo claimed the deaths were accidental and the victims complicit in the illegal gambling, but the court didn't buy it. They were convicted on charges of murder, robbery, and concealment of corpses. 

On October 31, 1906, both Lopera and Aldije were executed by garrote vil at Seville’s Pópulo Prison. Lopera allegedly convulsed when the garrote tightened, some say because the executioner screwed up, others say due to the device’s poor condition. Meanwhile, Aldije reportedly joked to the executioner, “Aprieta sin miedo” (“Tighten without fear”), right before his end.