José Antonio Rodríguez Vega (3 December 1957 – 24 October 2002), nicknamed El Mataviejas (The Old Lady Killer), was a Spanish serial killer who raped and killed at least 16 elderly women, ranging in age from 61 to 93 years old, in and around Santander, Cantabria, between August 1987 and April 1988.

He did not take the breakup well, but eventually remarried, this time to a mentally disabled woman, who he tortured and humiliated, all the while keeping up the pretence of having an excellent marriage.

[1] When he was arrested, police found a red room where he displayed his mementoes, which ranged from a television to a bouquet of plastic flowers.

[5] On 22 October 2002, Rodríguez Vega was transferred to a FIES jail module for dangerous inmates; there has been some controversy[6] about the possible reasons for this, given that he had been a model prisoner during his sentence and he was just a few years away from being released.

His lack of remorse[7] while discussing his crimes with fellow inmates Enrique del Valle (‘El Zanahorio’) and Daniel Rodríguez Obelleiro, as well as Rodríguez Vega's reputation as a rapist and a jail snitch,[8] sealed his fate within the first 24 hours of his stay in the FIES module.