The Playing Card Killer Series Review: A Grim Documentary About A Crazed Killer In Madrid

During 2003, Madrid saw a spike in shootings and murders. Organized crimes were carried out by mafia gangs, drug cartels, and rival groups. But among those murders, one particular case didn't make sense. One airport janitor, Juan Carlos Martin Estacio was murdered in the wee hours of the morning while waiting for a bus.

He was found on the road, lying in a pool of his own blood by a driver. When the forensics and the police were investigating the crime scene, they found a playing card near the body. While other victims had obvious or sometimes even hidden connections with criminal groups, Juan Estacio had no such connections.

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The next day, a couple was shot and killed. Another set of cards was found near the bodies. One of the victims survived and went on to give a sketch of the killer. But during this, the media had gotten wind of not only the murders but also the playing cards that were discarded near the bodies. While the cops tried their best to catch the killer, the media did their best to encourage him.

While the news was sensationalized to new levels, the discussions in channels and newspapers were also about the significance of the cards. From leaving a signature to attaching mystical importance to it, the media went anywhere and everywhere. Speculations were rife, and the glorification probably encouraged the killer to stage even more dramatic killings.

The reporters and the cops both did a sloppy job. Overanalyzing the killer and his methods and the retrospection about if all of it could have been prevented did not help anybody. The family of the victims were treated as mere objects. They were pestered by reporters and ignored by the police. An infant whose father was murdered right before him sadly has no memories of the shooting or his father.

Once it was realized that the killer chose his victims randomly, the ballistic reports gave the police the breakthrough they desperately needed. An ex-serviceman may have become unhinged, going on a killing spree.

The Playing Cards Killer among its predecessors and no doubt, successors is one of many murder documentaries that talks about the existence of evil. With no dearth of such documentaries on just Netflix itself, it baffles me as to why that is even a question.

By SB