Pedro easily fits into the Organized Offender category. His narcissism is evident from his own words: "I am the man of the century. No one will ever forget me" (from prison interview with Ron Laytner). Aside from his obvious classic sociopathic characteristics, his methods betray a highly organized pattern of offense.
His crimes were each carefully planned: he would stalk his victims and get to know their habits and those of their mothers in order to create a prime opportunity for himself. He prepared graves ahead of time in a predetermined location. He cuddled the girls to reduce their level of fear and then, when they were calm and he was ready, it didn't take much for him to perpetrate the rapes and murders on them.
He was extremely confident and self-assured: Pedro had no qualms about walking up to his selected target in a crowded area during daylight hours, a huge risk for an offender. He was also able to make himself seem natural in the surroundings in which he approached his victims. His gesture of offering trinkets was not met with suspicion, but rather welcomed by his victims as a genuine act of kindness.
He had a highly evolved fantasy construct: Lopez chose his victims for a specific "look" they had to them, a combination of innocence and beauty that he read upon their face. He had "secret hideaways" which were a way to bring the victim into his personal world. He also had specific requirements for the timing of the murders. Each one was perpetrated at sunrise, never before or after, because his fantasy required the ability to see the eyes and the suffering expression on the face of his victim in that very specific lighting condition. As is so typical, he would get bored with the girls because they couldn't move...and then it was time to get a new one. This low threshold of residual gratification led him to kill as frequently as he did.
Additionally, his attitude toward the victims is very telling and is a common theme with many serial killers. They were his companions. He would keep several bodies in one place and then have 'parties' with all of them together. He spoke of the need to bury a few in the same grave because they "liked having the company." They were his friends...but only once they were dead did they become worthy of his attention and affection. This is because he could only exercise complete control over them after they ceased to live.
His compulsion is obvious. In the Layton interview he spoke of the special way the "spark" leaves the eyes of a victim and asserted that he would feel that moment again if he were ever released.
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