Pablo José Goncálvez Gallareta is a Uruguayan criminal whose name became permanently associated with one of the most notorious cases in the country’s modern criminal history. Born in Bilbao, Spain, in 1970, he was the son of Uruguayan diplomat Hamlet Goncálvez and moved to Uruguay as a child, growing up in Montevideo’s Carrasco neighborhood. His background and family connections later attracted considerable media attention after he was convicted of three murders committed between 1992 and 1993.
Goncálvez was convicted for the deaths of Ana Luisa Miller, Andrea Castro and María Victoria Williams. The three cases occurred over a period of approximately thirteen months and led to his identification in Uruguay as the country’s first recognized serial killer. He was arrested in 1993 and ultimately sentenced to 30 years in prison, the maximum sentence available under Uruguayan law at the time. He maintained his innocence despite the convictions.
Goncálvez spent more than two decades in prison before being released in June 2016 after serving approximately 23 years. His release followed the application of Uruguay’s sentence-reduction rules for work and study. His case continued to attract significant public attention because of the notoriety of the original convictions and the unusual circumstances surrounding his return to society.
His legal history did not end with his release from the Uruguayan prison system. In 2017, Goncálvez was arrested in Paraguay in a separate case involving weapons and drugs and remained imprisoned there until 2019. He subsequently returned to Uruguay in 2023. In February 2026, Uruguayan media reported that he was living in Punta del Este. Police authorities confirmed that there was no current judicial restriction preventing him from living or moving within the country.
Today, Pablo Goncálvez remains a widely documented figure in Uruguay’s criminal history. His case continues to receive media attention more than three decades after the murders that resulted in his conviction.
SOURCES
El Observador
El Observador — Pablo Goncálvez and the Andrea Castro case
Montevideo Portal
Montevideo Portal — Pablo Goncálvez
Telenoche Uruguay
Telenoche — Goncálvez and his release
