The Dead Girls’ is a series released on Netflix on September 10. This story is set in 1960s Mexico, where the Baladro sisters – Serafina (Paulina Gatton) and Arcangela (Arcelia Ramírez) – ran a large network of brothels.
This six-episode series shows how the two sisters managed their empire built on fear, deception, and exploitation. But as their criminal activities began to attract the attention of the authorities and the girls who were forced to work for them, circumstances started to change.
This is a period drama in which the sisters are portrayed as clever and strategic, yet extremely ruthless. Serafina handles discipline and rules in the brothels, while Arcangela manages money and relationships with local authorities. Their ambition, coupled with the surrounding corruption, leads them to power. But when the police begin an investigation and the real face of their crimes comes to light, everything starts to fall apart.
The Baladro Sisters’ Network: Growth Built on Cruelty
From the very beginning, the Baladro sisters systematically exploit the strict rules and the working girls in their brothels. Their network extends to many cities in Mexico. The series shows how they run their business by paying bribes despite pressure from society and the law. Their ambition is as great as their cruelty. Girls are trafficked and constantly exploited.
At first, their empire is very successful, but soon cracks begin to appear. Arcangela’s son Humberto gets caught up in the crimes and meets a tragic end. The sisters are then forced to shift to Casino Danzón and invest in a farm. These events reveal the weaknesses in their business and mark the beginning of their downfall.
Blanca’s Tragedy and the Dark Fate of the Girls
A young girl named Blanca, who is sold to the sisters, becomes a key character in the story. She dies as a result of a botched medical procedure. The circumstances surrounding Blanca’s death trigger a series of further tragedies. Avelia and Feliza are killed in a fight over Blanca’s belongings. This clearly shows how dangerous the sisters’ cruel management was and the terrible conditions the girls endured.
The series portrays how the girls were imprisoned, physically and mentally abused, and treated not as human beings but merely as tools for profit.
From Simons’ Bakery Fire to the Sisters’ Capture
By the end of 1963, anger and fear among the girls give way to rebellion. Many try to escape, while others turn on each other. Bedoya, one of the sisters’ associates, punishes them severely. Meanwhile, Teofilo, a family member who manages the farm and finances, gets involved in financial irregularities, worsening the situation.
At this time, Serafina’s old hatred resurfaces. Her former lover, Simons Corona, repeatedly abandons her. In a fit of rage and revenge, she sets fire to Simons’ bakery. This act further exposes her madness and cruelty. A police investigation begins, but Serafina initially escapes.
By January 1964, the police clamp down. Serafina is caught when the secret of the bakery fire is revealed. The two sisters hide in the fields to avoid arrest. But the police discover several bodies on their property – Blanca, Avelia, Feliza, and others.
Seventeen of their associates, including the sisters, are then captured – among them Bedoya, Nicholas, Teofilo, and Ticho. Many girls testify at trial about the torture and exploitation they suffered. Eventually, Serafina and Arcangela are convicted of crimes including murder, unlawful imprisonment, abuse, and illegal abortions. Both receive 35-year prison sentences. Their partners also receive various punishments.
No Escape from Justice for the Baladro Sisters
The series’ epilogue describes what happened after their arrest. Simons Corona opens a new bakery after being released from prison. Nicholas, Ticho, and Escalera attempt to restart their lives in their own ways. Yulalia begins selling sweets outside the jail. Bedoya maintains her influence even from inside prison.
Serafina and Arcangela continue to make money from illegal business inside the women’s reformatory, but they have no hope of freedom. The surviving girls are compensated as victims, but little is known about their later lives.
The end of the series presents the true picture of the Baladro sisters’ empire – the tightening noose of the law, the exposure of their crimes, and the deep wounds left on all who were involved.
Las Poquianchis: The Dark Truth Behind Netflix’s Series
Yes, these characters are inspired by reality. The Baladro sisters are based on the real four sisters known as Las Poquianchis. Between 1940 and 1960, they spread a vast web of brothels, human trafficking, and murder in Mexico.
Although some elements in the series are fictional, much of it is drawn from real events.
When a girl became pregnant, she would be brutally beaten and forced to undergo an abortion. Afterward, the fetuses were either thrown into the backyard of a brothel or buried at the sisters’ main farm, Loma del Ángel, which resembled a concentration camp. If a girl became very ill due to malnutrition, sexual abuse, or sudden abortion, she would be locked in a room. Sometimes she would be starved, and sometimes other girls were forced to beat her to death with sticks. The bodies were hidden by “The Black Eagle” and the sisters’ driver, who either burned them or buried them in mass graves. Many wealthy clients were also killed, and their money seized.
In 1963, Ramón Torres “El Tepo” clashed with police from Lagos de Moreno (Jalisco). During the encounter, he was shot inside a brothel owned by the González sisters. The police immediately shut down the place. Delfina (Tepo’s mother) was reportedly furious and ordered Hermenegildo Zúñiga to find and eliminate the policemen responsible for her son’s death – and Zúñiga carried out the killings.
In January 1964, a prostitute of the González sisters managed to escape through a small hole in the wall of Loma del Ángel. Her name was Ortega. Zúñiga and his partner tried to track her down to kill her, but despite searching the area, she was never caught. Ortega eventually reached her mother, and together they filed a complaint with the police of León, Guanajuato. Fortunately, the officers they met were not on the sisters’ payroll. The police quickly issued warrants against Chuy and Delfina González and raided Loma del Ángel on January 14, 1964.
On that day, Las Poquianchis were finally caught at their own “hell-like farm” of Loma del Ángel.
When the police arrived, the sisters were still mourning Tepo’s death, dressed in black clothes and shawls. Angry villagers had gathered outside demanding the sisters’ execution. Inside the farm, police and journalists found more than a dozen weak and filthy girls locked in a room. Some of them pointed to spots on the ground and said: “This is where the corpses are buried.”
The González Valenzuela sisters screamed and cursed when they heard the charges, but when their driver (also arrested) was forced to dig, the truth came out. Authorities found at least 91 decomposed bodies, bones, and fetuses – including women, men, and children.
The sisters were taken under heavy guard to prison in San Francisco del Rincón. But since the whole city wanted them hanged, a judge transferred them to Irapuato City Prison.
A week later, María Luisa González Valenzuela herself went to the Mexico City police station and surrendered. Afraid the mob might lynch her, she believed she would be safe because a judge had exempted her from her sisters’ charges. But as soon as she arrived in Irapuato, she was arrested as well. What followed was one of the most sensational trials of the century, marked by chaotic interrogations.
