Who are Regla Becquer's Possible Victims? Potential Serial Killer in Texas

Texas officials claim that a woman facing a murder charge in the death of one individual could face charges for 19 more deaths.

Regla "Su" Becquer, the former operator of "Love & Caring for People LLC," was charged with murder, the Arlington Police Department announced on June 20 in a press release. She was initially arrested in February and charged with abandoning/ endangering an individual in imminent danger of bodily injury.

Arlington police said they were investigating unlicensed group homes run by Becquer for allegations of abuse, neglect, theft and fraud when they became aware of a "concerning" number of clients who died while in those facilities.

Police have identified five properties linked to "Love & Caring for People LLC" in Arlington, Grand Prairie and Mansfield.

Officials said 20 clients under her care have died since September 2022. Detectives are investigating these deaths to see if they are "suspicious or even criminal in nature."

Many of the deceased individuals have already been cremated, buried, or had their bodies donated to science, which has complicated the investigation, officials said.

One client, 60-year-old Steven "Kelly" Pankratz, had an autopsy performed by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office. He died in January of this year.

The medical examiner's office ruled his cause of death Mixed Drug Toxicity.

A family member told officials that Becquer gave him a handful of unknown pills twice a day.

The medical examiner's office then reviewed Pankratz's medical records and determined the medications in his system were not prescribed to him and had not been used in a medical procedure he received. The manner of death was then ruled a homicide.

Officials also allege that Becquer did not properly care for clients, did not allow them to seek medical treatment, tried to limit communication between clients and family members, used clients' debit cards without their permission and kept property from deceased clients.

"We've learned about some very concerning things occurring within these homes and we want to ensure that no victims are falling through the cracks," Arlington Chief of Police Al Jones said in a statement.

She remains in custody at the Tarrant County Jail on a $1.5 million bond.

Trends in Female Serial Killers

Only about 16.7% of serial killers are women, but there are some common trends among them.

"It's going to be not who you think it is," Marissa Harrison, a professor of psychology at Penn State University at Harrisburg, told Newsweek. "It's probably a nurse, a grandmother, a mother, somebody you wouldn't expect."

Around 39% of female serial killers work in health-related positions.

"It's usually somebody you would never expect to hurt somebody else," Harrison said. "Our idea of nurse is not killer, or our idea of mother is not killer. The other thing is somebody who harms others is not in our schema of women. People just don't think that women can do this."

Female serial killers often target people who have "little chance of fighting back," such as children or the elderly.

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