Zoltán Szabó (serial killer)  Zoltán Szabó (1968 – December 5, 2016 in Szeged), known as the Balástya Monster, was a Hungarian serial killer who killed women for monetary purposes. He was convicted of killing four people out of his 5 confirmed murders, but could possibly have upwards of 6 victims. Szabó was born into a farmer's family in 1968, and had lived on a farm since his youth. He studied until the eight grade in elementary school, refusing to study any more. His father died early, and his brother who lived on the farm committed suicide. Szabó has already had a criminal record at the time of the murders, as he was convicted for the rape of a 60-year-old woman. He also behaved violently with his partner, who broke the relationship with him because of this. He then began living alone on his farm as a farmer and doing occasional farm work. In addition to this, he also participated in organizing seasonal workers from Romania during the agricultural season, finding work and accommodation for them. During the second half of the 1990s, the traffic near Balástya grew, as the civil war in Yugoslavia had recently ended and many passed through the 5th Highway along the settlement. The increasing turnover of the highway attracted businesses, criminals, merchants and prostitutes to the settlement, including some of Szabó's future victims. Szabó's first proven murder was of a woman working in a bar, with whom he met on April 28, 1998. He managed to persuade her to stay on his farm on the outskirts of Balástya. Upon their arrival, the woman was hit with a heavy object several times, dying from the severe head injuries. Szabó then dismembered his victim and buried her body in a pit 50 meters away from the farm, in which he also placed her clothes. The second murder took place in a similar fashion. Szabó met another woman whom he persuaded to come to his farm. When she came, he hit her with heavy object on the head and neck, with the woman dying from the heavy blows. The body was then dismembered and placed in the same pit as before, the only difference being that the second victim's head was never discovered. In February 2000, on the pretext of joint theft of fire syringes, Szabó lured and killed Teresia K. The woman was strangled in an orchard, and was then mutilated and burned.