<P> Several reporters and investigators have traced the records and whereabouts of the Mexican prison doctor in later years and discovered that `` Salazar '' was in reality Alfredo Ballí Treviño , a physician from an upper - class Monterrey family who was found guilty of murdering a close friend ( and lover ) and mutilating his body ; he was also suspected of killing and dismembering several hitchhikers in the city outskirts during the late 1950s and early 1960s . Harris also incorporated some of these details into Buffalo Bill 's development as a killer in Silence of the Lambs . Ballí was initially condemned to death , but his sentence was later commuted to 20 years and he was released in 1981 . After his release , Ballí continued working as a physician in an austere office until his death by natural causes in 2009 . </P>
<P> Several reporters and investigators have traced the records and whereabouts of the Mexican prison doctor in later years and discovered that `` Salazar '' was in reality Alfredo Ballí Treviño , a physician from an upper - class Monterrey family who was found guilty of murdering a close friend ( and lover ) and mutilating his body ; he was also suspected of killing and dismembering several hitchhikers in the city outskirts during the late 1950s and early 1960s . Harris also incorporated some of these details into Buffalo Bill 's development as a killer in Silence of the Lambs . Ballí was initially condemned to death , but his sentence was later commuted to 20 years and he was released in 1981 . After his release , Ballí continued working as a physician in an austere office until his death by natural causes in 2009 . </P>
who was the character hannibal lecter based on
who was the character hannibal lecter based on
Alfredo Ballí Treviño
Alfredo Ballí Treviño