La Quintrala
Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer (1604–1665), 'La Quintrala', was a wealthy landowner of colonial Santiago accused of poisoning her father, killing a lover and torturing servants; legend made her a witch.
1660 CE · -33.44, -70.65 · status: disputed
The account
She was investigated several times; in 1660 the Royal Audiencia sent a judge, Francisco de Millán, to inquire into the deaths of workers on her estates. Her wealth and connections protected her, and she died in 1665 without being convicted. Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna's 'Los Lisperguer y la Quintrala' (1877) fixed her image as a demonic woman, which later novels and soap operas expanded.
The sceptical view
The crimes are partly documented, but the witchcraft is legend; some historians argue her monstrous reputation was inflated by 19th-century writers.