Wikimedia CommonsAlfredo Ball Trevio was a Mexican doctor and murderer who inspired author Thomas Harris to create the character Hannibal Lecter.In 1959, Alfredo Ball Trevio was a medical intern from a prominent family living in Monterrey, Mexico. Nobody who knew him could have ever expected that he would go on to inspire one of Hollywoods most infamous villains.That October, Ball Trevio brutally murdered his lover, Jess Castillo Rangel, before dismembering him and stuffing his remains into a small box. He was swiftly apprehended and imprisoned at the Topo Chico penitentiary, where he continued an informal medical practice.A few years into his sentence, Ball Trevio met Thomas Harris, an American journalist who was at the prison to interview another criminal. Harris thought that Ball Trevio was the official prison doctor and he was shocked to learn that he was actually an inmate.Harris later drew upon his encounter with Ball Trevio while writing his 1981 novel Red Dragon, in which he introduced Hannibal Lecter, a former psychiatrist who became a serial killer. When the books sequel, The Silence of the Lambs, was adapted into a film in 1991, Lecter became a pop culture phenomenon but few people know of the man behind the character.So, who was Alfredo Ball Trevio?The Chilling Crimes Of Alfredo Ball TrevioAlfredo Ball Trevio was born into a wealthy family in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas in the late 1920s or early 30s. His father encouraged him to do well in school, and he eventually decided to become a doctor.By 1959, he was working as an intern in Monterrey, but his life would soon turn upside down. One night in October, Ball Trevio got into an argument with his lover, Jess Castillo Rangel. In a rage, Ball Trevio soaked a towel in chloroform and held it over Castillo Rangels face. Once the man fell unconscious, Ball Trevio moved him to the bathroom and used his training as a surgeon to carefully slit his throat with a scalpel and drain the blood from his corpse.El NorteAlfredo Ball Trevio (right) pictured alongside his victim, Jess Castillo Rangel (left), in a 1959 issue of the Mexican newspaper El Norte.Ball Trevio then chopped Castillo Rangels body into small pieces and placed them in a box, which he tried to dispose of. But when the remains were discovered several days later, the police quickly traced the crime back to Ball Trevio.He was found guilty of murder and was initially set to be executed, but his sentence was later commuted to 20 years in prison. Despite the circumstances behind his conviction, Ball Trevio gained the trust of the warden and was allowed to practice medicine in the penitentiary. He was even permitted to leave the facility to see patients at times.So, when Thomas Harris first saw Ball Trevio in his light suit and gold Rolex in 1963, he couldnt be blamed for mistaking him for a doctor who was employed by the prison. Little did he know, his short conversation with Alfredo Ball Trevio would change his life forever.The Inspiration For Hannibal LecterThomas Harris had traveled to the Topo Chico prison to interview Dykes Askew Simmons for Argosy magazine. Simmons had been convicted of killing three people while on vacation in Mexico, though he maintained his innocence and was desperate to return to the United States.He even tried to escape, he told Harris during their interview, and had been shot twice in the leg by a guard. Thankfully, a prison doctor saved his life.In 2013, Harris wrote of this encounter in the introduction to the 25th anniversary edition of The Silence of the Lambs. In an excerpt reprinted in The Times, Harris described meeting Alfredo Ball Trevio whom he referred to as Dr. Salazar recalling that he was a small, lithe man with dark red hair. He stood very still and there was a certain elegance about him.LTV East Hampton/YouTubeThomas Harris, the author who created Hannibal Lecter, during an interview in 2019.Harris asked Dr. Salazar how he treated Simmons, but their conversation soon took a strange turn. The doctor instead began questioning Harris, leading him into a bizarre psychological analysis of Simmons and his alleged crime. When they were interrupted by a patient, Harris asked Salazar to contact him the next time he was in Texas so they could talk further. Certainly I will, when I next travel, Salazar said.As he was leaving the prison, Harris asked the warden how long the doctor had worked at the prison. You dont know who that is? the man responded.The doctor is a murderer, said the warden, according to Harris. As a surgeon, he could package his victim in a surprisingly small box. He will never leave this place. He is insane.When Harris began writing Red Dragon in the late 1970s, his visit to the Mexican prison came back to him. As he wrote in the later introduction to The Silence of the Lambs:My detective needed to talk to somebody with a peculiar understanding of the criminal mind. Lost in the tunnel of work, I plodded along behind my detective when he went to the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane to consult with an inmate. Who do you suppose was waiting in the cell? It was not Dr. Salazar. But because of Dr. Salazar, I could recognize his colleague and fellow practitioner, Hannibal Lecter.While Harris didnt initially give Dr. Salazars real name, it was later revealed that he was none other than Alfredo Ball Trevio.Alfredo Ball Trevios Life After PrisonBall Trevio was released from prison after 20 years behind bars, and he immediately returned to his work as a doctor in Monterrey, treating the citys elderly and poor.When the movie The Silence of the Lambs was released in 1991, those who knew Ball Trevio reportedly recognized him in Hannibal Lecter. Harris and, subsequently, the filmmakers had borrowed Ball Trevios sleek style, from his sunglasses to his stylish suit, when creating Lecters character. Harris had also been inspired by Ball Trevios insight into the criminal mind.MGMAnthony Hopkins played Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.Ball Trevios family purportedly began referring to him as Hannibal and Dr. Lecter, as reported by The Latin Times in 2013, which the doctor found funny. However, Ball Trevios past also haunted him. According to The Times, the doctor told a Mexican newspaper in 2008, I dont want to relive my dark past. I dont want to wake up my ghosts, its very hard.Alfredo Ball Trevio died of cancer in 2009 at age 81 (some outlets report that he was 78 due to discrepancies regarding his true date of birth). While he seemingly didnt want to be remembered for his crimes, his link to Hannibal Lecter has all but cemented his legacy as a killer. Still, the people of Monterrey look back on him as a skilled doctor who would freely help those who couldnt afford medical care.As one of his former patients told The Times, He was a good person.After learning how Hannibal Lecter was based on a real doctor named Alfredo Ball Trevio, discover the true stories behind 13 horror movies. Then, read about Danny Rolling, the Gainesville Ripper whose crimes inspired Scream.The post Alfredo Ball Trevio, The Real-Life Hannibal Lecter Who Treated Patients While In Prison For Murder appeared first on All That's Interesting.