Diego Alcazar

Diego Alcazar
General Hospital
Portrayed by	Ignacio Serricchio
First appearance	October 1, 2004
Last appearance	March 6, 2008
Cause/reason	Accidental Hanging
Created by	Robert Guza Jr. Charles Pratt Jr.
Profile
Aliases	Text Message Killer
Occupation	Mob Enforcer
Residence	Port Charles, New York
Relationships Parents Lorenzo Alcazar (deceased) Maria Sanchez Sibling(s) Lila Rae Alcazar (half-sister) Romances Brook Lynn Ashton Maxie Jones Georgie Jones Aunts and uncles Luis Alcazar (deceased) First cousins Sage Alcazar (deceased)

Diego Alcazar was a fictional character on the popular ABC daytime drama, General Hospital. Diego is the son of Lorenzo Alcazar and Maria Sanchez. Ignacio Serricchio originated the role of Diego in October 2004 and portrayed him until the character's "death" in November 2006. In February 2008, it is revealed that Diego is very much alive, and terrorizing the citizens of Port Charles as the Text Message Killer.

Character's background

After being taken in by Courtney Matthews (the half-sister of Sonny Corinthos), Diego began acting out with Brook Lynn Ashton. Eventually he found out his father was crime boss and arms dealer Lorenzo Alcazar. Alcazar had slept with Diego's mother Maria Sanchez, who Diego grew up believing was his sister. Maria arranged for Diego to go into foster care when she found out she was about to be deported. Diego began living with his father and following in his crime boss footsteps. After months of not doing much, when Kirsten Storms joined the show in May 2005 as the new Maxie Jones, Diego took a liking to her and broke up with his current girlfriend, Brook Lynn. He turned out to be the PCU stalker who had been drugging girls and taking pictures of them, including Maxie and Brook. He claimed he was getting revenge on them for the death of his cousin, Sage Alcazar, his teenage cousin (that he never met) who Dillon Quartermaine used for sex. Sage died as a result of being locked into a freezer by Georgie Jones, who resented Sage for her pursuit of Dillon in the wake of her father's murder, Luis Alcazar, that left her emotionally fragile. Unable to free herself from the freezer, Sage was a sitting duck for a serial killer named Mary Bishop, who mistook her for Emily Quartermaine. Diego didn't learn he was Alcazar's son until the year after Sage's death, but later read the journals and songs Sage left behind and felt terrible for her. Alcazar turned Diego into the cops for his crimes, but arranged for him to receive legal representation. Diego ran out of the police station and abducted Maxie's sister Georgie. He was ultimately caught and sent to prison, but returned to Port Charles in March 2006 and developed a relationship with Georgie, who'd divorced her husband Dillon and had been writing to Diego while he was in prison. Georgie invited Diego to her spring prom and had been writing letters to him in prison. He was in cahoots with Lulu Spencer to break up Dillon and Georgie so he could have a chance with Georgie. Diego and Georgie were in a relationship after Dillon took Lulu's word over his own wife's, but it was short-lived after Dillon found out Lulu had lied. Like Sage, Dillon used Lulu for sex, and Diego was left behind by Georgie. Diego told Georgie he accepted her for who she was and loved her and refused to give up on them which touched Georgie.

In November 2006, Diego was working with Alcazar to try to frame Sam McCall, Jason Morgan, and Damien Spinelli. This included Diego shooting at them, which provoked Sam to shoot Diego in self defense. This made Alcazar hate Sam and Jason even more. Georgie felt bad after she found out Diego was dead and talked to Dillon about who Diego was and everything he could have had if he had not been killed.

Text message killer

On September 10, 2007, Sonny Corinthos gets word that the Zacchara crime family is in on his territory. He then receives word that the leader of the family, Anthony Zacchara, hurts his enemies by going after their loved ones. Sonny tells his ex-wife, Carly Corinthos that she needs to move in with him so that she and their sons will be safe. She refuses to go because she does not want to hurt her husband, Jasper Jacks. Carly and Jax move into the Metro Court, but Sonny demands that his children should at least come live with him. They agree as they drop off the boys at Sonny's house, and Jason and Carly would return to her house and pick up Leticia so that they could take her to Sonny's. They arrive to find the house pitch black. As they search, they found Leticia's lifeless body on the floor with a telephone cord wrapped around her neck.

Carly and Jason call the police, as she goes to Sonny's house and breaks the news to him and the boys. Sonny believes that Leticia's death is a message sent by Zacchara. Time passes as the Corhinthos family mourns the death of their loyal nanny. Sonny begins receiving text messages, explaining that the killing would not stop at Leticia. He receives the first when he is with his girlfriend, Kate Howard. Example of one is: "Nanny got the phone cord. Who comes next?" As Sonny realizes that Anthony Zacchara is crazy, and Trevor Lansing is taking control, he knows that he needs to increase his security. He does just that, but Carly Corinthos doesn't feel safe; she desperately wants to catch Leticia's killer. Michael, meanwhile, wants payback for Leticia's death.

Carly is determined to catch the man who killed Leticia. She finds out that her cousin, Lulu Spencer, was texting Anthony Zacchara's son, Johnny. She wants to put a stop to this, yet she has a feeling that he might have been the Text Message Killer. Carly then steals his number, and begins texting him, pretending to be Lulu. She then sets up a meeting in the park. The meeting turns dangerous when he pulls out a gun when he finds out that he has been tricked. Fortunately, Jasper Jacks shows up in the nick of time and saves her.

Carly grows more determined than ever to catch the killer. She then receives a text message from an unknown number. Photos of her and Jax had been taken through her phone without her knowledge. Once Carly receives her invitation to the Black & White Ball that Nikolas Cassadine and Emily Quartermaine are hosting in Wyndemere Castle, she receives a text message saying, "See U at the ball". At that moment, Carly comes up with a dangerous plan to catch the killer.

Days prior to the ball, Carly buys a gun that she plans to use on the killer. She informs Diane Miller of her plan, and forces her to keep quiet. Once the Black & White Ball is underway, Carly repeatedly sends text messages to the killer, and tells Jax she is texting Michael, her son. Carly sets it up so that she would meet the killer in the Study of Wyndemere Castle and simultaneously Cooper Barrett receives a text message. She waits, hiding in the corner with the gun, as she waits for the killer to arrive. Cooper walks in and Carly holds him at gun point, demanding to know why he killed Leticia. He pleads his innocence, but she shoots at him anyway, missing on purpose. Maxie Jones arrives, and put herself in between the gun and Cooper. Jax arrives in time as Cooper and Maxie leave. She explains that she thinks Cooper is the Text Message Killer. As the night goes on, Carly and Jax find a device that one uses to piggy back another person's number, and this convinces Carly that the killer is somewhere in Wyndemere. As Carly receives news of the death of a beloved woman, she nearly becomes the latest victim. Johnny arrives in time, and saves Carly's life. After her near death experience, she then lets go of her plans to catch the killer.

As a storm loomed over the Black & White Ball, the power shuts down. Little does anyone at the Ball know that Anthony Zacchara is out, and crazier than ever. He kills a guest for his clothes, and stabs Ric Lansing. Everyone at the party is forced to stay in the Ballroom until the morning. As Emily Quartermaine and Nikolas Cassadine look for Lucky Spencer, they run into Zacchara, who begins fighting Nikolas. Zacchara then grabs the telephone cord and begins choking Nikolas while Emily screams in terror. Zacchara doesn't kill Nikolas, but Emily wants Nikolas to be safe. He tells her that she needs to lock him in a room and keep him there until the night is over so that she would be safe from his blackout episodes. She did just that.

Emily goes for help, and returns to check on Nikolas. She finds the door broken, and Nikolas gone. Emily returns to the Ballroom when she runs into her brother, Jason. Nikolas shows up and begins fighting Jason. The two engage in a fight as Emily tries to stop it. Nikolas is knocked out as Jason ties him in a chair for his own good. Jason then takes Emily to the stables, to keep her safe. Once Jason leaves, Emily returns to Wyndemere to find Nikolas. She arrives in the Ballroom and she finds Nikolas standing in the corner. Nikolas explains to her that she needs to be safe from him because he would hurt her, and he can't protect her. She assures him that he would never hurt her, but he again tells her to leave. The two begin arguing as someone knocks Nikolas unconscious and begins strangling Emily. Nikolas later wakes up to see Emily's lifeless body next to him. He screams for help and then holds Emily in his arms. Jason and Carly come running in, as Carly declares Emily dead. Jason goes to the stables and gets Elizabeth, who is in shock to learn that her best friend has been murdered.

Word of Emily's passing spreads as everyone mourns her death, and as everyone begins fearing the Text Message Killer.

Maxie (Kirsten Storms), Jax (Ingo Rademacher), Max (Derk Cheetwood), Cooper (Jason Gerhardt)

Maxie spends most of her time at the Black & White Ball with her ex-boyfriend Cooper. There are numerous occasions when she would turn and Cooper would be nowhere to be found. During that night, she is taken hostage by Anthony Zacchara but is rescued. Weeks pass as Georgie Jones, Maxie's sister, receives a text message saying, "Seen ur sis?". That same day, Maxie is brought in for questioning for the night of the Black & White Ball. She tells the police that she was barely with Cooper during the night, and she then finds out that Coop told the cops she was with him the entire time. Later that day, Maxie goes home to change for work because she spills coffee on her clothes. Little does she know that the killer is waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. She then had her back to the stairs when the killer begins strangling her with a nearby phone cord.

Georgie arrives home as the killer runs past her, and she runs to save Maxie's life. Mac Scorpio, and Lucky Spencer arrive to take Georgie and Maxie's statements. They are brought in for a line-up. Among the men is Johnny Zacchara. Georgie and Maxie both say that any of the men in the lineup could have been the one, as they did not get a good look at him. Maxie does remember that the killer had a familiar, sweet smell. The next day, Maxie gets another text message from the killer.

Georgie walks into the house and is searching for something in her backpack, as the killer runs past her, and she sees that he is tall, medium build with brownish hair. She gives this description to the police. As Maxie receives another text message, Georgie notices that Coop is looking at Maxie very strangely as he holds his cell phone, around the same time that she gets the text message. Georgie then begins asking questions about Coop's whereabouts at the Black & White Ball and at the time that Maxie was strangled. Georgie then begins to become suspicious of Coop, and enlists Damian Spinelli's help in proving that Coop is the killer.

Spinelli finds out that a female soldier was strangled in Iraq, around where Coop was stationed at. Georgie is more convinced than ever that Coop is the killer, and she tells Maxie about her concerns. Maxie refuses to believe it, and plans a romantic evening with Coop in Sam McCall's penthouse. On December 17, 2007, Georgie gets a text message saying, "Tell Sis to meet in park". Georgie goes alone to the park, in hopes of catching the killer. She arrives, and is about to call 911 when someone emerges from out of the bushes. Her last words are, "Oh, it's you. For a second there, I thought I had a stalker".

Georgie's lifeless body is then discovered by Spinelli, who then calls the police. Later, Coop arrives late at Sam's penthouse as Maxie asks him why his hands are so cold. Mac, Maxie and Robin then receive news that Georgie has been murdered. Word of Georgie's death spreads as the entire town grieves the loss.

A mysterious new worker at Kelly's, Daniel, is seen to be very suspicious of the conversations that involve the Text Message Killer. He is also seen wrapping a piece of string around the neck of a small doll.

Coop matches the DNA to the skin in Georgie's fingernails, supposedly making him the killer.The DNA came from an attack that Georgie did to him in a panic, and scratched him, because she thought that he was the Text Message Killer. On January 25, 2008, Coop is found dead in his room.

Sam McCall is strangled by a masked man. She fights him off but is hit by a car after running into the street. The driver is suspected to be either Monica Quartermaine, Elizabeth Webber, or Nikolas Cassadine. Then she gets a visit from the text message killer after she gets released from the hospital. She finds him in her home and she fights him off and he reveals his identity to her, he is Diego Alcazar. He kidnaps her and makes it look like she has left town but he left a clue behind (her new cell phone). Jason finds it and figures out that he has her. He also finds out by Max that he has Elizabeth who had randomly arrived at Sam's penthouse, moments before Diego was going to leave with Sam. He had to take her so she wouldn't ruin his plan by telling the cops. She is in the car and Sam is in the trunk. The car goes over Hangman's Bridge and is hanging there.

As Maxie and Spinelli are searching for evidence that Coop was not the killer, Logan arrives and acts very suspicious upon his arrival. After leaving the room, Logan's ribs are bruised very badly as to suspect that he was struck badly (Sam kicked the Text Message Killer in the ribs several times while fighting him off.)

Lulu Spencer sneaks into Logan Hayes' apartment and finds a ski mask and gloves. Maxie Jones had found a drug in Cooper Barrett apartment. Dr. Ian Devlin identifies as an illegal drug that soldiers use to enhance performance. It has a side effect of a sweet smell. Lulu also finds this drug in Logan's apartment. Lulu's discoveries (the ski mask, gloves, and a cell phone receptor) lead her to believe that Logan is the killer. Logan refutes her claims and says he was going to frame his rival, Johnny Zacchara, for the crime. She tries to escape to inform the police, but Logan grabs her and covers her mouth. Lulu, in a desperate attempt to get away, hits Logan with a wrench and knocks him out. He is a patient at General Hospital, and everyone believes him to be the real killer.

Sam returns home after being released early from the hospital. The killer appears, slipping a cord around Sam's neck. Sam fights free, and asks the killer's identity. Upon removal of the ski mask, Sam is horrified to see Diego Alcazar standing before her very eyes. The very same man she thought she murdered in self defense more than a year earlier, while on the run with Jason and Spinelli.

Diego explains to Sam that his father felt a pulse and took him to South America where he had a doctor from Mercy Hospital come and take care of him. The day his father planned to leave Port Charles and come live with him on the Alcazar compound with Skye, Lila Rae, and him he sent him a text message that said," I'm coming for you." His father never came because Jason Morgan shot and killed him and dumped his dead body into the harbor. Diego was sad, angry, and hurt and vowed to make Sonny and Jason pay. He knew the two of them did not fear death so he planned to kill their family and friends to make them suffer. He planned to kill Carly first so he broke into her house but he found out she was not there and Letica found him and saw who he was so he strangled her to death with a telephone cord so she would not be able to tell others he was alive. Then he realized that it was not fun to just sneak up and kill somebody and wanted to scare his victims so that they would know he could see them and planned to kill them even though they did not know who he was or why he wanted them dead. He began to send text messages to taunt Sonny and Jason and make it clear to them that he would strike again.

Diego tries to strangle Sam to death again but she fights back and tries to call 911. He sees Maxie outside the door of Sam's apartment and waits for her to stop talking on her cell phone to her father but she gets away before he can grab her. Diego tells Sam that he wants her to know everything before she dies so he kidnaps her and holds her hostage at a warehouse.

The next day he goes to get breakfast and comes back to his warehouse where he tells Sam who he has tied up to a chair that it is amazing that despite all of the fear everyone has because of the Text Message Killer he could still get his morning coffee by the dock side stand and no one knows who he is or what he has done. Diego takes a medication in front of her where he explains that the gunshot that she inflicted on him in 2006 had ruptured his liver and he had to take the medication to control his bile level. The drug has the side effect of a sweet smell which was similar to the drug that was found in Cooper's apartment.

Diego then continues to explain why he became the Text Message Killer and who all of his targets were and why he targeted them to Sam. He went to the Black and White Ball where he knocked out Nikolas and strangled Emily to death because she was Jason's sister and tried to strangle Carly to death but somebody came into the room and he ran so the person would not see who he was and left Carly there to die. He targeted Maxie next and tried to strangle her to death in her house but Georgie came home. He ran before she could see who he was or stop him and managed to save her sister's life. He started to send Maxie threatening text messages to let her know he still planned to kill her and sent one to Georgie to tell her sister to go to the park alone. He meant to kill Maxie there but Georgie went to the park in the hopes that she could find out who he was and catch him and saw who he was so he was forced to strangled her to death to shut her up even though he did not want to. He hanged Cooper because he thought he had found out who the Text Message Killer was and where he was hiding and planned to tell Jason and framed him for his crimes. Diego went after Alexis because she had killed his uncle and was Sam's mother but Sam had managed to save her life. He also went after Sam because he believed that she and Jason were still together and Sam had shot him. He tried to strangle Sam to death on the docks but she managed to beat him up and run into the street to get hit by a car so he left and waited for her to get out of the hospital so he could try to kill her again. He then places a bomb in Sam's lap and leaves.

Sam manages to get free of the duct tape that binds her to the chair and tries to escape through the ducts but Diego set it up so it would lead her right back to him. Diego returns to the warehouse, uses duct tape to tape her mouth shut and bind her hands, and takes her to his car at gunpoint where he puts her in the trunk of his car. He goes back to Sam's apartment to pack Sam's bags and make it look like she left town but forgets to grab Sam's cell phone which is later found by Jason. He opens the door to see Elizabeth Webber standing outside of it and Elizabeth tries to get away from him but he drugs her, kidnaps her, and handcuffs her in the back seat of his car. He didn't intend to take her, but he had to so she wouldn't ruin his plan by going to the cops. Max Giambetti, who had been sent to check on Sam, sees him and tries to stop him but he hits him with his car. Elizabeth wakes up and demands to know who Diego is as he drives them to the Hangman's Bridge where he plans to kill Sam and dump her body. Elizabeth claws at him which causes Diego to slap her and wreck the car on the bridge. Lucky Spencer and Jason Morgan show up and manage to rescue Sam and Elizabeth, but Lucky gets shot by Diego and Jason hurts his hands and Diego gets away in the process.

Nikolas and Nadine go to the warehouse where Sam supposedly shot and killed Diego in self-defense and look for Diego. Nikolas leaves and Diego finds Nadine alone who sees who he is. He tries to drug Nadine but Nadine fights back, hits him with a board, and tries to get away. Diego kidnaps Nadine Crowell and holds her hostage in a warehouse with bombs set to explode. He goes back to his headquarters where Nikolas finds him. The two of them call each other names and trade insults and struggle but Diego attempts to strangle Nikolas to death and escapes. Emily appears and tells Nikolas it is not his time to die and to avenge Leticia, Georgie, and her. Diego finds Maxie and Spinelli and is ready to strangle Maxie to death when Nikolas returns. Maxie stabs him with a pole bar and Nikolas punches him. A rope gets around Diego's neck when Nikolas attacks him. He tries to get away, but he ends up falling off of the catwalk and hangs himself to death.

Crimes committed

• Stole from Lucas Jones.
• Attempted to shoot Lorenzo Alcazar.
• Arrested for trespassing and assaulting Ned Ashton. (Charges were dropped.)
• PCU stalker.
• Mob soldier for his father, went after Spinelli, Sam and Jason.
• Was the Text Message Killer

Victims

• Leticia Juarez (strangled to death) (September 10, 2007) - Mistook for Carly.
• Carly Corinthos Jacks (stalked/strangled; survived) (November 1, 2007) - Relationship with His Father Lorenzo Alcazar and Sonny Corinthos.
• Emily Quartermaine (strangled to death) (November 1, 2007) - Revenge against Jason Morgan.
• Maxie Jones (stalked/strangled; survived) (December 7, 2007/March 5, 2008) - She Sent Him to prison.
• Georgie Jones (stalked/strangled to death) (December 17, 2007)- Died in Maxie's place since Diego had intended to kill Maxie at the park.
• Alexis Davis (stalked/strangled; survived) (January 23, 2008) - Mother of Sam McCall. Killed His Uncle Luis Alcazar.
• Coop Barrett (hanged) (January 25, 2008) - Pieced together evidence of TMK identity and location. Coop however, assumed that Lorenzo was the TMK.
• Sam McCall (stalked/shot/strangled/kidnapped; survived) (February 2008) - Shooting Diego Alcazar. He also believed that she and Jason were still together.
• Kristina Davis (slipped into a catatonic state/) (February 14, 2008) - Witnessed Sam shoot Diego. Witness to TMK's real identity, and traumatized at seeing him "back from the dead"
• Elizabeth Webber (drugged/kidnapped; survived) (February 2008) - Ran into Diego Alcazar at Sam McCall's apartment.
• Max Giambetti (hit him with his car; survived) (February 28, 2008) - Attempted to prevent him from kidnapping Sam McCall & Elizabeth Webber.
• Lucky Spencer (shot; survived) (February 29, 2008) - Attempted to save Elizabeth Webber & Sam McCall.
• Jason Morgan (attacked; survived) (March 3, 2008) - Suffered injuries to his hands when he attempted to save Sam McCall & Elizabeth Webber
• Nadine Crowell (drugged/kidnapped; survived) (March 4, 2008) - Saw who he was while at his warehouse.
• Nikolas Cassadine (strangled/attacked; survived) (March 5, 2008) - Tried to stop him from seeking revenge for the murder of Emily Quartermaine.

References