The author who created the Killing Eve assassin Villanelle based her on a real-life psychopath who was a hitwoman for Basque separatists.
Luke Jennings has told how the character played by Jodie Comer in the hit TV series was inspired by Idoia López Riaño, dubbed La Tigresa in the Spanish press.
Jennings, 67, said he read newspaper stories about Riaño, who was jailed in the 1990s for a string of murders for the terrorist group Eta.
He said: “She killed 23 people, and she was clearly a psychopath and completely without empathy.” He said an Eta member had told of a stakeout they were on, with a view to killing a police officer, when Riaño missed her chance because she was too busy admiring her own reflection.
Read more on mirror.co.uk