César Román’s rise to fame in Spain and life of crime are at the center of Netflix’s ‘Cooking Up Murder: Uncovering the Story of the King of Cachopo’
César Román was once called the “King of Cachopo” — before he was known as a convicted killer.
Román became a household name in Madrid after launching A Cañada, a small chain of restaurants specializing in cachopo, a northern Spanish comfort food made with ham and cheese sandwiched between veal steaks, then deep-fried in batter.
Two years after launching A Cañada, however, Román was revealed to be bankrupt. He left his businesses behind and disappeared from public life — and shortly afterward, his girlfriend, Heidi Paz, went missing.
Paz’s remains were later found and eventually, the chef was arrested in relation to her murder. After pleading not guilty, he was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Román is now the subject of the new Netflix true crime docuseries Cooking Up Murder: Uncovering the Story of the King of Cachopo, which chronicles his rise to restaurant fame — and the lies he based it on — and his 2021 murder case.
and where he is today.
Who is César Román?
César Román Viruete grew up in Spain and had a checkered and varied career before becoming famous for his cachopo — and then for something far more macabre.
In early adulthood, he worked as a waiter and a cook. He began his career in public life in the 1990s as a member of the Spanish Falange, a far-right conservative political party, according to 20 Minutos. As a means of achieving recognition within the Falange, Román infiltrated unions and left-wing groups to provide information to his actual party. Later, he presided over the conservative Platform for Catalonia party in Madrid before disappearing without paying employees to the tune of 90,000 euros (about $97,000), according to El Pais.
Within several years, Román moved to Málaga, Spain, where he managed several bars and launched his own magazine, Ahora Málaga. The magazine shuttered, and in November 2009, El Mundo reported that employees showed up to Ahora’s offices to find themselves locked out. Román allegedly wrote his workers bad checks and kept all the money from the publication’s advertisers.
In 2011, Román moved to Madrid and befriended talk radio host Enrique de Diego. Román promised radio staff and interns high-paying jobs working for his website, only to leave them in the lurch as well, reportedly demanding they enroll in training for which they weren’t paid. Six journalists alleged that the pay they did receive came in the form of bad checks. He also enlisted de Diego to write a biography, paid him a 500 euro ($547) advance and then disappeared.
Román then launched his first eatery, A Cañada, in Madrid’s Embajadores district in 2016, and popularized cachopo. Román became known in Spain as the “King of Cachopo,” appearing in the media frequently to discuss both his culinary knowledge and business acumen. He went on to launch four more locations within 18 months.
However, like most of his other ventures, A Cañada wasn’t quite the legitimate success story that Román espoused publicly: El Pais reported that several awards the restaurants won were fabricated. Further, according to ABC Madrid, the fledgling franchise was actually insolvent, and Román was accused of writing fraudulent checks and stiffing his suppliers and staff alike, and the King of Cachopo was bankrupt.
As for his personal life, Román welcomed his daughter Elena with his ex-wife Natividad Rodríguez. They split in 2017 and Rodriguez filed a restraining order against him. She testified that she feared her ex-husband and accused him of domestic violence, abusing and killing three dogs. Additionally, she alleged that he never paid child support or alimony after their divorce.
Who was Heidi Paz?
Heidi Paz Bulnes was born in Honduras, where she herself had two young children. She worked as a server in one of Román’s A Cañada restaurants that opened in April 2018. Paz, 25, was in a relationship with Román, which, though short, was serious enough for them to cohabitate, according to letters obtained by La Vanguardia.
Paz’s mother alleged that Román was jealous and controlling of her daughter, Madrid Metropolitan reported. In June 2018, Paz left Román a note saying she loved him but was leaving him. On July 23, 2018, Paz’s family reported her missing.
What did César Román do?
On July 30, 2018, a week after Paz was reported missing, Román disappeared, leaving his debts and the restaurants he owned behind.
Two weeks later, on Aug. 13, 2018, firefighters responded to a small blaze in an abandoned warehouse in Madrid’s Usera neighborhood, where they found a suitcase stuffed with a charred woman’s torso, next to a large pool of blood. The torso reportedly was cut open to remove breast implants, which would have had a serial number on them that could identify the victim.
Investigators found that Román had been renting the warehouse space and had the only key to access the property, El Pais reported. Since there were no signs of forced entry, their list of suspects narrowed in on him quickly. Authorities traced Román’s calls and found that he’d called a taxi to take him to the warehouse on Aug. 5, 2018, which the driver confirmed with police.
The remains in the suitcase were not only burned but reportedly also full of caustic soda, making it even more difficult to identify the victim. It wasn’t until November 2018 that DNA tests were completed, confirming that the remains were that of Paz.
On Nov. 16, 2018, police arrested Román, who La Confidencial reported had been living under an assumed name and working as a cook in a Zaragoza, Spain, restaurant, after one of his coworkers matched him with a news report about Román being a suspect in the slaying. He had lost weight, grown a beard and shaved his head in effort to avoid detection.
What was César Román’s conviction and sentence?
Román pleaded not guilty to Paz’s murder and dismemberment, alleging that drug dealers and organized crime were behind the slaying. He was convicted in June 2021 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Where is César Román now?
Román is still in prison for murdering and dismembering Paz, whose limbs and head have never been found. He is serving his sentence in Soto del Real Penitentiary Center in Madrid.
Though he maintained his innocence and attempted to appeal his conviction, in April 2024, El Heraldo reported that Román wrote a letter confessing to the crime. According to El Pais, he wrote, in part (translated from Spanish), that while he “cannot turn back time” he “[wants] to make clear [his] regret” for killing Paz and that he wanted to “repair the damage” he caused. However, Román’s own attorney denied his guilt and vowed to keep appealing, claiming that Román wrote the letter in a time of “desperation” after serving years behind bars.
An attorney for Paz’s family told El Pais (translated from Spanish), “In a year and a half, half of his sentence will be served and this would be a way to begin to access those privileges.”
