Griselda on Netflix: What happened to her bodyguard husband Dario in real life

Things weren’t exactly how they were shown in the Netflix series

3 months ago

Right now it feels like the whole world is hooked on Griselda on Netflix. The story of the Cocaine Godmother is wild, and the show dramatises the real life events in her story. One of the main people in Griselda Blanco’s life was Dario Sepúlveda.

Dario started out as a bodyguard for Griselda, but the couple then began a relationship and ended up getting married and sharing a son together, Michael Corleone Blanco. But how accurate is the show’s depiction of Dario? Here’s what happened to him in real life.

via Netflix

Dario Sepúlveda and Griselda Blanco married in 1978

Griselda had three husbands, her third being Dario. He was shown in the Netflix series are being dedicated, protective and loyal to Griselda and her work. He started off as a bodyguard for her, before their relationship became romantic. Whilst they were together, Dario would kill for Griselda.

The couple got married in 1978 and their son Michael Corleone Blanco was born on August 5th 1978, in Medellín, Colombia. Griselda and Dario’s son was a key part in their marriage breaking down, when Griselda’s behaviour began to get more and more erratic, and Dario worried for their son’s safety. Dario believed Griselda had become an unfit mother, and was focusing too much on the dangerous cocaine business which was taking over her thoughts.

via Netflix

Dario died in 1983

In the Netflix show we see that after a heated argument with Griselda, Dario took his son Michael and moved back to Colombia to his mother’s home. Here, he was assassinated. However, his death in real life was reportedly quite different to how it was shown in the Netflix series.

In real life, Dario Sepúlveda was killed in 1983 in Medellín. His assassination was ordered by his ex-wife Griselda Blanco, and this happened in the same year he and Griselda separated.

Ex-smuggler Max Mermelstein claimed he had seen the fight which caused Griselda and Dario to breakup. “It took place in my living room in Davie. Dario had been running around with a topless dancer in Fort Lauderdale and Griselda found out,” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Dario said to hell with it and that he was taking the kid to Colombia.”

According to reports in the Miami Times, Dario was killed by men pretending to be police officers. The report stated: “Two of Griselda’s pals – ex-smuggler Max Mermelstein and former hit man Jorge ‘Rivi’ Ayala – subsequently told law enforcement officials that she was the one who ordered the hit on her husband, who had left for Colombia with Michael and another woman.”

Max Mermelstein said Dario taking Griselda’s son was the final straw, and Griselda then ordered an assassination to have her husband killed in front of Michael.

Speaking of the murder, Max added: “The cops asked Dario to get out of the car. He got out and they handcuffed him, but he started to run. The cops opened fire and shot Dario right in front of the kid. Little Michael was screaming and ran over to embrace his father, but by the time he got there Dario was dead. The execution was done on the orders of Michael’s mother.”

Griselda is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.