In 1863 a Mexican bandit by
the name of Felipe Espinosa became one of America’s first serial killers. "In a
12-month period he shot, stabbed, and brutally mutilated 32 people"--some
reports put this number as high as 60.
Bloody Trail of the Espinosa |
Beginnings
Espinosa was born in Northern
Mexico in 1827, in what later was to become a part of New Mexico territory in
El Rito a village 40 miles from Taos. During the Mexican-American War six of his relatives were killed. "It is said that Espinosa vowed to take 100 American lives
for each of these six deaths."
El Rito New Mexico |
He and his family were devout
Catholics. Espinosa belonged to a fanatical religious
sect known as Los Hermanos Penitentes.
Gathering of Penitentes E. Boyd collection |
The Spanish Conquistados
first introduced this penitentes sect to New Mexico in the 16th century. This
brotherhood believed in self-flagellation.
By the late 1800s this sect
was banned by both the church and state government for extreme practices.
Later, when Espinosa became a bandit this brotherhood sheltered him on more
than one occasion.
Promises Broken
After the Mexican-American
War when the Treaty of Guadalupe was
signed it stated that Mexican
families could keep their lands in what was now a part of America. They also
could retain their Mexican citizenship if they wished. But this treaty was broken.
Felipe’s
family lost their home and land and now found themselves poor. In 1862, he and his family were "living in a cramped jacale outside the village of San Rafael near Antonito, Colorado."
By late 1862 or early 1863
Felipe and his cousin Vivian took up banditry.
A Killing Spree
Felipe already fanatical and
seeking revenge now believed that the "Virgin Mary had been sent from God to
tell him he must kill."
One of their first victims
was a Mexican freight driver who was a neighbor to the Espinosas. They looted
this man’s wagon and then tied him to the wagon tongue. They whipped his horse
team into a frenzy and watched this man being dragged for miles.
This neighbor managed to
survive and was able to describe the cousins. The first of many bounties was
placed on their heads.
A U.S. Marshall and soldiers from the newly formed Fort Garland were sent to pursue the cousins but they managed to escape into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
A U.S. Marshall and soldiers from the newly formed Fort Garland were sent to pursue the cousins but they managed to escape into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
The cousins started their own
personal war in Colorado in an area known today as Dead Man’s Gulch.
They murdered a man named Jim Harkins who was found dead in his cabin. At first it was
believed Indians had killed him but shortly afterwards a couple of miles away another
Anglo, William Bruce was found dead outside his ranch house. He had been hacked
to pieces and a makeshift crucifix was found near his body.
The cousins continued to move
north to what is now Fremont County killing randomly as they went. They preyed
on isolated communities where there was no one around to hear gunshots or their victims screams.
The two bandits murdered several settlers near the small
mining community of South Park.
Two of their victims, Jacob Binkley and Abram Shoup stopped their wagon in Kenosha Pass on their way to Denver. While they slept the Espinosas stabbed one and shot the other.
The cousins after killing their victims mutilated the bodies so badly they were
hard to identify. "They disemboweled, decapitated, and cut their hearts
out. Crosses were often found in the victim’s chests."
Newspapers stated to refer to these murders as "The Axeman of Colorado." The bounty was increased once more.
One victim managed to get
away. Matthew Metcalf was driving his team of horses through South Park’s "California Gulch" when he came around a bend. There stood the Espinosas. They
said nothing as they fired upon Metcalf.
A bullet hit his chest and
sent him flying backwards. His horses reared and raced down the trail toward
the camp. They felt they had killed Metcalf so they didn't pursue his wagon.
Just that morning "Metcalf had
placed a copy of Lincolns Emancipation
Proclamation in his breast pocket." The thickness of this booklet stopped
the bullet.
Metcalf was able to describe
the cousins. Now the axeman had a face.
A Posse
A posse led by John McCannon
was sent after the Espinosas. He and his men came across a freshly mutilated
body that was butchered beyond recognition. Later McCannon tragically
discovered this dead man was his brother.
The posse caught up to the
cousins. They shot and killed Vivian. But Felipe managed to
get away once more.
Read Felipe Espinosa: TheHeadless Horseman, Part ll where I share the story of his capture and the man
who succeeded in doing this. I also share witness sightings of Espinosa’s ghost.
Excerpts from The Vendetta of Felipe Espinosa by Adam James Jones.
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