LINCOLN COUNTY, NEW MEXICO

CRIME STORIES

Negro Arrested At Carrizozo For Murder Mounted Police Capture Man Wanted for Capital Crime in El Paso. [Special Dispatch to the Morning Journal.] Carrizozo, N. M., May 5--Mounted Policeman Putnam today arrested a negro named Van Cook. Van Cook is charged with killing his roommate in the Texas town one day last week. The prisoner was taken to El Paso tonight. Source: Albuquerque Morning Journal, May 6, 1907 - Transcribed by C. Anthony. Murderer Breaks Out Of Jail At Lincoln Rosario Emilio Makes Good His Escape Sheriff Owens and Posse in Pursuit of Man Condemned to Death for Murder of His Sweetheart. Special Dispatch to the Morning Journal. Capitan, N. M. April 27--Rosario Emilio condemned to death for the murder of his sweetheart, near Lincoln in 1905 and being held in the Lincoln county jail pending a motion for a re-hearing before the territorial supreme court, broke jail at Lincoln last night and up to tonight had not been recaptured. Sheriff Owens and a posse are scouring the country in search of Emilio but the man has many friends in the hill country and it is conceded that it will be a difficult task to capture him. Emilio was convicted in Lincoln county court shortly after the murder. The case was appealed to the supreme court and at the January term the death sentence was sustained and Emilio was sentenced to hang the third Friday in March. A petition for a re-hearing was filed and served to delay execution until the August term of the supreme court when the petition was to have been heard. The murder for which Emilio was convicted was a particularly brutal one. The man was in love with a woman considerably older than himself. He met her one day on the road between Lincoln and Roswell, while she was riding with a companion. Emelio induced here to ride with him and when a little further up the road, shot her. Source: Albuquerque Journal, April 28, 1907-Transcribed by C. Anthony. Officers Seek Condemned Murderer Heavily Armed Posse After Rosario Emilio Lincoln County Friends of Fugitive Hope for Executive Clemency When Governor Curry Takes Office. Special Dispatch to the Morning Journal. Roswell, N. M. April 29.--Officers have arrived here from Lincoln county to search for Rosario Emilio, the condemned man who escaped from the Lincoln county jail Friday night. The belief that Emilio is hiding in Roswell or vicinity is strengthened by the fact that he has two sisters living here. The search is being made as thoroughly as possible, the officers going heavily armed, as they anticipate a desperate battle before Emilio is taken. Emilio was to have been hanged for murder March 22, but his execution was prevented by the efforts of his sister, Mrs. George Fletcher, of Amarillo, Tex, who went before Governor Hagerman and pleaded for the life of her brother. The supreme courte granted a reprieve pending the hearing of a motion for a retrial which was set for next August. Emilio, who spent all his life in the town of Lincoln, was convicted of killing his sweetheart, Antonita Cerilla. Governor-to be George Curry has known Emilio since he was an infant and the friends of the condemned man here hoped that the new executive would commute the death sentence to life imprisonment. Source: Albuquerque Journal, April 30, 1907-Transcribed by C. Anthony. Reported Emelio Was Caught At Eagle Creek Lincoln Murderer Was Badly Crippled Roswell Heats Report That Escaped Prisoner Has Been Retaken and Is On His Way Back to Jail. According to a report which has reached Roswell, Rosario Emilio, the Lincoln county murderer, who broke jail in Lincoln late in April, and wile had not been heard from since by any of the numerous officers on his trail, the man has been taken at Eagle Creek, eighteen miles west of Lincoln, in the foothills of the White mountains and is now being taken to Santa Fe for safe keeping. The report lacks confirmation. The Roswell Record carries the following account of the alleged capture: Lee Eddleman came in yesterday afternoon from his ranch and reported to Sheriff C. L. Ballard that he learned from some Mexicans, who came down from Rio Ruidoso, that Rosario Emilio, the sentenced and escaped murderer had been recaptured and taken to Lincoln in readiness for transportation to Sante Fe for safe keeping, until August 23, when he is to be hanged. The Mexicans went so far as to tell the details of the capture saying that Emilio saw the officers and fled, falling over a bluff in his flight and crippling himself so badly that he stopped at a house for help. This, the Mexicans said, led to his capture. He was taken, they say, at Eagle Creek, in the foothills of the White mountains eighteen miles west of Lincoln Thursday afternoon. But the story of the capture is denied by the driver of the LIncoln stage which came in last night from Lincoln. He says that there is no truth in it and that Sheriff Owens, of Lincoln county, returned the day he left Lincoln, reporting that he had not captured Emilio. Sheriff Ballard hesitates in accepting the denial of the report of the capture. Eddleman is not the man to be easily deceived by Mexicans. The sheriff considers it possible that the capture was made in the mountains and that Sheriff Owens had not heard of when the state left Lincoln. The officers here state that Emilio is not a resourceful young man, and they believe that he will be captured before he gets out of the territory, even if he is not now in jail. Nothing has ever been heard of the half-breed negro and Mexican who escaped with Emilio from the Lincoln jail.Source: Albuquerque Journal, May 8, 1907-Transcribed by C. Anthony. "I Will Have Emilio Or Die In The Attempt" Sheriff Owen of Lincoln County Declares He will Recapture Brutal Murderer at Any Cost and Regardless of Difficulties Criminal is Believed in Hands of Friends Desperado Who Shot Defenseless Woman Has Disappeared as if Swallowed Up-The Story of His Awful Crime. Special Correspondence Morning Journal. Lincoln, N. M., Aug. 21.--"I will have Rosarie Emilio or die in the attempt to capture him." Thus spoke John W. Owen, the sheriff of Lincoln county to your correspondent, when asked concerning the probability of this murderer ever being caught. Sheriff Owen would give out no information s to what he knew of Emilio's whereabouts, but he spoke with such confidence, it is presumed he has some clue to this present hiding place. It is the general feeling in this community that Emillio had assistance in escaping from jail, and that without the aid of his friends he would never have gotten very far away from the scene of his crime and confinement. Crime Most Brutal In Annals Of The County The crime for which this man was tried and convicted was one of the most brutal in the annals of this county. About the first of April, 1905, he followed a woman by the name of Antonia Corrillo de Mirabel, with whom he had been on intimate terms, as it was alleged, for some months past, as she was leaving for Roswell with her parents, adn after overtaking the wagon in which she was riding, persuaded her to go with him into a draw in the mountains, a short distance from the road. What was the burden of their conversation there will probably never be known, but a short time after leaving the main road, two shots rang out, and the woman was a mangled and bleeding corpse, shot to death by the man who had betrayed her confidence. The weapon used was a 30-30 Winchester, and there were two shots fired into her body, one entering back of the left ear, tearing the left portion of the head off, and the other through the heart. Emillio made no effort to conceal the body of the dead woman, adn was apprehended within a short space of time after the crime had been committed. He was taken to Lincoln under a heavy guard, as the news of the murder spread rapidly and public feeling was at fever heat. His preliminary hearing was placed in the jail of this county to await the action of the grand jury, the venices for which were at that time being served by the officers. Within a week he had been indicted for the murder of the Mirabel woman, and ten days later was being tried on the charge before Judge Mann. Weak Defense Put Up For Prisoner At this term of court for this county, Joseph F. Bonham, of Los Cruces, was the prosecuting officer and in this case, he was assisted by George W. Prichard, the then attorney general. George R. Barber, of Lincoln, and RIchmond P. Barnes, of Silver City, were retained as the defendant's counsel, the latter, however, not entering the case until after the plea of not guilty had been entered by the defendant and the defense outlined. This was probably the weakest defense ever put up in a capital case, all the circumstances considered. The defendant claimed that the murdered woman had committed suicide, when every layman could readily see and understand that it would have been impossible for the woman to have fired a second shot after either of the shots, which it was proven had been fired, had taken effect. The defense exhausted all preliminary motions upon technical grounds, seeking a comtinuance, but was compelled to go into the case. It lasted a week and the territory made such a strong case that the jury was out but a few minutes, returning a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree. The sentence was issued by Judge Mann, fixing the penalty at death from which judgment on appeal was granted by the lower court, the opinion being written by Judge Frank W. Parker, and being one of the strongest this ?rndit jurist has handed down from the bench of this territory. Emillio was returned to the custody of the sheriff of this county, and March 22, 1907, was the day fixed for his death. The sheriff put a guard about the jail and with the assistance of a couple of local carpenters, erected the gallows in the jail yard, made out his list of spectators, which was approved by the court and everything was in readiness for carrying into effect the mandates of the court. How Emillio Escaped The Impending Noose Just previous to the day on which Emillio was to pay the penalty for his crime, Governor Hagerman, after receiving many petitions for clemency, granted a respite for a short time.  Upon learning of this action on the part of the chief executive of the territory, Judge Mann had prepared and sent to Sheriff Owen an order to take Emillio back to Santa Fe and there deliver him over to the warden of the penitentiary for safe keeping, until such time as the death penalty should again be ordered, if at all. The day this order arrived in Lincoln, Sheriff Owen was in the country summoning jurors for the approaching term of court for this county, and did not get his mail until the next morning. The next morning was too late, for about two or three o'clock, Emillio broke jail, in company with a man by the name of Gomez, who was at that time being held to await the action of the grand jury on a charge of murder, and no trace of either of them have to this time been found--at least, their hiding places have never been uncovered. Sheriff Owen was the subject of considerable adverse comment at the time of his escape, and the grand jury at the last April term of this court investigated him in this particular very unsparingly and very thoroughly, but they reported to the court that after carefully going into the matter, they could find no evidence of collusion or unofficial conduct on his part. It is presumed that Gomez was soon in Mexico, where he doubtless now is, far in the interior. Emillio's pictures have been spread broadcast over the southwest, and every detective journal and officers' paper have given his likeness to their readers. That he has not been apprehended before the present time is because, it is averred, he is in the hands of his friends, and receiving aid daily; but unless he is out of the country entirely, it must be presumed that the efforts made to secure him recapture cannot fail. Source: Albuquerque Journal, August 24, 1907 - Transcribed by C. Anthony. Emilio May Be In Georgia Sheriff of Lincoln County Has Left for South to Look at Man Believed to Be Murderer Who Escaped a Year Ago Special Correspondence Morning Jounal. Carrizozo, N. M. May 30.--Sheriff John W. Owen of Lincoln county, has gone to the state of Georgia, where he has been ordered by the district court to investigage the identity of a prisoner in that state believed to be Rosario Emilio, the murderer who escaped from Lincoln county jail a year or more ago while under sentence of death. Repeated efforts to get a close description of the man have failed and there is considerable doubt as to whether the sheriff's trip will prove successful. In case he identifies the prisoner, Emilio will be at once extradited and promptly pay the penalty he has so long escaped. Source: Albuquerque Journal, June 1, 1908-Transcribed by C. Anthony. Note: Above articles refer to murder of Antonia Carrillo de Mirabal on April 3rd, 1905. Postmaster Waits For An Expert. No Clue To Perpetrators Of The Nogal Robbery. Generally Believed Thieves Paralyzed Combination After The Strong Box Was Looted. Special to the Morning Journal. Alamogordo, N. M. Mar. 8. --Last reports concerning the Nogal postoffice reports concerning the Nogal postoffice robbery say that the postmaster is advertising for an expert safe opener to open the strong box and ascertain the amount of the robbery. As Nogal is in an isolated spot sixty miles east of here and twelve miles from the railroad much valuable time may be lost before a posse gets a clew to the robbers. Think Burglars Live Near Scene Of Safe Cracking. Special to the Morning Journal. Carrizozo, N. M., Mar 8--No clew to the perpetrators of the Nogal postoffice robbery has been obtained besides the tools and braces left by the thieves. Whether or not they finally got into the strong box will not be known until an expert arrives. There was about two hundred dollars in the safe. The burglars smashed the lock on the front door of the postoffice and when the postmaster arrived he found the combination knob broken off the safe and a brace and broken bit nearby. It is generally believed that the safe was rifled and the tools left for a blind. The officers are investigating and believe the burglars live near. Source: Albuquerque Journal, March 9, 1906-Transcribed by C. Anthony. Bill Cook Caught Trapped by Sheriff Perry Near Fort Stanton, Outlaw Feared Betrayal The Indian Territory Gets Too Hot for the Desperado With a price upon his head and a posse of United States marshals constantly on his track, Bill Cook, murderer, train robber and all round desperado at last found Oklahoma J. T. getting too hot for him and he sought to evade the punishment which his numberous crimes deserve by crossing the line into New Mexico. One by one his desperate followers had either fallen into the hands of the authorities or died with their boots on in the effort to escape. The outlaw realizing that it was life or death with him and like other desperadoes that betrayal might be expected decided to disappear from the scene of his bold depredations. There was no one he confided in although there were in the territory thousands of farmers, cattlemen, and Indians who had at times given him and his gang shelter so he mounted his horse and rode away. By out of the way trails, Cook travelled until he crossed the Pecos. Entering Chavez county he made his way across the valley unrecognized and following the Rio Hondo in the course of a few days made camp ner Fort Stanton, Lincoln county this territory. But while on his lonesome journey somehow or other Sheriff Perry, of Chavez county, learned that Bill Cook had entered New Mexico, and after hunting about struck the hot trail. It was cautiously followed for the hunted desperado was a man who cared not for human life and the best way Perry figured to capture the fugitive was by surprise. He laid his plans accordingly and by sunset on Friday evening had bagged the villian who had so long de?ed the law.  Cook, when he found that he had been taken and escape was impossible, admitted his identity and decided to return to Oklahoma, without any formality. Last night Sheriff Perry telegraphed to Albuquerque that he had arrested the notorious outlaw and was then on his way with Cook to the Indian territory. There was general rejoicing when the news of the capture of the rascal was confirmed by a dispatch from Santa Fe. After the wiping out of the Daltons by the citizens of Coffeywille, it was believed that roving bands of murderers and marauders was then at an end. But in the course of a few weeks Bill Cook and his gang blossomed forth to continue desperate deeds. They held up trains, robbed stores and murdered unprotected travellers, until finally the United States authorities decided to put a stop to the devillish deeds. The outlaws have since been hunted, and Bill Cook more cunning than the rest, was the last of them at liberty. He will most probably end his career on the gallows, a fate with he justly deserves. Source: Albuquerque Morning Democrat, January 13, 1895 -Transcribed by C. Anthony.

 

©2009 Genealogy Trails