Felipe Espinosa: The Headless Horseman, Part l

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.

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.