Felipe Nerio Espinosa (-1863) was a notorious
Mexican-American
Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
murderer who killed an estimated thirty-two people in the
Colorado Territory
The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado.
The territory was organized in the w ...
throughout the spring and fall of 1863.
Early life
Felipe Nerio Espinosa was probably born in what is today
El Rito Unincorporated Community,
Rio Arriba County
Rio Arriba County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 40,246. Its county seat is Tierra Amarilla. Its northern border is the Colorado state line.
Rio Arriba County comprises the Española, N ...
,
New Mexico Territory
The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of ''Santa Fe de Nuevo México ...
(at that time,
Santa Fe de Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México ( en, Holy Faith of New Mexico; shortened as Nuevo México or Nuevo Méjico, and translated as New Mexico in English) was a Kingdom of the Spanish Empire and New Spain, and later a territory of independent Mexico. The ...
) although some sources cite his place of birth as
Veracruz
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
, Mexico. His parents were Pedro Ignacio Espinosa, who was born in
Abiquiu, New Mexico, and Gertrudis Chavez. He had a brother named Vivian.
The
Mexican census of 1845 from
El Rito, New Mexico lists several members of the Espinosa family, while the 1860 US Census lists a Felipe Nerio Espinosa living in Conejos, San Fernando Valley,
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Cha ...
with his wife and two children, a girl of five and a son of two.
Killing spree
There is no definitive reason as to why the Espinosa brothers began their rampage but evidence suggests it was because the US Army had been tasked with arresting the pair over alleged robberies in the area. When the two men did not give themselves up, one of their homes was burned and their property confiscated. The pair had ended up in American territory after the signing of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...
in February 1848. It had ceded the area and its Hispanic settlers to the United States following the conclusion of
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
(1846–1848). In the decade that had followed the treaty, many Hispanic people had lost title to their lands because territory courts showed an inclination to settle land disputes in favor of White settlers.
Aided by his brother Vivian, Espinosa began his murder spree in the thinly populated area of what is now
Fremont County, Colorado
Fremont County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,939. The county seat is Cañon City. The county is named for 19th-century explorer and presidential candidate John C. Frémont.
Fre ...
. "The brothers' first victim was found in May 1863, his corpse mutilated and the heart hacked out of his chest. During that summer, twenty-five more people were attacked and killed in similar fashion."
Espinosa sent a letter to Territorial Governor
John Evans stating his intention to murder 600 "
gringo
''Gringo'' (, , ) (masculine) (or ''gringa'' (feminine)) is a term in Spanish and Portuguese for a foreigner, usually an English-speaking Anglo-American. There are differences in meaning depending on region and country. In Latin America, it is ge ...
s," if he and the other members of his gang were not granted pardons, some in
Conejos County
Conejos County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,461. The county seat is the unincorporated community of Conejos.
Being 50.7% Hispanic in 2020, Conejos was Colorado's largest Hispa ...
, and appointments in the 1st Colorado Volunteer Infantry Unit.
Lawmen, including Conejos County Sheriff Emmett Harding and 1st Colorado Volunteer Infantry Unit Commander S. B. Tappan, were dispatched to find Espinosa, but they met with little success. A posse out of
Park County, Colorado
Park County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,390. The county seat is Fairplay. The county was named after the large geographic region known as South Park, which was named by early f ...
finally managed to track the brothers southwest of
Canon City, Colorado
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western can ...
. Vivian was shot and killed in the ensuing gunfight but Felipe escaped. After hiding out for the remainder of the summer, Felipe recruited a fourteen-year-old nephew named Jose and resumed the rampage. Soon after, legendary tracker
Tom Tobin was enlisted by the US Army find the pair. In a matter of days, Tobin found the outlaws' camp and in a brief gunfight shot and killed both Espinosas. He took their heads back to
Fort Garland, Colorado
Fort Garland is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Costilla County, Colorado, United States. The Fort Garland post office has the ZIP Code 81133. At the United States Census 201 ...
.
[Kutz, J.: "Mysteries & Miracles of Colorado", Rhombus, 1993]
In popular culture
The Felipe Espinosa story is the foundation for Adam James Jones's book, ''The Vendetta of Felipe Espinosa'' (2014).
See also
*
List of serial killers in the United States
A serial killer is typically a person who kills three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial murder a ...
References
External links
*
The Untold Truth of Outlaw Felipe Espinosa Grunge.com. 20 January 2022.
Felipe Espinoza: One Of America's First Serial Killers Serialkillercalendar.com.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Espinosa, Filipe
1820s births
1863 deaths
American people of Mexican descent
American serial killers
Deaths by firearm in Colorado
Fugitives
Latino people shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Male serial killers
People from El Rito, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
Racially motivated violence against European Americans