Hidalgo County John Doe was a man who was found murdered in the Rio Grande River near Donna, Texas, on December 23, 1934. Seven men were charged with and convicted of his murder, but his identity remains unknown. He also allegedly had a female companion who was also murdered, but her body has never been found.
Case[]
Background[]
According to testimonies given in the subsequent murder trials, the man had a female companion, and both had stayed in the home of Teresa Chapa on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, near Hidalgo, about a month prior to the man's discovery. They spent the night and the following day before leaving with Placido Handy in the late afternoon with the intention of being taken into the United States. Chapa said that both travelers spoke Spanish and had two suitcases. Chapa's son, Nicolas Yanez, testified that the man had been wearing similar clothing to that which he was wearing when his body was recovered.
Discovery[]
Around 3 p.m. on December 23, 1934, the victim's body was found on a mud bank in the Rio Grande River near a pumping station south of Donna, Texas. He had been weighted down with an automotive crankcase. He had extensive traumatic injuries, including a crushed skull, and he had been shot four times and stabbed three times near his heart. His cause of death was ruled a homicide. The decomposition of his body hindered identification efforts. The medical examiner determined he had died about a week prior, but he later testified that John Doe could have been deceased for as many as five or six weeks. Investigators later speculated he could have been Italian. No suitcase or personal effects were recovered, other than the green shirt and brown trousers he was wearing.
His body was taken to nearby Edinburg, Texas, for autopsy and then was buried in a pauper's grave in the local cemetery on December 25, 1934, with a marker inscribed with "unknown white man".
Trial[]
Placido Handy, Felipe Hernandez, Ascension "Chon" Martinez, Bonifacio Martinez, Emiliano Martinez, Jose Rodriguez, and Braulio Yanez, were arrested and charged with various crimes in relation to the homicide of John Doe. The Martinezes were brothers, Braulio Yanez was their cousin, and Placido Handy was the brother-in-law of Jose Rodriguez. Hernandez escaped to Mexico following the crime and was never tried.
Rodriguez took a plea deal and was granted immunity for testifying against the other defendants. Chon Martinez and Placido Handy were both represented by defense attorney Kennedy Smith. Robert Kelley represented the prosecution in their cases. Both were found guilty and sentenced to death, but the decision was successfully appealed due to jury impaneling on January 19, 1938, and a retrial was ordered.
During both trials, Rodriguez testified that on the night of December 15, 1934, the group of men had met on the Puente Donna, which spans the Rio Grande, and waited for Handy to bring a couple whom they intended to rob. Handy arrived with the couple, and the group of men jumped on the car, which Handy then drove to a secluded area. The couple was removed from the vehicle and were robbed and beaten, and the man was tied to a tree while the woman was sexually assaulted. Both victims were then beaten again, stabbed, and shot until dead. The men then tied heavy automobile parts to both victims, put them in a boat, and dumped the victims overboard into the Rio Grande.
Handy and Chon Martinez were again sentenced to death by electric chair and were transferred to death row at Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville. Although he continued to profess his innocence, Handy was executed shortly after midnight on June 9, 1940; he was the first of the defendants to be executed. Chon Martinez was executed shortly after midnight on February 21, 1941.
Braulio Yanez and Bonifacio and Emiliano Martinez were all tried in San Antonio beginning on July 17, 1940, being represented by George Wideman. All three pled guilty and were handed down life sentences. Yanez was killed during a prison fight in 1949.
The body of his female companion is not known to ever have been recovered.
Characteristics[]
- Straight black hair.
- Tattooed outline of a dove on forearm.
- Tattoo of a heart piercing a dagger and the initials "A.S." on upper arm.
Clothing[]
- Green shirt.
- Brown trousers.
Sources[]
- The Monitor
- Valley Morning Star:
- The Vernon Daily Record
- San Angelo Morning Times
- McAllen Daily Press: