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Cruces y Campa (?) 1875 Cabinet Card Photo Mugshots Criminal Murderers Executed Puebla, Mexico, 1875 Albumen prints (5)
4 1/2 x 6 inches overall; With manuscript title and accompanying subject ID. This unusual photo-maquette shows the perpetrators of a lurid crime which took place in what was then San Andres Calchicomula (now Ciudad Serdán), in Puebla, Mexico.
Present are five mugshot-like portraits collaged to a cabinet card sized piece of card-stock, each with accompanying identification and a manuscript title which reads, “Fusilados en San Andres.”The dramatic affair that led to the execution of these five men was recounted in an 1875 issue of “La Cronica”, the first Spanish language newspaper published in Southern California. The article describes how Luis Bello, shown in the center of the composite, was “a man of deplorable conduct” who had "long been carrying on an illicit affair with the wife of a certain Fermín de la Torre—a wealthy man who had helped Bello on various occasions and to whom Bello owed considerable sums of money.”
Eventually, Bello decided de la Torre must go. “Under the pretext of administering a purgative, Bello asked a doctor at what dosage cream of tartar would become poisonous” and “having reached an agreement with the unfaithful wife, Bello prepared the deadly brew, which was presented to the victim in the form of a cup of chocolate. It was then that one of the most heart-rending episodes imaginable took place. De la Torre’s son, a young boy of twelve, approached his father and asked if he might have his cup of chocolate. The father readily agreed, and there—in the presence of that unnatural mother, who was well aware that the drink contained her son’s death—the child drained the cup, while Mme de la Torre made not a single move to take the poison away from him.”
A few hours later, the boy succumbed to the effects of the poisoned chocolate. Bello's however, was undeterred and decided to take a more direct approach. “At great cost and with the lure of a substantial reward, he recruited a gang of genuine cutthroats. With all preparations made and counting on a horrific complicity, he entered Fermin de la Torre’s hacienda on a pitch-black night. The honorable Spanish merchant, taken by surprise in his sleep, could offer no resistance to his assassins' daggers.”
Shortly after, Bello was caught but he "believed his status as a deputy in the Puebla legislature would shield him from the reach of the law" and "he confessed all his crimes to [the local judge], named his accomplices, asserted his mistress’s innocence, and attempted to bribe the judge." This plan failed. The accomplices were arrested and the judge "tried them and their ringleader in accordance with the laws governing kidnappers, sentencing Luis Bello, Luis Carrera, Alberto Toris, José María Serrano, and Miguel Ramos—all well-known men of some standing in San Andrés—to death." Afterwards,de la Torre's duplicitous wife absconded without a trace.
We have been unable to locate another example of this exact image but a CDV-sized variant, which includes a portrait of the victim Fermin de a Torre, was published by the Mexico City based photo firm Cruces y Campa. Item is in very good overall condition. Please examine images to better determine condition and let us know if you have any questions.
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