The Christmas of 1921 was anything but merry in Key West Florida. During this time period, the Ku Klux Klan’s presence was heavy in the Keys and before the year’s end, they’d be at the center of a murder investigation.
The murder of Manuel Cabeza made all the newspapers but the local police didn’t seem all that interested in locking anyone up. Technically, this case is still classified as an “unsolved murder” but justice was going to be served one way or the other – and it was.
Cabeza’s roots were in the Canary Islands, just off the coast of Spain, but after serving in World War I, he decided to settle down in Key West. He opened the Red Rooster, a bar/cafe just off Thomas Street. It drew in a rough crowd on occasion, but he had a reputation for being pretty tough himself.
Cabeza fell for a mulatto woman named Angela. Not much is documented about her…
Angela moved into Cabeza’s place off Petronia Street and the two began living out their own happily ever after. This infuriated the Klan; an Islander, living with a mulatto was unacceptable to them. They had every intention of letting the couple know how unwelcome they were.
December 23rd, 1921 five cars full of hooded Klansmen entered Cabeza’s home. They pulled him out to the street and beat him with baseball bats. Then, they tied him up and abducted him. They took him out to a deserted area so they could continue beating him. They lashed him with a whip, then tarred and feathered him.
Cabeza survived this initial attack. But the Klan threatened to come after him again for living with a “negro woman” if he didn’t leave town. Cabeza made it home to Angela that night and confessed he’d knocked off two hoods during the struggle. He’d recognized both faces. He wanted to make them pay and had no intention of involving the authorities.
Angela had her own ideas for revenge. And she didn’t need to know the identities under each hood to get it.
Turned out, Angela had quite a bit of death magic woven through her Afro-Cuban roots. She immediately set to work on a voodoo ritual, cursing the men who beat her husband. She performed a dark ritual, demanding violence befall the guilty parties – threefold.
The following day, Christmas Eve, Cabeza, still in agony from the night before, left home on a mission.
One of the men he’d recognized was William Decker – who just so happened to be the Klan’s leader. Cabeza hopped in a cab and headed to Decker’s home, where he then shot up the house from the cab. It appeared no one was home.
The cab driver (who was, no doubt, terrified) continued to follow Cabeza’s orders and took him north on Duval Street. As Cabeza anticipated, he spotted Decker’s car and shouted at the driver to pull up to it.
Once side by side with the vehicle Cabeza leaned out the window. “Decker, this is how a man kills a man.” Cabeza said and then shot Decker in the face. The bullet went through his jaw, killing him instantly.
The impact caused Decker’s body to thump forward – hard. The Ford was still in gear and hopped a curb, sending pedestrians scattering. Screams erupted throughout Duval Street as the Ford rumbled down the sidewalk and plowed right into a pole.
Cabeza jumped out of the cab (which wasted no time speeding away) and headed to Petronia and Whitehead Street. He sought refuge in the cupola of the Solano building. A shootout ended up taking place between Cabeza and Klansmen looking to avenge their leader’s death.
The police, late to the party, quickly realized their need for backup. They phoned the Naval Station who sent six Marines to help get the situation under control.
Cabeza was more than willing to surrender – under two conditions…
The first was the promise of protection from the Klan. The second, that his escort be A.H McGinnis – a formal federal marshal and the only member of law enforcement he trusted in the Keys.
Many of the local police officers had direct connections to the Klansmen Cabeza identified. Even Sheriff Curry had let his racist streak sneak out a few too many times in front of numerous locals.
Once the shooting stopped, Cabeza surrendered. He was taken into custody by the Marines who stood guard for him at the old county jail.
Around 1 a.m., officially Christmas morning, gool ol’ boy Sheriff Curry gave Cabeza’s guards the rest of the day off.
He assured them that he would look after the prisoner. Familiar cars pulled up to the jail. The drivers walked in, grabbed Cabeza from his cell, (which was conveniently unlocked) and they beat him.
They pulled him out into the street once more for yet another ride. He was tied to a car and dragged down the road from the jail to the East Martello Tower. He was a bloody, raw mess when they got him to the tower and strung him up to a palm tree for target practice.
They sealed their own fates that day. As soon as life left Cabeza’s body, Angela’s curse roared to life.
The first Klansman to go may have died by Cabeza’s hand, but the rest would soon fall like dominoes. Just as Angela willed it.
Sheriff Curry was next in line; his death was ruled an accidental drowning. The next man suddenly fell ill. He suffered greatly before tuberculosis claimed his life. Another Klan member was crushed to death by his own boat. Brutally, they found him in pieces.
One of the men perished through a ferocious hurricane. Another, ended up blowing himself up with a stick of dynamite.
The last man, no one is sure what happened to him. He got into his fishing boat one day and was never seen again. It’s safe to say whatever befell him was probably not pretty.
Every single man involved in the Cabeza murder suffered fates just as painful, if not more so than Cabeza did. It was one strange death after another. It seemed that whatever Angela had summoned, was working it’s magic around the island.
Many became fearful that she’d cursed the entire island. Or that the spell had a life of its own and was spilling bad luck everywhere.
Key West suffered numerous storms, went bankrupt, and many went hungry. The coconut palm trees even started dying off of disease. Ground zero of this plant epidemic was none other than the palm Cabeza was hanged from Christmas of 1921.
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