The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1884-06-19
AWOMAN BANDIT.
La Caramboda Killed, After an EX-
traordinary Career of Crime.

La CarambOda Killed, After an EX-
traordinary Career Of Crime.
Queretaro (Iexico) Letter in New York sun.
La Caramboda, the woman brigand,
long a terror to travellers in this region.
is dead at last, with bullet in her heart.
Her operations extended over many years
and were of the most daring description
For long time the authorities found it
very difficult to trace or even to explain
the crimes which she committed. for no
one suspected that woman was the
guilty person. No two Of her robberies
were committed in the same manner.
Sometimes she was a passenger and other
times she was with the bandits, and took
part in the shooting if any was to be
done. A woman of some personal charms
when appropriately dressed, she was
fend when about her business of muir
der and pillage, whom very few cared to
encounter. Her male assistants were
many and devoted.
One of her schemes, it has been learn
ed, was to bide her time in some town
until she found one or two men of means
who were going by the diligence to some
distant point and then to take passage
with them. 1t is suspected that on more
than one occasion she took the driver in
to her confidence, but when this could
not be done she readily deceived him or
quoted him with bullet. a perfect
mistress Of the art of dissimulatiOn and
possessing soft and insinuating manner,
she had no difficulty in working herself
into the good graCes of travellers who did
not look for a Mexican bandit under her
attractive guise. In this way she easily
discovered who had money and valuables
and who had not. If she found a man
who appeared to be of some consequence,
but who did not have much money, she
betrayed him into the hands confederates,
who held him for a ransom. If her vic
tim proved to be well supplied with cash
he usually met violent death within
twenty-fOur hours.
Leaving a town before daybreaI1 in
company with two travellers whom she
had marked for robbery, she would coy
ly accept the customary innocent atten-
tions at their hands, and perhaps indulge
in little conversation with them. An
hour later, whenwell on the Journey,
watching her opportunity, she would
draw two revOlvers, and, before they
conld detect her movement, lodge bull
let in the back of each of them. The
driver, busy with his team, aud perhaps
paid not to be too attentive to what was
going on behind him, would not disturb
her. With her booty secure, she would
take her own time about leaving the
stage, always waiting until point con-
venient to the fastness of some of her
confederates was reached.
It was known that the highways were
infested by robbers and it was not
thought strange that an occasional muir
der was perpetrated, but the similarity
between several cases soon attracted at
tention and various experiments led to
the discovery that a woman, operating
first one road and then another, was at
the bottom of them. The plausible sto-
ries told by the drivers served to mystify
the officers more than anything else.
They always asserted that highwaymen
had done the work and if inquiry was
made at one end of the route for the wO-
man who started it was always said that
she arrived at her destination unmolested.
The absence of telegraphs and of any
regular means of communication madeit
possible to keep up this deception for a
long time.
When the woman found that she was
suspected she abandoned this plan of
operations and, remaining with the rob
Der band to which she was attached, de-
voted the greater part of her time to the
abduction of wealthy agriculturists.
Her plan in these was very much the
same as in her stage robbery enterprises.
First winning the confidence of her in
tended victim and getting him involved
in some intrigue, she would betray him
at the proper time into the hands of her
associates, who would spirit him away
and presently open negotiations for his
ItLuII. w me llleSt "tIt III lAOSItSS
she would be busy setting her net for a
fresh victim hundred miles away.
La Caramboda's latest exploit was I'M
successful. She was lowering about the
San JuaniCo hacienda with the intention
of securing the abduction of Don Civelc
Nasquez or one of his sons, when a fell
low, who had long served in her train
deserted and communicated her secret t.
to the authorities. They made elaborate
preparations to capture her entire party
but, failing in this, they made sure OF
her and soon had her in irons Hearing
of her fate, her followers determined OF
n rescue. They pursued the officers fol-
twenty miles, and, Overtaking them a
Cona.adad, opened fire at once. TIL,
trools returned the shots and a lively