photo credit Ocala Evening Star via associated press AP newswires
Sarasota mayor Harry Lee Higel was murdered by newsman Rube Allyn during a pistol whipping on Friday morn Jan 7th, 1921 at the north end of Siesta Key Fl. News papers in the 1900's, 1910's, 1920's, 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, 1960's and 1970's were a lot different that the newspapers of today. Most Daily's in large markets had a morning and a evening edition delivered to your house or the local newsstand. When a big story broke over the AP newswires, like Harry Higel's murder, an extra edition was printed that day Jan 7th 1921 and delivered to your house and to the corner newsstands. Reporters in the old days were a lot more aggressive and dug for info on big news stories like the murder of Harry Higel. The information provided in this investigation will help provide the who, what, where, when, and why of the unsolved murder on Siesta Key Fl of mayor Harry Higel almost 100 years ago. Harry Higel was found badly beaten around the head, bleeding and unconscious on Mangrove road (Siesta Dr) near Higel Ave at 8:30 am the morning of Jan 7th by Bert Luzier and his son Merrill as they were on the way to the shell pit. Rube Allyn arrested Friday afternoon Jan 7th, 1921 in connection with the death of former Mayor Harry Higel on Siesta Key, Sarasota Fl almost 100 years ago.
Sarasota mayor Harry Lee Higel was murdered by newsman Rube Allyn during a pistol whipping on Friday morn Jan 7th, 1921 at the north end of Siesta Key Fl. News papers in the 1900's, 1910's, 1920's, 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, 1960's and 1970's were a lot different that the newspapers of today. Most Daily's in large markets had a morning and a evening edition delivered to your house or the local newsstand. When a big story broke over the AP newswires, like Harry Higel's murder, an extra edition was printed that day Jan 7th 1921 and delivered to your house and to the corner newsstands. Reporters in the old days were a lot more aggressive and dug for info on big news stories like the murder of Harry Higel. The information provided in this investigation will help provide the who, what, where, when, and why of the unsolved murder on Siesta Key Fl of mayor Harry Higel almost 100 years ago. Harry Higel was found badly beaten around the head, bleeding and unconscious on Mangrove road (Siesta Dr) near Higel Ave at 8:30 am the morning of Jan 7th by Bert Luzier and his son Merrill as they were on the way to the shell pit. Rube Allyn arrested Friday afternoon Jan 7th, 1921 in connection with the death of former Mayor Harry Higel on Siesta Key, Sarasota Fl almost 100 years ago.
Former 3 time Sarasota Mayor Harry Lee Higel had his funeral and burial in Rosemary Cemetery on Central Ave the very next day after his attack and murder on Friday January 7th, 1921. Why was Mr Higel buried so soon, about 28 hours, after he was found and died on Friday Jan 7th. Harry Higel died from his wounds at about 10:00 am on Friday January 7th, 1921. The following day, Saturday January 8th, after laying in state all day at City Hall for viewing, in a closed casket, Mr. Higel was buried at 3:00 pm in Rosemary Cemetery Sarasota Fl. See Tampa Times story above. The Bantinarelli band at the Higel grave site played a funeral dirge as a closing song called "Flee As A Bird", CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO. From various news sources it appears the whole town showed up for Mr. Higel's funeral except of course the Allyn clan, Rube was in jail and Rose and Rube Jr where in St Pete working on the Florida Fisherman Magazine.
The footprints, tracks in the sand near the body of Harry Higel at the cor of Mangrove and Higel Ave on Friday morn Jan 7th 1921 leading in the direction of Rube Allyn's house are very significant as Rube Allyn wore a size 13 shoe. Rube Allyn was a big man at 6' 2" tall with long arms and wore a size 13 shoe, he was much larger that Harry Higel who stood about 5' 7" tall and would have worn a size 9 shoe. Very few people lived on Siesta Key in 1921, at most 40 people lived there full time, there were only 2,100 people in the 1920 census in the City of Sarasota Fl. So how many of the 40 people who lived full time on Siesta Key wore a very big size 13 shoe when at least half of the 40 people were women.
The footprints, tracks in the sand near the body of Harry Higel at the cor of Mangrove and Higel Ave on Friday morn Jan 7th 1921 leading in the direction of Rube Allyn's house are very significant as Rube Allyn wore a size 13 shoe. Rube Allyn was a big man at 6' 2" tall with long arms and wore a size 13 shoe, he was much larger that Harry Higel who stood about 5' 7" tall and would have worn a size 9 shoe. Very few people lived on Siesta Key in 1921, at most 40 people lived there full time, there were only 2,100 people in the 1920 census in the City of Sarasota Fl. So how many of the 40 people who lived full time on Siesta Key wore a very big size 13 shoe when at least half of the 40 people were women. Sarasota County Centennial 100 Years is July 2021, mishandling of unsolved murder of Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel by Manatee County Grand Jury caused split form Bradentown Politicians.
Restoration
of Firearm Serial Numbers with Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD).
The 1920's era Colt revolver found buried on Siesta Key has it's serial
number protected, the serial number is stamped on the frame under the back end of the barrel, and behind the crane, swing out the cylinder to see it.
Using a technique called electron backscatter diffraction, or EBSD,
researchers at the Boulder, Colo., campus of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology have been developing a novel way to bring back
to life serial numbers on a gun that have been completely sanded away or
rusted out. While the method, which uses an electron microscope to
examine atoms in metal, still requires refining, NIST materials
scientists Ryan White and Robert Keller say it should be capable of
restoring a full serial number.
Does
Colt Police Positive .32 caliber Revolver with Broken Grip Found Buried
with 6 live rounds in the cylinder, ONE FELL OUT UPON EXAMINATION, on a
street off of Higel Ave on Siesta Key Link to a Pistol Whipping Murder
of Mayor Harry Higel Friday Jan 7th 1921? The Colt Police Positive
Revolver has been verified as manufactured between 1907 to 1922 due to
the hard rubber Colt grips. Who buries a loaded gun that in today's
money would cost $320.00? I purchased a 1919 model .32 Caliber Colt
Police Positive CTG revolver with nickel finish and 5' barrel with
original hard rubber Colt grips to compare with the old rusted Colt
revolver with hard rubber grips, it is a match.
The
1915 era Colt revolver grips found buried on Siesta Key (photo on L)
show extensive abuse to the bottom or butt part of the grips when
compared to the 1919 era Colt revolver grips and firearm (photo on R)
that I purchased last year, the 1915 era Colt grips were stained from
being in the ground for 100 years. The original color of all Colt
revolver hard rubber grips is BLACK. The 1915 era Colt revolver rubber
grips were well worn, it appears the Colt revolver was manufactured in
about 1915 and most likely went into the ground in Jan 1921. Harry
Higel's head had been battered and the skull fractured in multiple areas
as well as his face bludgeoned beyond recognition by a "blunt weapon"
as per Dr. Halton's medical report on Jan 7th, 1921 in Sarasota Fl.
PHOTO CREDIT BILL WARNER INVESTIGATIONS
Tragedy struck on Friday January 7th, 1921 at about 8:30 am when Harry L. Higel was found unconscious near a beach road on Siesta Key. Contrary to many 21st century books and news articles the unconscious body of Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel was not found on 'Beach Rd'. The exact location of the brutal attack of Harry Higel was the corner of Siesta Dr and Higel Ave near the big curve in the road. Higel was found just steps from his home on Higel Ave and not 'Beach Rd' over a mile away. Harry L. Higel had been brutally attacked while he was out walking from the Shell Pits on Mangrove (Siesta Dr Now), apparently pistol whipped. Higel died while being transported by Dr Halton to a hospital in Tampa Fl. Murder suspect Rube Allyn (and neighbor) lived at the north end of Gulfmead Dr near Fishery Point on Siesta Key Fl, see map above.
The
marks, scratches, gouges on the bottom of the hard rubber grips on the
1915's era colt revolver found buried on Siesta Key possibly caused by
fracturing the skull and breaking the teeth of Sarasota Mayor Harry
Higel on Jan 7th, 1921 during a pistol whipping. The mark of the
weapon was clearly shown with a hole in the skull made by the pointed
end of the weapon, said Dr Halton in Sarasota. The human skull can withstand 6.5 GPa of pressure while oak holds up under 11 GPa.
Frontal bone: this bone comprises the forehead and the upper orbit of
the eye. It joins the parietal bones at the coronal suture. Two temporal
bones: These bones are located at the sides and base of the skull, and they are the hardest bones in the body. The fourteen bones at the front of your skull hold your eyes in place and form your facial features. Your mandible, or jawbone, is the largest, strongest bone in your face.
Tragedy struck on Friday January 7th, 1921 at about 8:30 am when Harry L. Higel was found unconscious near a beach road on Siesta Key. Contrary to many 21st century books and news articles the unconscious body of Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel was not found on 'Beach Rd'. The exact location of the brutal attack of Harry Higel was the corner of Siesta Dr and Higel Ave near the big curve in the road. Higel was found just steps from his home on Higel Ave and not 'Beach Rd' over a mile away. Harry L. Higel had been brutally attacked while he was out walking from the Shell Pits on Mangrove (Siesta Dr Now), apparently pistol whipped. Higel died while being transported by Dr Halton to a hospital in Tampa Fl. Murder suspect Rube Allyn (and neighbor) lived at the north end of Gulfmead Dr near Fishery Point on Siesta Key Fl, see map above.
RUBE ALLYN 1929 ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGE: According to the Tampa Times on May 21, 1929 Rube Allyn shot a young man, Brooks Brewer, 19, who was walking on the road near Rube Allyn's secluded cottage in Ruskin Fl, Hillsborough County. This Attempted Murder Charge for Rube Allyn is 8 years after he was arrested and acquitted of the murder of Harry Higel on Siesta Key Fl. Rube Allyn apparently felt it was no big deal to fire a shotgun at Brooks Brewer, he claimed he had problems with the 'young bloods' in Ruskin and you never know what they could be up to.
Rube Allyn admitted to the Tampa Daily Times that he fired his shotgun into the night to scare away the Ruskin boys. Brooks Brewer claimed that after Rube Allyn shot him in the back with the shotgun, from distance, Allyn came up to him as he was lying in the road, told him to get up with his hands held high and then Rube marched him off down the road. Brooks Brewer's 'bird shot' wounds in his back from Rube's shotgun were supposedly minor. Brooks Brewer dropped the charges 2 1/2 days later upon pressure from his father J.F. Brewer. The father, J.f. Brewer, said "Ruskin is a small place and we want to be neighbors there. Brooks was only peppered with a few bird shot in the back and not hurt much, we ask the court to drop the charges", what the hell? Rube was released from jail, Rube got away with it again.
photo credit Tampa Tribune News from Florida Historical
In April 1930 Rube Allyn was arrested again, this time in St Petersburg were he had been living at his mother-in-law's house. Rube plotted with ex-Mayor Noel Mitchell of St Pete to shoot and kill newspaper columnist James Ravenscroft with a shotgun blast. James Ravenscroft was a columnist for the Tampa Tribune. Rube Allyn also cussed out Mrs. Effie Ravenscroft, Rube was arrested on Disorderly Conduct charges he plead not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. Apparently Rube and Noel took offense to several articles written by newspaper columnist James Ravenscroft. Rube Allyn was displaying some severe mental problems over the years, most likely he had Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED). Someone with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) could destroy property, react way out of proportion to things that happen and could attack or kill another person for really no reason.
photo credit Miami Herald from Florida Historical
True to form most local newspapers downplayed Rube Allyn's arrest for threatening to kill newspaper columnist James Ravenscroft in St Pete, but the Miami Herald laid it all out, see above. Apparently Rube Allyn and former Mayor Noel Mitchell had plotted to kill columnist James Ravenscroft. Mrs. Effie Ravenscroft had overheard Rube and Noel Mitchell planing to kill columnist James Ravenscroft who worked for the Tampa Tribune on the pretext of Rube Allyn shooting rabbits in his yard, which was directly across the street from the Ravenscroft house and "accidentally" kill James Ravenscroft with a shotgun blast. Rube was eventually released from jail and driven out of town via the Gandy Bridge by Noel Mitchell to Ruskin followed by a police escort of two City detectives. And Rube Allyn didn't plot to and beat Harry Higel to death on Jan 7th, 1921 on Siesta Key, sure he didn't.
photo credit Tampa Bay times News from Florida Historical
Apparently Rube Allyn was re-arrested on a Failure to Appear on the Disorderly Conduct charge in St Pete where he had plotted to kill columnist James Ravenscroft. Rube Allyn was arrested for Failure to Appear by City detectives Bob Black and J. B. King. Mrs Effie Ravenscroft testified in court that she heard Noel Mitchell and Rube Allyn "plotting to get James Ravenscroft on 35th Ave South St Pete". Rube Allyn was living at 743 35th Ave South St Pete directly across the street from the Ravenscroft home. The address 743 35th Ave South St Pete was owned by the mother of Rube's wife, Rose Evelyn Knestrick. Rube Allyn was escorted out of town by City detectives on April 25th, 1930, don't come back Rube, Rube got away with it again. Rube Allyn was a loaded gun just waiting to go off, he was a very dangerous man. Another neighbor dispute gone bad just like Rube Allyn's dispute with Harry Higel in Siesta Key that led to Higel's murder, and Rube didn't do it, BULL CRAP.
Rube's testimony before a US Senate Committee in Feb. 1918
reveled a racist, bigoted man who hated Jews and German speaking people.
Rube Allyn acted violently and impulsively and was arrested for Attempted
Murder during the commission of a Hate Crime in Philadelphia in 1918. Someone
with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) could destroy property,
react way out of proportion to things that happen and could attack or
kill another person. Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) involves
repeated, sudden episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behavior or
angry verbal outbursts in which the affected person reacts grossly out
of proportion to the situation (Rube Allyn Sr.). It is my opinion
based on all the evidence that I have compiled and the discovery of the
1920's era Colt revolver with the broken grip found buried on Siesta
Key, that Rube Allyn killed Harry Higel on Friday Jan 7th, 1921 during a
pistol whipping near the edge of the shell pit at the corner of
Mangrove Ave (Siesta Dr) and Higel Ave on Siesta Key Fl. MUCH MORE AT LINK https://murderofharryhigelsiestakey.blogspot.com/2020/05/siesta-beach-cold-case-murder-of-mayor.html
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MANATEE
COUNTY GRAND JURY TANKS ON RUBE ALLYN MURDER CASE: Rube Allyn was
arrested for murder of Harry Higel after Coroners Jury examines the
evidence and Mr Higel's body on Jan 7th, 1921. At least 4 witnesses
corroborated on the fact that Rube Allyn was near the murder scene on
foot before 8:00 am. Rube Allyn was sent to County jail in Bradenton and
spent 61 days there awaiting the Manatee County Grand Jury to Convene
on Wednesday March 9, no bail was allowed. Grand juries have more of an
advisory role to the prosecutor. They help to determine if there is
enough probable cause in a case for an indictment for criminal charges.
Grand juries do not determine guilt. They only ascertain if there enough
evidence for a trial and a conviction. If you’ve ever sat on a grand
jury, this may not be a surprise. The grand jury’s job according to
prosecutors is simply to decide whether there is reason enough to bring
an indictment, this includes any circumstantial evidence and witness
statements. Jurors generally agree there is enough to indict. As the
saying goes, "most grand juries will indict a ham sandwich". Yet in the
case of Rube Allyn the Grand Jury deliberated for only 10 minutes after 6
1/2 hours of evidence put before them including witness statements and
failed to indict with NO TRUE BILL.
For
a fictional quasi historical book telling the story about the murder of
Harry Higel based on a 100 year old .32 caliber Colt Police Positive
Pocket revolver just like the one I described in all my articles and
actually found on Siesta Key, see Tony Dunbar's The Story of the Sarasota Celery Fields & Other Mysteries, Blind Pass Publications" https://blindpasspublications.com/Books/index#celery The FBI or “Bureau of Investigation”
should have been contacted by the remaining Higel brothers in Sarasota
to investigate the very obvious rigged Manatee County Grand Jury that allowed
newsman Rube Allyn to get away with murder on Siesta Key Fl in Jan 1921.
Leonardo Dicaprio and Martin Scorsese block buster new movie 'Killers of the Flower Moon'
takes place in the same time period as the unsolved murder of Sarasota
mayor Harry Higel, the 1920's. Martin Scorsese's attempts an epic
Western and ends up with a violent, riveting crime story. “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio,
tells the real story of the brazen murders of Indigenous people of
Osage County, Okla in the 1920s to rave reviews. In the 1920s, members
of the Osage Native American tribe of Osage County, Oklahoma, are
murdered after oil is found on their land, and the FBI decides to
investigate. Killers of the Flower Moon is a New kind of Scorsese
masterpiece. The Osage Indians lack political and social power—or more
accurately, the freedom to exercise that power, since many holders of
underground mineral rights, including Mollie and her family, require
white “guardians”
to access their own money. Partly as a result of this legal setup,
marriages between Osage women and white men in the territory are not
uncommon. Two of Mollie’s sisters already have white husbands, so it’s
no family scandal when Mollie marries her hired driver, Ernest Burkhart
(Leonardo DiCaprio), newly arrived in town, 1917, after military service
in World War I. Late in the film, an officer from the United States’
newly formed “Bureau of Investigation”
(FBI) shows up at the Burkharts’ door to ask questions about the
unsolved murders in Osage country, and what has for two-plus hours been a
love story embedded in a portrait of organized crime suddenly morphs
into a heart-pounding courtroom drama, as the weak-willed Ernest flails
between his fear of his powerful uncle and his real, if twisted, loyalty
to his broken, bereaved, but still trusting wife.
Copyright Protection: Bill Warner Investigations Sarasota Fl Original Articles Published on This Website Using Proprietary Research.
photo credit Tampa Tribune News from Florida Historical In April 1930 Rube Allyn was arrested again, this time in St Petersburg were he had been living at his mother-in-law's house. Rube plotted with ex-Mayor Noel Mitchell of St Pete to shoot and kill newspaper columnist James Ravenscroft with a shotgun blast. James Ravenscroft was a columnist for the Tampa Tribune. Rube Allyn also cussed out Mrs. Effie Ravenscroft, Rube was arrested on Disorderly Conduct charges he plead not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. Apparently Rube and Noel took offense to several articles written by newspaper columnist James Ravenscroft. Rube Allyn was displaying some severe mental problems over the years, most likely he had Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED). Someone with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) could destroy property, react way out of proportion to things that happen and could attack or kill another person for really no reason.
photo credit Miami Herald from Florida Historical True to form most local newspapers downplayed Rube Allyn's arrest for threatening to kill newspaper columnist James Ravenscroft in St Pete, but the Miami Herald laid it all out, see above. Apparently Rube Allyn and former Mayor Noel Mitchell had plotted to kill columnist James Ravenscroft. Mrs. Effie Ravenscroft had overheard Rube and Noel Mitchell planing to kill columnist James Ravenscroft who worked for the Tampa Tribune on the pretext of Rube Allyn shooting rabbits in his yard, which was directly across the street from the Ravenscroft house and "accidentally" kill James Ravenscroft with a shotgun blast. Rube was eventually released from jail and driven out of town via the Gandy Bridge by Noel Mitchell to Ruskin followed by a police escort of two City detectives. And Rube Allyn didn't plot to and beat Harry Higel to death on Jan 7th, 1921 on Siesta Key, sure he didn't.
photo credit Tampa Bay times News from Florida Historical
Apparently Rube Allyn was re-arrested on a Failure to Appear on the Disorderly Conduct charge in St Pete where he had plotted to kill columnist James Ravenscroft. Rube Allyn was arrested for Failure to Appear by City detectives Bob Black and J. B. King. Mrs Effie Ravenscroft testified in court that she heard Noel Mitchell and Rube Allyn "plotting to get James Ravenscroft on 35th Ave South St Pete". Rube Allyn was living at 743 35th Ave South St Pete directly across the street from the Ravenscroft home. The address 743 35th Ave South St Pete was owned by the mother of Rube's wife, Rose Evelyn Knestrick. Rube Allyn was escorted out of town by City detectives on April 25th, 1930, don't come back Rube, Rube got away with it again. Rube Allyn was a loaded gun just waiting to go off, he was a very dangerous man. Another neighbor dispute gone bad just like Rube Allyn's dispute with Harry Higel in Siesta Key that led to Higel's murder, and Rube didn't do it, BULL CRAP.
The information that I have compiled concerning the murder of Harry Higel and the actions, statements and arrest records of Rube Allyn spans a 60 year period from 1887 when 22 year old Rube Allyn was in New York City to 1947 when 81 year old Rube Allyn died penniless and alone in Ruskin Fl. I have chronicled multiple newspaper accounts of the time that show Rube Allyn as exhibiting sociopath tendencies, an extremely violent person, a pathological liar, a fraud, a racist, an imposter, a con man's con man and a falling down drunk. Sarasota's Rube Allyn Sr appears to have been the poster boy for someone with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED). Rube Allyn Sr was a hot tempered, erratic, hard drinking Irishman whose eccentrics were condemned in Sarasota where he was well known. Rube Allyn was known for fierce outbursts of temper. Rube was venomously bitter when confronted or disagreed with and frequently drunk in Sarasota. Rube had been in bitter disagreements with Harry Higel for years, ever since 1911 when Rube shows up in Sarasota.
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If
a Movie was ever cast for the Unsolved Murder of Harry Higel on Siesta
Key Fl, Leonardo DiCaprio would be a shoe in for the tall, erratic, hard
drinking Irish newsman Rube Allyn character. Rube
Allyn's alibi was that he was back at home the morning of the Higel
murder by 8:00 am on Friday Jan 7 as confirmed by his wife Rose and
could not have done it as Higel was killed sometime between 8:10 am and
8:30 am. Interestingly Rose Allyn did not show up Wednesday morn March
9th to be questioned by the Grand Jury, she sent a statement instead.
Appears Rose Allyn was too busy getting Rube's 'Florida Fisherman
Magazine' ready for press over in Tampa, what the hell? In 1921 a felony conviction for Murder in Florida meant the death penalty and the execution method was hanging.
In 1923 a bill was passed in Florida and placed all executions under
State control instead of County and changed the method from hanging to
electrocution. It appears to me that this Manatee County Grand Jury was nothing more
than a "Kangaroo Court", a court held by a legitimate judicial
authority which intentionally disregards the court's legal or ethical
obligations and evidence. According to the Tampa Tribune on March 9th, 1921 the Manatee County Grand
Jury was made up of 19 men; M. C. Davis, George N. Brown, J. A. Howse,
J. A. Henry, T. B. Gallup, C. A.
Rowlett, C. F. Edwards, Carl Hendrix, Guy Jones, C. L. Davis, W. O.
Edwards, H. T. Glazier, Iron Ross, E. P. Lloyd, H. D. Horney, E. J.
Bright, James G. Foster and Frank Kennedy. J. A. Howse was chosen Foreman. The
murder case of Harry Higel by supposed suspect Rube Allyn was not
carried forth to trial due to a tainted Manatee County Grand Jury as claimed
by (Harry Higel's brother) George Higel who said: "One of the members of
the Manatee Grand Jury investigating the murder of Harry Higel and the
suspect Rube Allyn was a fellow newspaper man and personal friend of
Rube Allyn".
Copyright Protection: Bill Warner Investigations Sarasota Fl Original Articles Published on This Website Using Proprietary Research.
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