Murder on Siesta Key: Harry Higel's Killer Wore Size 13 Shoe, Tracks in Sand Led to Rube Allyn's House, Colt Revolver Found Buried 100 Years Later

On Friday morn Jan 7th 1921 at about 8:30 am former Sarasota mayor Harry L. Higel was found brutally beaten around the head (during a pistol whipping) lying in a pool of blood at the corner of Mangrove Ave and Higel Ave on Siesta Key Fl, the big curve in the road. Witness Manuel Davis a worker for Harry Higel spoke with him from 8:00 am to 8:10 am on Mangrove Ave near the Shell pit about a load of wood to be delivered to Higel's house around the corner on Higel Ave. Witness M. L. Reed and others saw Rube Allyn between 8:00 am and 8:30 am making his way along the north end of the Key near where Harry Higel's body was found. Former 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, I have no doubt. In 1921 about 40 families lived on Siesta Key Fl, Mangrove Ave is now Siesta Dr.

Colt .32 caliber Police Positive revolver I found buried on Siesta Key that most likely links to the unsolved murder of former Sarasota mayor Harry Higel. No Colt .32 caliber Police Positive revolver manufactured from 1907 to 1922 comes in a right hand or left hand model (right handed only) and no Colt .32 caliber Police Positive revolver manufactured from 1907 to 1922 had a safety. Just like the Colt revolver I found buried on Siesta Key in November 2019 with a broken grip that most likely links to pistol whipping murder of Mr. Higel in 1921. Most all revolvers from the 1920's to 2023 are of the point and shoot variety manufactured for right handed shooters, as the cylinder opens to the left, and no thinking involved about taking off any safety.

According to a Tampa Times news article of Jan 11, 1921, a chart with information on the murder of Harry Higel was published on Page 1. The Tampa Times reported that it appeared that witnesses saw Rube Allyn walking through some woods in the direction to where Harry Higel's body was found (4). It appears that at the site of Harry Higel's murder tracks were discovered in the sand (size 13 shoe) leading in the direction of Rube Allyn's home (2). The tracks ended at a point in Bayou Louise some 200 yards south of Rube Allyn's home (2). Rube Allyn wore a size 13 shoe, no other homes were at the end of Strand (Gulfmead Dr) than Rube Allyn's in 1921. Manatee Grand Jury did not post a TRUE BILL and Rube Allyn was released from Manatee County jail in March 1921. 

HIGEL CRIME SCENE DISTURBED NO PHOTOS TAKEN: According to Frank Higel Jr, Harry Higel's brother, he surmised that Rube Allyn left the scene of the crime on the corner of Mangrove Ave (Siesta Dr) and Higel Ave at about 8:25 am on Friday Jan 7, 1921 and waded across Bayou Louise to his house at very north end of Siesta Key washing out the blood on his canvas shoes and his pants in the salt water. In 1915 the Kodak Vest Pocket Autographic is/was a "vest pocket" folding camera advertised as "The Soldier's camera" during WWI. It was manufactured by Kodak from 1915 to 1926 and available just about everywhere in the USA, news reporters used them. 

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 closed casket, Mr. Higel was buried at 3:00 pm in Rosemary Cemetery Sarasota Fl. 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.

In an article posted in the Tampa Times on March 10th, 2014 about Rube Allyn performing in a minstrel show at the Sarasota Yacht Club, rube was to dress up as a woman, but they had a hard time finding any woman's shoes for Rube as he wore a men's size 13. Why were no photographs taken of Rube Allyn's size 13 shoe prints next to where Harry Higel's body had laid in the sand that led off in the direction of Rube Allyn's house on Gulfmead Dr? In Sarasota Rube Allyn hated 3 time Mayor Harry Higel, he could never beat him. Siesta Key was sparsely populated from 1917 to 1921 only about 40 people lived there full time, how many wore a size 13 shoe. When Harry Higel's Higelhurst Hotel burned to the ground (arson) on Friday morn March 30th, 1917, Rube Allyn was there and living nearby on Siesta Key, he was a person of interest.

On the morning of the murder of Harry Higel, Rose Allyn, Rube's wife testified via a sworn statement to the Manatee Grand Jury that Rube Allyn had gone out at 7:30 am on Friday Jan 7th, 1921 with his young hunting dog to train him. To train hunting dogs you have to armed with a firearm and fire the weapon to get the young hunting dog familiar with the sound of a gun, you would do this repeatedly at real or simulated targets. According to Rose Allyn's sworn Rube Allyn was armed with a revolver or a shotgun on Friday morn Jan 7th, 1921 on Siesta Key out hunting with his young dog, Rube was armed. 

Remains of 1900's era Colt .32 caliber Police Positive Pocket Revolver seen above. Rube Allyn had a gun in his pocket when he met up with Harry Higel on Friday morn Jan 7th 1921 at about 8:22 am on Mangrove Ave Siesta Key FL and apparently used the Colt revolver to pistol whip Mr Higel. If Allyn had shot Higel there would be bullet evidence, law enforcement would have known a .32 caliber gun was used and searched records for anyone on Siesta Key who owned such a weapon. The murder weapon that bashed in Mr Higel's head was never located, until possibly now.

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 Allyn 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 1921 to be questioned by the Manatee County 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.

When Harry Higel was beat to death on Friday morn January 7th, 1921 on Siesta Key Fl, Rube Allyn was there and living nearby. The real Rube Allyn, a veteran newspaperman and media darling who put himself in the spotlight every chance he got, would have set up shop on the corner of Mangrove Ave (Siesta Dr) and Higel Ave where Harry Higel was found and held a press conference and lead the crowd searching for Mr Higel's killer, he did not. Rube was the correct suspect and arrested for murder. Veteran newspaper guy Rube Allyn took no part in the manhunt on Siesta Key looking for Harry Higel's murderer. Rube stayed home and hid in his Gulmead Dr house until the Manatee County Deputy Sheriff came to his front door, “That's all too coincidental to be a coincidence.” The footprints, tracks in the sand near the where the body of Harry Higel had laid 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 was one of the few men on Siesta Key who wore a size 13 shoe. A search of Rube Allyn's house on Friday January 7th 1921 at about 11:00 am found a pair of trousers belonging to Rube Allyn Sr that had been recently washed and were still wet. When examining Rube Allyn’s house the Deputy Sheriff noted a pair of canvas shoes with a rubber sole that appeared to be similar to those that left tracks at the scene of the crime. This was enough evidence for Rube Allyn Sr to be arrested. Apparently no photographs of the size 13 footprints in the sand next to where Harry Higel's body had laid were taken to match with Rube Allyn's size 13 canvas shoes. This would have been direct evidence that Rube Allyn was at the crime scene.

A Minneapolis Journal newspaper columnist wrote a piece about Rube Allyn on September 10th, 1906 after viewing one of his "shows", Rube was in his 40's now. It appears Rube Allyn had a bizarre way of doing things in his supposed comedy routine. He would tell very sad depressing stories to the audience and then hit them with the "jokes". It appears that sometimes members of the audience would heckle and cat call Rube during his "show" and it was Rube's response to go down from the stage and beat the hell out of the heckler no matter how big he may be, supposedly the audience loved the show. 

TALL MAN MUST HAVE HIT HIGEL: Rube Allyn was a big strong man at over 6' 2" tall, with long arms and big fists and he wore a size 13 shoe, almost always canvas shoes (sneakers) with no socks. Rube was farm tough, supposedly he did work on a farm during the summer months. Harry Higel would have been no match in a street fight with an experienced bar-room brawler like Rube Allyn who was bigger and stronger than the much smaller Harry Higel at 5' 7" tall, in what appears to have occurred at the cor of Mangove Ave and Higel Ave on Friday morn Jan 7, 1921.

FLORIDA NEWSPAPER DELIVERY SYSTEM IN 1920's WAS HANDS ON: In the US the heyday of print newspapers was during the early 20th century, (1920's). The 'paperboy' was often a young person's first job, perhaps undertaken before and/or after school. Most large newspapers like the Tampa Tribune and St Pete Times had an early AM delivery and an evening PM delivery directly to your house. There was also the newsboy or newspaper hawker who would sell newspapers to passersby on the street in urban areas, like in Tampa or St Pete in 1921, with very vocal promotion. 'Newsboys' were common when multiple daily papers in every city and as many as 50 in New York City alone competed in the 1920's. The number of 'Daily Newspapers' in Florida was 33 in 1921. 

The St Pete Daily Times was/is the largest daily newspaper in Florida it began publication as a twice daily in 1920. In 2012, the St. Petersburg Times changed its name to the Tampa Bay Times to more accurately reflect the geographical area it served. Then, in 2016, the Tampa Bay Times bought its long-time rival, the Tampa Tribune, which then ceased publication. The very tiny Sarasota Times newspaper in 1921 was a weekly published on Thursdays and then mailed by USPS to your house with subscriptions of $2.00 per year, not very timely news reporting.

100 Years ago the brutal murder of Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel on Siesta Key was never solved by the Manatee County Sheriff. Key evidence like tracks in the sand leading from the Higel murder scene to suspect Rube Allyn's house were not preserved or photographed. The footprint tracks in the sand at the Higel murder scene were made by a size 13 canvas shoe, Rube Allyn wore a size 13 canvas shoe. Colt Revolver With Broken Grip Found Buried on Siesta Key most likely Links to Pistol Whipping Murder of Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel on Friday Jan 7th, 1921, but it was not discovered until Nov 2019. 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 crooked Bradentown Politicians.

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.  

PISTOL WHIPPING: Somebody was hitting somebody in the head with the 1920's era Colt Pocket Positive .32 caliber revolver found buried on Siesta Key with 6 live rounds and one broken grip in Nov 2019 near where Sarasota mayor Harry Higel was pistol whipped on the corner of Siesta Dr and Higel Ave, he later died from multiple depression fractures in his skull. There are multiple gouges and scratch's on the bottom of the Colt revolver's hard rubber grips, like as if it used to bash in a man's skull. Nobody buries a gun, especially a loaded gun unless it was used in a murder, like Harry Higel's!

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.

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".

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.

 

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