VICTOR LICATA - A RUSH TO JUDGEMENT:
The expression, "free, white and over 21" was common in the 1930's. It dates back to a time when racial prejudice was common, echoing back to slavery days. Today it would be considered racist of course. It was an expression used back then and it sort of fits in with everything else associated with the origin of the anti-marihuana laws. The important bit is "over 21".
How old was Victor Licata at the time and Why does it matter?
In the 1930’s, twenty-one was the magic age. If you were under that age, you were a juvenile meaning that if you wanted to buy a house, stock, anything of importance, your parents had to co-sign etc, but if you were over the magic age, you were an adult. Over 21 and you could register to vote - voting age was 21 at that time, handle your financial affairs, the works.
Putting it another way, if Victor Licata was over 21 years of age at the time, he would then be tried as an adult, quickly found guilty and - remembering that in the 1930’s executions took place within a few months of the trial - quickly executed and hopefully quickly forgotten. However if he were a juvenile then he would be awarded special rights and fall under a completely different set of judicial laws. Thus if there were a conspiracy it would have been important to the conspirators - those who wanted to frame him - to have Victor be an adult at the time.
As events unfolded however, if that had been the logic, events overtook it. Because Victor was found insane right from the get-go, it turns out that having Victor be 21 was the last thing on earth that they would have wanted. Instead of his quick exit, it only prolonged the agony. One can almost see the conspirators worrying the night away thinking about what would happened if the truth came out. What if someone were to listen to him, what if it came out that they were the ones responsible for framing him?
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12.1 – VARIOUS VERSIONS ON HIS AGE:
Unfortunately, unlike most historical figures, just trying to verify his age via official documents has become an almost impossible act. Just looking at this photos indicates a young boy of around 19 years of age or so but Pictures (especially old black and white photos) can be misleading.
According to the 1930’s census (we believe taken in April of that year), his age is listed as being 16, which will make him either 19 or 20 during the time of the murders. However, the 1920’s census lists him as being 7, which in turn would make him either 20 or 21 at the time. Thus depending on which exact month the censuses were actually conducted, he could technically have been anywhere from 18 to 21 years of age at the time of the murders.
According to Chief of Detectives W.D. Bush:
“There was an unspoken question in his large, widely staring eyes. He was, I judged, about twenty-one years old.” - Inside Detective (Marihuana Maniac, article) July 1938
Which is probably where the newspaper articles obtain his stated age. [Note: All local newspaper stories we have seen so far (Tampa Times, Tampa Tribune, Evening Independent etc.) use or state Victors age as being 21.] [12D]
However, the Official Police Report gives no indication of Victor’s true age, nor does anything else that we have seen. No mention of it is made in any surviving court records, nor anything else (official or otherwise) for that matter. Which to me would indicate that no one actually knew what it was, didn’t care enough to find out or worse still, that some deliberately went out of their way to block it out.
A good example can be found in his official death certificate; Florida State death certificates normally state the deceased exact date of birth (listing month, day, year of birth), yet Victor’s simply states his supposed age at death of “38”. That’s it, no month, no date, not even a birth year was given.
Even the few surviving Florida State Hospital records simply state his age as being 21 at the time of admission and 38 at the time of death. That’s it, again, no birth month or date or even a birth year are given.
All of which begs the question: Why didn’t anyone simply ask Victor when he was born? It would have been an easy question to have asked, and a logical one as well. Just think of all the paperwork, knowing his exact age would have cleaned up. And on Victor’s part, in all probability have been all too happy to have told them.
In all likelihood of course someone did ask him his age. So why the secrecy, if not for a cover-up?
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11.2 – SEARCH SOURCES:
In our search, this museum has tried to find out his age via the following:
- Death certificate: No mention of exact date, only his (according to the narc’s) age in years.
- Florida State Hospital Records: Mostly (and mysteriously) missing, however we have been able to get copies of some file index cards, which were still kept at the hospital. They mention only his (according to the narc’s) age in years.
- Birth certificate: Not available or non existing.
- Baptismal Records: (Catholic): Not available to us, however if you are a living relative or know of one, we might be able to obtain them.
- Police records: Louisiana, non-existent or could not be found.
- District Attorney (New Orleans): - non-existent.
- District Attorney (Tampa area): - non-existent.
- Police records: Florida, do not mention his age
- Sheriffs office (Tampa area) - non-existent or could not be found.
- Tampa General Hospital Medical records : No longer in existence or could not be found
- Lunacy Petition : Does not mention his age
- Census records: Are contradictory, but hint that Victor was 19 or 20 at the time.
- Newspaper accounts: All (first hand accounts) have him as being 21 years of age.
- Magazine accounts: Some written many years after the fact, vary in age from 16 on up.
- And many, many more.
The problem also is that what documents we have been able to get our hands on are sort of contradictory. Let us use Anthony Licata (Victor’s surviving brother) as a good example. Through his Social Security (open) records, we know that he was born Nov 20, 1907. However, according to his World War II draft card he was instead born simply in 1908 (that’s it, no month, no date, etc). Given the fact that Nov. 20, is pretty close to the end of the year, an acceptable clerical error.
However, let us look at the available census date:
- According to the 1940’s census, he was 32, meaning he would have had to have been born around 1908 and thus making him around 25 years of age at the time of the murders.
- According to the 1930’s census, he was 18, meaning he would have had to have been born around 1912 and thus making him 21 to 22 at the time of the murders. Obviously a clerical error was made.
- According to the 1920’s census, he was 12, meaning he would have had to have been born around 1908 and thus making him 25 to 26 at the time at the time of the murders.
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11.3 – DETERMINING HIS AGE - VIA BIRTH CYCLES:
The issue of why were Mr. and Ms. Licata were quite sleeping in separate bedrooms may be relevant. There are of course many possible explanations; that the two were having a fight and divorce was impossible at the time for example. However a quick look at Table 12-1 seems to provide a possible answer which may give a clue as to Victor's age. Perhaps both Mike and Rosalie Licata were practicing the rhythm method of birth control, as a form of spacing out their children. Each child being spaced about five or so years from the previous one.
But notice that after the youngest one, Joe, was born, all that changed. Granted in the 1930’s, America was still an agricultural society where children were seen as a plus instead of an economic liability, still it seems that the Licata’s had said that five was enough. [12A]
| NAME |
BIRTH DATE |
AGE (1933) |
| Anthony Licata |
Nov. 20, 1907 |
26 |
| Prudence Licata |
Jan. 1, 1911 |
22 |
| Victor Licata |
- |
- |
| Philip Licata |
Nov. 12, 1918 |
14 |
| Jose Licata |
- |
8 |
Thus it seems logical to assume that Victor would have been spaced at least four years after the birth of Prudence, and about four years before Philip’s birth. Thus making him approximately 18 years of age at the time. However of course, it has to be accpted that things like this don't always go according to plan.
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11.4 – DETERMINING HIS AGE - VIA OTHER FACTORS:
OLD PHOTOGRAPHS:
Old Black & White photographs can be deceptive but from the few pictures that we have of him (his mug shot, and a couple of newspaper photographs), he appears to be somewhere between 18 to 22 years of age.
HUMAN BIOLOGICAL FACTORS:
Come what may, it takes nine months for a women to bare a child, thus if Prudence (Victor’s older sister) was born on Jan 1, 1911 (and there is a good chance that this date is not correct). Then the soonest that Victor could have been born would have been on September of 1911. Which fixes Victor’s top age at no more than 22 at the time.
CENSUS RECORDS:
The 1930 census shows Victor as being 16 years of age at the time. We believe it was taken in April of that year, which would Indicate that he would be 19 or 20 on October of 1933. While the 1920 census shows his age as being 7 at the time, Indicating that he would have been 20 or 21 on October of 1933. If accurate (and this is a big if), the census records would than indicate that Victor Licata was either 19, 20, or 21 years of age at the time of the crime.
MUSEUM OPINION:
We believe that Victor was only 20 years of age on Oct. 17, 1933. We based this opinion on two factors.[1]- The census records - If the 1930 census was actually taken on April of 1930 (which we feel that it was) And assuming that Victors birth date was somewhere between April and Oct, then that would make him 20 years of age at the time. Likewise if the 1920 census was taken after April (and after Victor’s birth date), then that would also make him 20 years of age at the time.
[2]- Had Victor been OVER 21 years of age at the time, the conspirators would not have destroyed all this documentation as it seems they did.
Thus Victor in all probability was 20 years of age, however, we don’t know this for a fact although he still could have been 19 for all we know and we still don’t know his exact birth date.
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11.4 – CONCLUSIONS:
A persons birth date, even way back in the 1930’s was needed to fill out numerous documents. So are we expected to believe that this matter simply went unnoticed by all - including administrators, prison officials, doctors, nurses, court clerks and so on? Logic and reason would seem to dictate that this was not the case.
Government bureaucrats have been known to hold up things for months and months until the paper work is done right. The matter of someone's age is no small Thing.
Obviously some clerk, somewhere, indeed probably a lot more than one, must have made an inquiry back to the Tampa area about this matter. A simple question that could easily have been answered by asking any relatives and friends of the Licata family, or better yet, by asking Victor Licata himself. Are we to believe that Victor did not know his own birth date?
Victor's age is an unexplained mystery, which leads to the conspiracy theory: That in all likelihood someone did ask, but for some reason the information simply just didn’t make itself onto paper. In fact the paperwork seems to have been going the other way, it simply started to disappear.
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FOOTNOTES:
[12A]- Normal menopause for the average women today is somewhere between the late 40's or early 50's.
[12B]- Information was taken from Social Security Records (public access), and the website:
Genealogy.com
[12D]- At a later, many years after the fact, Victor’s age would be quoted as being 16 or there about, but all newspaper articles written in 1933 state his age as 21.
[12C]- We have obtained a document from the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics, indicating that they could not find Victor Licata’s birth certificate (yr. 1912)