14.1 – EXAMINING THE PSYCHIATRIC FACTORS:

Various websites (example) contain the following encyclopedic reference:

Victor Licata (ca. 1912-December 4, 1950) was an axe murderer who killed his father, mother, two brothers, and a sister in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, Florida on October 16, 1933, allegedly while under the influence of marijuana. Declared unfit to stand trial for reasons of insanity, subsequent psychiatric examination at the Florida State Hospital for the Insane determined that the 21-year-old Licata suffered from "dementia praecox with homicidal tendencies", but marijuana was not mentioned in psychiatric reports as having any bearing on his actions. Licata had already been identified as mentally ill and there had been steps to incarcerate him before his crime."

Which is probably the way that most of the world remembers him today. For example: [LucyWho.com], under famous people who died in the year 1950, lists him simply as “murderer”. That’s it, nothing more. Everyone else gets, “Ballet dancer”, “Scientist” or something like that, but not Victor. But worse still (if you click on his name), you will be directed to the above description of him. Now you will find – a murderer who suffered from Dementia-Praecox” with "homicidal tendencies".

Dementia praecox with homicidal tendencies is now called "Paranoid schizophrenia" (wikipedia). The "Reefer Madness" claims of course were and still are that cannabis causes schizophrenia, especially paranoid schizophrenia.

How does this diagnosis fit the evidence?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14.2 – DIDN'T VICTOR LICATA KILL AGAIN WHILE IN HOSPITAL?

First, let’s look at the following allegation, which if true would imply that Victor did indeed have homicidal tendencies.

Several Internet sites have made the claim that while at the state asylum Victor Licata killed again; this time the victim being another asylum patient. Most of these websites make this statement while reproducing Earle Rowell’s classic booklet; “ON THE TRAIL OF MARIHUANA, THE WEED OF MADNESS.” Within it’s pages, one can find an obvious semi-editorial insert which reads as follows:

“Victor Licata is a real person, and he did butcher his family on 17 October, 1933. However, as you might suspect, Victor had problems that went way beyond his alleged marijuana use. Licata was committed to a mental hospital, where he (presumably in the absence of marijuana killed another patient and later committed suicide.”

However, after contacting the individuals who run these various web-sites, it becomes clear that none of them know exactly where the quotation, nor its source of information originally came from. All of them stated that they had just borrowed it from some other website for use on their own. Something that this museum does a lot, no shame there. [14A]

This of and by itself should raise a few eyebrows. Also note that there is no 'Who, What or Where'. No date in which this happened, no victims name, nothing that can be tracked down. Which is exactly what we tried to do. But neither the State Asylum (which is still in operation today), nor the county coroner, nor the county clerk, nor the local police, nor the Sheriffs office know anything about the matter.

Did Victor actually kill another patient in the hospital?

There is some circumstantial evidence that points to this being yet one more Internet fabrication: Let us look at how Victor escaped captivity sometimelater, in 1945. Alone, given his stature (remember he only weighed 113 pounds), he probably could never have escaped, but it was not a solo effort. Essentially he, along with a group of other patients (most of them sleeping in the same communal dorm area) decided it was time to leave and as a team they began working together toward that end. They got together and after numerous nights, somehow manage to cut the bars on one of their second story windows. Then using their bed sheets as a rope, simply climbed down one night and made a run for it.

Assume Victor had killed that other inmate and given his historical past, would he have been allowed to sleep in a communal area with numerous other inmates? The answer is obvious - he would not.

Thus the reasons why we do not believe that Victor Licata killed anyone while at the state asylum and the above often quoted but unattributed claim is probably false.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14.3 - DIDN’T VICTOR LICATA ADMIT TO THE MURDERS? DIDN’T HE SIGN A WRITTEN CONFESSION?

As Victor Licata was never given an actual trial, never given access to a lawyer, we will probably never know. If he did, no known copies of such a confession (and believe me we’ve looked for it) are still in existence.

The only evidence that such a confession even existed comes from the Inside Detective (July 1938) article by W. D. Bush, who as we have already shown was a good spinner of tall tales, but not very big on factual accuracy. It reads as follows:

“I walked across the cell towards the door and his haunted eyes followed me.  “I’ll prove all these things, Victor.  Every-one of them,” I told him.

His reply brought me to his side again. “I did it,” he shouted. “They were going to send me to an institution. I was smoking reefers. I smoked a lot that night. I knew they were going to shut me up. I felt it and it drove me crazy. I knew something awful was bound to happen. I got the axe and ... and I ... I killed Providence first. I killed her first and then I went mad.”

His signed confession was on my desk the next day. But we never took him to trial. The family’s lawyer petitioned the court that in his opinion Victor Licata was dangerously insane. They placed him under close guard at the state hospital in Chattahoochee, Florida, where he was committed by the judge and where he will remain the rest of his days.”

Unfortunately once more, while the above statements were made by the chief detective in the case (first person account or not), his record for truthfulness just wasn’t all that great. Thus our belief that no such written confession was ever made.

However, for the sake of argument, let us assume that he had made a written confession: Would such a written confession have any meaning in a court of justice?  Or for that matter would it have any meaning to any twelve semi intelligent individuals out on the street? Let us never forget that Victor Licata, in addition to having been in a state of ‘Shell Shock’ at the time, was also mentally ill and as such could easily have been tricked (or intimidated) into signing just about anything the police would have put in front of him.

For those of you who feel the US police force is there to serve and protect and that they would never do such a thing, just remember the very subject nature of this account – chapter 2 pretty much says it all about the nature of things. In fact, it now turns out that the police have extorted so many false confessions [14B] (especially from mentally ill people) that it’s a wonder that such confessions are still used admissible as evidence in a court of law. Let’s just say that it seems the police have a knack for intimidating frightened people into doing just about anything and most likely Victor faired no better at their hands.

But in any case, there simply is no proof that any such confession ever existed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14.4 – DIDN’T VICTOR LICATA ORALLY ADMIT TO THE MURDERS?

No, he didn't, let us go over the evidence. According to the two main Tampa newspapers at the time:

Tampa Morning Tribune Oct 18, 1933 p1

Talks to Prisoners

“At the jail Licata talked to prisoners, however, and told a vague story of how he had “killed five of them.” It was a rambling sort of a story, as repeated by some of the prisoners with whom he was placed in a cell. He was evidently insane or acting the part. But he refused to talk with a reporter. He just didn’t want to talk to anybody, after he is said to have made all sorts of wild statements about himself to the men in the lock-up with him.

Somebody told him what he had done - that he had killed his whole family with an axe. He showed no surprise, little interest. One of his cellmates said he seemed to understand for a time what he had done, but for the crime he expressed no regret. “

TAMPA DAILY TIMES - Oct 18, 1933 p1

“ ... Surrounded by the bloody bodies of his victims, the young “dream slayer” talks freely. From his babbling auditors have been able to piece together jumbled pictures of what happened in the Licata home sometime between midnight and daylight yesterday.

To his comrades in his cell block, third floor left Victor talks calmly and rationally—as long as they are alone, But the moment a stranger or interviewer appears in the corridor, he becomes a raving maniac, his lower jaw hanging limply his pin-pointed eyes staring and his words incoherent. He crawls on the floor, claws and paws at his companion, and shakes the bars. Even now with the effects of his marijuana hag worn off, Victor does not realize, or will not admit, that he killed his family. One moment he talks freely of a killing of some kind, the next he is silent. ... “Me, kill my sister, my mother? Man, you’re crazy!”

While the author makes no pretence to having any psychiatric training (he has none), even I can see that Victor was in a state of Shock at the time. Note however that even in that state there are no confessions or admissions of guilt spoken about here, nor do any show up on the official Police Report, nor for that matter (other than in the Inside Detective article), anywhere.

Even the following Times-Picayune article (written some 17 years later and claimed by some as an admission of guilt):

TIMES-PICAYUNE – Aug 14, 1950 p16

ALLEGED SLAYER OF 5 IS HELD HERE

“ ... Police said Licata denied the robbery but admitted that he murdered his mother, father, two brothers and a sister in their home near Tampa, Fla., in Hillsboro County 18 years ago ... Declaring that he was identified as the “marihuana maniac” after the murders, Licata said he was judged criminally insane after his arrest and confined in the institution ... Licata said he remembers the hatchet slaying but he does not know why he did it. He denied that he ever smoked marihuana ... “

Granted, the above can be interpreted to mean that he is admitting to the crime, just as easily as it can be interpreted as meaning that he only admits being the one charged with the crime. So thus the real issue is – what exactly did he say?

Now before going any further, it should be noted that this museum made some considerable effort to obtain any official documents relating to his New Orleans arrest:

• New Orleans District Attorneys Office – Claims no records, index cards, nothing on the matter.
• New Orleans Police Department – Claims NO ‘Police Report’ on file anywhere. They did suggest that we try the New Orleans Public Library (archival division)
• New Orleans Public Library (archival division) – Claims that they could not locate any such ‘Police Report’ nor any other material dealing with the Victor Licata arrest.
• County Jail – No records of a Victor Licata exist.
• Sheriff Office – Nothing.

Thus all that we have are the second hand accounts of what the police supposedly told the reporters, so who knows what Victor had actually said, or whether he even said anything that made any sense. Did he actually state that he was confessing to the murders, or simply that he was the one accused of having committed them?

In all likelihood the police, believing he was guilty simply because everyone else was saying it, just interpreted any small talk on his part as anything that they wanted to hear. Or for that matter, did he actually make any such statements at all, or are we dealing with yet more lies on the part of the narcotics police? Chapter 2, has excellent examples of such statements made regarding Victor Licata

We leave it up to the reader to determine whether Victor ever freely made such oral statements. We have found no such evidence that he ever did.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

13.5 – VICTOR’S MENTAL STATE:

Here the author must choose his words well. As an active individual within the Medical Cannabis movement, he has run into patients with numerous ailments (and they are just that, physical ailments) that manifest themselves in different ways. If you are so afflicted, you should not be ashamed, nor allow others to prevent you from getting proper medical attention. Also, in case any of you are offended, please remember that this author – simply doesn’t have any medical or psychiactictraining of any kind.

Did Victor Licata have a mental illness? In all likelihood the answer is yes and in all likelihood his metal illness was probably genetically inherited, as schizophrenia often is. As proof we present the following:

According to local newspaper reports (see Chapter 5); Relatives had stated that ... Victor had been acting strangely for months and was already under the care of a private psychiatrist. In addition and again according to local newspaper accounts Victor was almost placed in an insane asylum a year previously, but that the family had been able to convince the Judge that they could better take care of him at home. Perhaps the following article from the Tampa Times (Nov. 2, 1933 p5) is most telling.

Tampa Times Nov 2, 1933 p5

ALIENIST SAYS LICATA INSANE

Family History of Insanity Described in Report by Tampa Psychiatrist

Victor Licata’s plea of insanity as a defense for the murder of five members of his family here on Oct 17 has been strengthened in a report filed with County Judge Cornelius, in which it is shown that the axe-slayer not only was subject to mental disorders prior to the tragedy, but probably inherited that condition as well.

A commission has reported the 21 year old slayer as hopelessly insane, but judge Cornelius has deferred signing a formal declaration of insanity until after the new Grand Jury meets next Tuesday.

Dr. H. Mason Smith, prominent psychiatrist and former superintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane, has repeatedly examined Licata in his cell at County Jail, and has reached the conclusion the youth is a victim of dementia praecox which probably began a year ago and became obvious to his family six or seven months ago. This disease, Dr. Smith said, carries homicidal impulses and causes irresponsibility.

History of Insanity

Delving into the youth’s family history, Dr. Smith found a strong foundation for inherited insanity, according to his report.

The sister’s father and mother, whom he killed with two younger brothers and a sister, were first cousins, the report stated. Relatives informed the commission that a paternal grand-uncle, Joe Licata, died in an asylum; that two paternal first cousins, Rosa Spoto and Phillip Vaccaro, are now in asylums, and that a brother, Philip Licata, one of the axe murder victims, was pronounced a victim of dementia praecox a year ago.

“As a child, Victor was always frail, sensitive and somewhat reclusive in his makeup,” the report continued. “About six or seven months ago he began to develop queer manners, as an attitude of indifference and a desire to be alone. His mind has slowed down and there has been a loss of spontaneity; he could not do anything consecutively.

“He is very negative and at times entirely mute. He declines to respond to questions, and when responses are obtained they are delayed and in monosyllables or in as few words as possible. He is awkward, indifferent to his surroundings, untidy in appearance and at times displays fear and asks if he is going to be murdered.

Shows No Emotion

“He has admitted several times to slaying his family, but says he does not know why. States he is sorry he killed his family, but registers no grief and shows no sorrow in his emotions. He has never shed a tear. He sometimes answers questions with the most bizarre statements not connected with the questions and when left alone jabbers to himself and sometimes gets excited and uses profanity, which is directed toward his cell mates.

“He inquires about Count D’Orsey and Christopher Columbus in a loud tone of voice. He calls for food often, but when it is brought will not eat. Once or twice he ate a small amount when the attendant ate some. He requested a shave but has refused to be shaved. When first put in jail he was in a state of excitement and battered his head so much on the wall he had to be put in a padded cell.

“Victor does not appreciate his status in jail: has no idea of what is going to happen, and is not interested in the future. He demonstrates no emotions about his status or deed, and is not interested in anything except that he occasionally calls out that 'they are going to come and get him'."

Dr. Smith’s report covered several typewritten sheets, detailing his examination which resulted in his report that the slayer has been insane for more than a year.

 

 

Next