Salvador Agron
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Salvador Agron a.k.a. "The Capeman" (April 24, 1943-April 22, 1986) was a Puerto Rican gang member who murdered two teenagers in a Hell's Kitchen park in a notorious 1959 gang fight. Agron was the subject of the musical The Capeman by Paul Simon.
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[edit] Early years
Agron was born in the city of Mayagüez on the western coast of Puerto Rico. When he was young, his parents divorced and his mother had the custody of Agron and his sister, Aurea. She earned a living by working at a local convent; however, according to Agron, he and his sister were mistreated by the nuns. Agron's mother met and married a Pentecostal minister and the family moved to New York City. Agron's relationship with his stepfather wasn't a good one and he asked his mother to send him back to Puerto Rico to his father. In Puerto Rico, his father had remarried, but one day Agron found the body of his stepmother who had committed suicide by hanging herself. Agron began to get into trouble and was sent to the Industrial School of Mayagüez.
[edit] The Capeman
His father sent him back to his mother in New York and in 1958 he became a member of the notorious teenage gang, the Mau Maus from the Fort Greene section of the city. He later joined another gang called "The Vampires" after meeting Tony Hernandez, the gang's president. On August 29, 1959, the Vampires were on their way to a "rumble" (gang slang for "fight") with a gang composed mostly of Irish Americans called The Norsemen. When they arrived, they mistook a group of innocent teenagers for members of The Norsemen (who never showed up) and in the fight, Agron stabbed two teenagers to death and fled the scene. The two victims were Anthony Krzesinski and Robert Young, Jr.
The murders made headlines in New York City and the city went into an uproar. Agron was called "The Capeman" because he wore a black cape with a red lining during the fight, while Hernandez was labeled "The Umbrella Man" because he used an umbrella as a weapon. After Agron was captured he stated "I don't care if I burn. My mother could watch me."
[edit] Incarceration
Agron was sentenced to death, which made him, at the time age 16, the youngest prisoner ever sentenced to death row. While many New Yorkers were outraged, others like former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Robert Young, the father of one the victims, campaigned for leniency. While on death row, Agron became a born-again Christian. In prison he learned to read and write, earning his high school equivalency diploma. He wrote poems about his life and about life on the streets, including "The Political Identity of Salvador Agron; Travel Log of Thirty-Four Years", "Uhuru Sasa! (A Freedom Call)", and "Justice, Law and Order", which were published by some newspapers. Later he earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in sociology and philosophy from State University of New York of New Paltz, New York. His death sentence was commuted to life in prison by Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1962.
[edit] Escape and release from prison
In December 1976 then Governor Hugh Carey reduced Agron's sentence making him eligible for release in 1977. Agron was enrolled at SUNY New Paltz while spending his nights at the Fishkill Correctional Facility. However in April, 1977 Agron took flight and absconded to Phoenix where he was captured two weeks later and brought back to New York. In November of 1977 Agron was put on trial for his escape, but was found not guilty of absconding due to "mental defect." His lawyer was William Kunstler. Agron was finally released from prison on November 1, 1979. A television movie based on his life was proposed and he set up a fund for the families of his victims with the money he received.
[edit] After prison
Agron was hired as a youth counselor and spoke out against gang violence. On April 16, 1986, he was admitted to a hospital with pneumonia and internal bleeding and died eight days later at age 43.
A book about Agron titled Conversations with the Capeman: The Untold Story of Salvador Agron was written by Richard Jacoby. The Capeman a musical play written by Paul Simon and Derek Walcott was based on the life of Salvador Agron. The play opened at the Marquis Theatre in 1998.
[edit] See also
[edit] Bibliography
- Agron, Salvador, Rubinstein, Annette T., and Kresky, Harry. Salvador Agron: Puerto Rican, Prisoner, Poet, Charter Group for a Pledge of Conscience, 1978.
- Jacoby, Richard. Conversations with the Capeman: The Untold Story of Salvador Agron. University of Wisconsin Press: Madison, 2004.
