Tales from the Field: Standoff at Hathaway Steane
Fernando Gonzalez Rodriguez worked on the Hathaway and Steane Tobacco Plantation in Southwick, Massachusetts. He lived in the company's barracks with the other tobacco workers of Farm C; the sleeping quarters were on the second floor of the bunkhouse.
On the evening of September 20, 1958, Rodriguez went to the Estes Club, a popular gathering place for Puerto Ricans, on the third floor of 50 Ferry Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. There, he saw his crush, nineteen-year-old Otilio Vaxeo, who, repulsed by him, brushed aside his advances as she did in previous run-ins with him.
Rodriguez left the club.
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| Luz Maria Reyes Escribano |
Otilio left the club at about 12:15 a.m. with her brother-in-law, thirty-seven-year-old Nazario Gutierre Mendoza. Outside, they ran into Rodriguez, who pushed Otilio before producing a .32 caliber revolver. As Otilio turned, Rodriguez fired a shot point-blank into her back. He reportedly fired a second shot that entered the bicep of her right arm. Screaming and bleeding profusely, Otilio went back up the stairs, collapsing on the first-floor landing.
Nazario, attempting to disarm the crazed gunman, received a bullet in his jaw. Luz Maria Reyes Escribano of Southwick, a curious bystander who just happened to be leaving the club, took a bullet through his left thigh.
Rodriguez fled through an alley next to the club and escaped in a 1956 Buick.
A police ambulance quickly arrived on the scene. Otilio was pronounced dead on arrival at Mercy Hospital. The two wounded men underwent emergency surgery. A communication barrier delayed police until an interpreter arrived. Among the 50 or so patrons at the club, they found one who knew Rodriguez, having rode with him from Southwick to the social club that night.
Armed with a name and a description of the killer, authorities in Springfield notified Massachusetts State Police, and the hunt began.
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| Nazario Mendoza |
With their weapons drawn, Detective Thomas Moriarty and one of the troopers approached the front door while the others surrounded the barracks and blocked escape routes.
Rodriguez appeared in the shadows on the landing atop the staircase leading to the sleeping quarters. He fired a shot at Moriarty, grazing the detective's forehead above his right eye.
With blood streaming down his face, Moriarty fired back, hitting Rodriguez in the right thigh. The wounded gunman disappeared back into the sleeping quarters, reloading his gun in the process. There, he turned the gun on himself - placing the revolver to his right ear and firing a shot into his head in front of his frightened co-workers - as police moved in.
Rodriguez never regained consciousness. He died at the hospital about three hours later or around 5:00 a.m.
During the autopsy, they found a bullet lodged in Rodriguez's brain.
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| Detective Moriarty at Hathaway & Steane |
In the following weeks and months, Detective Moriarty, already one of the Springfield Police Department's most commended members, received three commendations for his heroism and a gold medal award.
Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes
The spellings of the people's names vary, but their names in the story appear to be correct. Some state troopers from Northampton may have traveled to Southwick. It's unclear if Moriarty kicked the door in (or if it was unlocked/already open).
Some sources incorrectly refer to the bunkhouse/barracks as a barn.
Rodriguez was either 31 or 32 years old (some sources say 28). He was born in Puerto Rico, as was Otilio.
Luz lived and worked at the Hathaway & Steane Plantation. He may have been the one who rode with Rodriguez to the club and identified him to the police.
On January 25, 1960, employees at the club found that someone had broken in. Using the fire escape, they accessed the club, jimmied open a closet door, and stole two cases of beer. (The break-in led police to later raid the club for keeping and selling intoxicating drinks without a license.)
City officials razed the building housing the Estes Club in the 1960s as part of Springfield's urban renewal land development.
Hathaway & Steane was a major tobacco producer with many locations. Farm C was located on Springfield Road, today's Feeding Hills Road. At one point, Hathaway owned more than 600 acres in Southwick, which they eventually sold to a realty company and developer in November 1971, along with their farms in other locations. The buyers kept quiet about their plans for the property, which included prime lakefront acreage in Suffield, Connecticut, along the shores of Congamond, only saying they were not interested in growing tobacco or any other crops. Southwick and Suffield residents speculated that the new owners planned to build a dog racing track. (See Miller's Beach Chronology.) The parties finalized the roughly $3.5 million deal in 1973, and the new owners (Tobacco Farms Co.) announced that they would replace the farmland in Southwick with a mix of residential housing and industrial development.
The fire station in West Suffield, Connecticut, was originally built in 1955 by Hathaway & Steane to protect their tobacco interests.
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