# Paula Angel > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Paula_Angel > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Paula_Angel.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Angel > Source revision: 1353852972 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American woman convicted of murder and legally executed}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Paula Angel | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = c. 1842 | birth_place = [Las Vegas, New Mexico](/source/Las_Vegas%2C_New_Mexico) | death_date = {{Death date|1861|04|26}} (aged 19) | death_place = Las Vegas, New Mexico | other_names = | occupation = | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | criminal_penalty = [Death](/source/Capital_punishment_in_New_Mexico) | conviction_status = [Executed](/source/Executed) by [hanging](/source/hanging) | conviction = [First degree murder](/source/First_degree_murder) }} '''Paula Angel''' (c. 1842 – April 26, 1861) was an American woman executed for the murder of her lover. She was hanged from a [cottonwood](/source/Populus_fremontii) tree in [Las Vegas, New Mexico](/source/Las_Vegas%2C_New_Mexico), following a brief and somewhat abnormal legal process. She is the only woman to have been legally executed in New Mexico since its incorporation into the United States. ==Background and trial== Angel was about 19 years old at the time of her death, and belonged to a "prominent" family in [Las Vegas](/source/Las_Vegas%2C_New_Mexico), New Mexico Territory.{{harvnb |Shapland |2018}} In March 1861, she was arrested and charged with [first-degree murder](/source/first-degree_murder) over the death of her lover, Miguel Martin, who was a married father of five and also came from a prominent family. According to the case put forward by the prosecution, Angel was upset because Martin had told her he was going to end their affair, so she lured him to one final meeting and then stabbed him in the back with a knife she had concealed under her shawl.{{sfn |Armijo |2012 |p=307}} The presiding judge, [Kirby Benedict](/source/Kirby_Benedict), [instructed the jury](/source/Jury_instructions) to only consider the charge of first-degree murder; they were prohibited from finding her guilty of a non-capital offence (murder of a lesser degree or [manslaughter](/source/manslaughter)). Angel pled [not guilty](/source/Not_guilty_plea), on the grounds that her actions were a [crime of passion](/source/crime_of_passion) and thus not premeditated. The jury disagreed with that line of reasoning, finding her guilty, and Benedict then sentenced her to death, the only available sentence under territorial law at that time. A short time later, Angel was granted the right to appeal to the [New Mexico Supreme Court](/source/New_Mexico_Supreme_Court). However, no concurrent [stay of execution](/source/stay_of_execution) was granted, an action which has been criticised as lacking [due process](/source/due_process) by later writers.{{sfn |Armijo |2012 |p=312}} Angel's lawyer tried unsuccessfully to delay her execution. ==Execution== Angel was [hanged](/source/hanged) in Las Vegas on the morning of April 26. No [gallows](/source/gallows) were available, so she was instead tied to a [cottonwood](/source/Populus_fremontii) tree and placed on a wagon attached to a team of horses. Antonio Abad Herrera, the county sheriff and executioner, didn't want to tie her arms, so when the wagon began moving she was able to grab hold of the noose. Herrera attempted to pull her downward, but the crowd prevented him from doing so and cut her free.{{sfn |Tórrez |2008 |p=132}} There was potential for a riot, as some in the crowd believed that she was entitled to be released, but order was maintained and the second attempt was successful.{{sfn |Tórrez |2008 |p=133}} ==Legacy== The case of Paula Angel received little contemporary attention due to the ongoing [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War). Angel was virtually forgotten until 1961, when an article was published in ''[The Santa Fe New Mexican](/source/The_Santa_Fe_New_Mexican)'' to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her execution.{{sfn |Tórrez |2008 |p=137}} Some sources have described Angel as the only woman to have been legally executed in New Mexico. This is in fact only true of New Mexico as a part of the United States – two [Puebloan](/source/Puebloan) women had been hanged in [Santa Fe](/source/Santa_Fe%2C_New_Mexico) in 1779, under Spanish colonial rule.{{sfn |Torrez |2013}} [Jenn Shapland](/source/Jenn_Shapland) has noted that her execution took place at a time of [lynching](/source/lynching)s of people of colour, both women and men. Until 2008, there was no direct evidence that an execution had even been carried out, only folk and oral traditions. Historian Robert Tórrez found the original warrant for Angel's execution in the [Huntington Library](/source/Huntington_Library) of California, but it initially appeared to contain nothing to suggest the sentence had been carried out.{{sfn |Tórrez |2008 |p=139}} However, it was subsequently determined that the [microfilm](/source/microfilm) of the warrant only included one side. When the original document was examined, Sheriff Herrera's handwritten confirmation of execution was found on the reverse.{{sfn |Tórrez |2008 |p=140}} Angel's case was featured in an episode of ''[Deadly Women](/source/Deadly_Women)''. ==References== {{reflist|15em}} ===Sources=== *{{cite journal |last=Armijo |first=M. Christina |authorlink=Christina Armijo |title=Territory of New Mexico vs. Paula Angel: One Woman's Tragic Journey through Territorial Justice in 1861 |journal=New Mexico Law Review |volume=42 |issue=301 |via=UNM Digital Repository |date=Summer 2012 |url=https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmlr/vol42/iss2/14 |issn=0028-6214 |oclc=8093265318 |pages=301–328}} *{{cite web |last=Shapland |first=Jenn |title=New Mexico Women: Paula Angel |website=Southwest Contemporary |date=2018-10-01 |url=https://southwestcontemporary.com/paula-angel/ |access-date=2021-11-27}} *{{cite book |last=Tórrez |first=Robert J |title=Myth of the Hanging Tree: Stories of Crime and Punishment in Territorial New Mexico |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |publication-place=Albuquerque |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8263-4379-6 |oclc=165082675}} Partial preview at {{Google books|T8rjOdWL-70C|Myth of the Hanging Tree: Stories of Crime and Punishment in Territorial New Mexico|page=131}} *{{cite web |last=Torrez |first=Robert |title=Paula Angel: The Only Woman Ever Hanged in New Mexico |website=New Mexico History.org |date=2013-11-05 |url=https://newmexicohistory.org/2013/11/05/paula-angel-the-only-woman-ever-hanged-in-new-mexico/ |access-date=2021-11-27}} ==Further reading== *{{cite book |last=Keleher |first=William Aloysius |title=Turmoil in New Mexico, 1846-1868 |publisher=Sunstone Press |publication-place=Santa Fe |year=2008 |orig-year=1952 |isbn=978-0-86534-621-5 |oclc=174040140 |pages=397–399, 504-fn117 |ref=none}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Angel, Paula}} Category:1840s births Category:1861 deaths Category:19th-century American women Category:19th-century executions by the United States Category:American female murderers Category:American people executed for murder Category:Executed American women Category:Executed people from New Mexico Category:People convicted of murder by New Mexico Category:People executed by New Mexico by hanging Category:People from Las Vegas, New Mexico Category:19th-century American murderers --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Paula Angel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Angel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Angel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.