Death in Old Mexico with Nicole Von Germeten

Ye Olde Crime

Lindsay is joined by author Nicole Von Germeten to discuss her book, Death in Old Mexico: The 1789 Dongo Murders and How They Shaped the History of a Nation.

In a Mexico City mansion on October 23, 1789, Don Joaquín Dongo and ten of his employees were brutally murdered by three killers armed with machetes. Investigators worked tirelessly to find the perpetrators, who were publicly executed two weeks later. Labelled the 'crime of the century,' these events and their aftermath have intrigued writers of fiction and nonfiction for over two centuries. Using a vast range of sources, Nicole von Germeten recreates a paper trail of Enlightenment-era greed and savagery, and highlights how the violence of the Mexican judiciary echoed the acts of the murderers. The Spanish government conducted dozens of executions in Mexico City's central square in this era, revealing how European imperialism in the Americas influenced perceptions of violence and how it was tolerated, encouraged, or suppressed. An evocative history, Death in Old Mexico provides a compelling new perspective on late colonial Mexico City.

Trained as a historian of Spain and its global empire at the University of California, Berkeley, Nicole von Germeten’s research has taken her to dozens of archives and libraries on three continents. Her first two books investigated African populations and their social and religious organizations. More recently, she has written five books about the history of crime and policing in Colombia and Mexico.

We discuss her book “Death in Old Mexico: The 1789 Dongo Murders and How They Shaped The History of a Nation.” Labeled the “crime of the century,” these events and their aftermath have intrigued writers of fiction and nonfiction for more than two centuries. Using a vast range of sources, Nicole von Germeten recreates a paper trail of Enlightenment-era greed and savagery, and highlights how the violence of the Mexican judiciary echoed the acts of the murderers.

Nicole is an associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University, and has written extensively on the history of crime, violence, gender, and sexuality in Latin America.

You can learn about the other books on her website, or purchase them on Amazon.

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