Child Criminal George Adorno and Ángel "Papo La Muerte" Nieves Díaz Artwork

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Child Criminal George Adorno and Ángel "Papo La Muerte" Nieves Díaz

August 05, 2023 • Nancy Pinto • Episode 39

Trigger warning: This episode contains gory details that may not be suitable for some listeners.

George C. Adorno began his criminal activities at the tender age of four. His youth was spent in and out of an overburdened juvenile court in New York City, until he was incarcerated for three decades for the murder of two individuals in 1974.

Ángel Nieves Díaz, nicknamed the Grim Reaper, was the first Puerto Rican to endure a botched state execution. As humans, do we feel bad, or did he get what he deserved?

Advertencia: Este episodio contiene detalles sangrientos que pueden no ser adecuados para algunos oyentes.

George C. Adorno comenzó sus actividades delictivas a la tierna edad de cuatro años. Pasó su juventud entrando y saliendo de un tribunal de menores sobrecargado en la ciudad de Nueva York, hasta que fue encarcelado durante tres décadas por el asesinato de dos individuos en 1974.

Ángel Nieves Díaz, apodado “Papo La Muerte,” fue el primer puertorriqueño en sufrir una ejecución estatal chapucera. Como humanos, ¿nos sentimos mal o recibió lo que se merecía?

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When was Adorno born? A quick Google search will say December 23, 1958. Dig deeper and it might actually have been March 23, 1958. There’s even one source that lists his birth year as 1959. This is important but we’ll get to it later.
He was born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents. He lived in Harlem, near the north end of Central Park. Back then that area was pretty rough.
The first thing we learn about Adorno’s childhood is that at the age of 4, he set his sister on fire. This was his first encounter with the police. Thankfully, she recovered.
At age 12, he was arrested for the first time and taken to Family Court. This was the childhood equivalent of adult court. Indictments were called “petitions” and trials are called “fact-findings” which sound makes it sound much less criminal!
At age 14, Adorno was sent to Warwick State Training School for Boys, a reform school an hour outside Manhattan. This did nothing. The school supposedly gave out passes for leave, and Adorno somehow managed to make it all the way back to Manhattan. When he got home, he went back to his life of crime. He’s on record as having been arrested twice for armed robbery while technically still a student at Warwick.
By age 15, he had been arrested 16 times, all for theft and/or assault. He was in and out of Family Court. The system made it easy for him to get out, and he would rob again.
Between July and October of 1974, when Adorno was 15 – still a minor cuz he wouldn’t turn 16 until December, right? - he was very busy killing, either directly or indirectly.
July 1974: He’s out with a couple of friends. They’re armed and looking for someone to rob. His friends go into a pawnshop and shoot the owner while Adorno waits outside.
August 1974: Adorno is out with some buddies, this time looking to steal a car. They go into a parking garage, and before the attendant can throw them out, one of the guys shoots him in the chest. He dies.
September 1974: Again, out with friends, but this time Adorno himself pulls the trigger during an attempt to rob a cab driver named Morris Ratter.
October 1974: Adorno gets into an argument with another young man from the neighborhood named Michael Hurd. I believe this kid was nicknamed Mushmouth. Adorno shoots and kills Mushmouth.
At some point during the first half of 1975, Adorno confessed all these murders to a New York DA. He explained that he shot taxi driver Morris Ratter because he tried to drive away. He explained that he shot Michael Hurd because quote “He spoke up to my face.”
There’s some confusion and conflicting info online about the circumstances surrounding Adorno’s confession. There are allegations that the confession was obtained in an unlawful manner, by the way he was questioned. Something like that. We couldn’t find anything saying exactly what happened. But we pieced together that after this confession, he was charged and brought to Family Court – again, the juvenile court. A couple of sources state that Adorno was accompanied only by his sister, and that his mother was not there because she hadn’t been summoned to appear before the court because she was in Puerto Rico, didn’t speak English, and “had her own problems.” Because of all this, the judge threw out the homicide charges, and Adorno was instead convicted on a lesser charge, robbery. But we found a letter in New York Magazine from 1977 written by the judge at that hearing, the late Shirley Wohl Kram, who said that his mom WAS in the courtroom and didn’t have any problems that prevented her from being there. She basically said the courts were drowning in cases and this is the kind of shit that happens. But then there was another letter by an Assistant DA named Juris Cederbaums who studied the case rebutting HER. He basically said that the court/judge screwed up when they threw out his confession. The fact that Adorno’s sister had been present at his questioning, when he made the confessions, and before the official family-court hearing, was enough to legally charge him, even if his mother hadn’t been there. I quote: “The court was dealing with a youth who had admitted to personally killing two people and being part of a group who killed a third. Surely a big bell should have rung in someone’s head, or has the family court become so blasé that this case did not even lift an eyebrow?” What about the victims here???
So at this hearing, Adorno was convicted of robbery, sentenced to three years in jail, and, per state law, his record was sealed by court order, because he was a minor. And since the hearing was not public, no journalists were allowed in, and nothing made it to the newspapers and the public at large.
August 1975: Adorno begins serving his time.
February 4, 1977: Adorno was released after serving only 18 months of his 3-year sentence.
February 23, 1977: He wasted no time before killing again! Exactly 19 days after regaining his freedom, he was out roaming the streets with a couple of guys, one of whom he ordered to go get a cab and bring him back to where he was. The victim he found was named Steven Robinson. Robinson was a law student who drove a cab to pay his tuition. When he arrived and realized he was going to be robbed, he tried to drive away, but Adorno shot and killed him. The 3 thugs stole $60, a radio, and a book Robinson had with him. OK this made me sad: the book Robinson was reading was Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the same guy who wrote The Little Prince. I’ve never read it but per wiki, “The book's themes deal with friendship, death, heroism, camaraderie and solidarity among colleagues, humanity and the search for meaning in life. The book illustrates the author's view of the world and his opinions of what makes life worth living.” Kind of ironic…
I’m not sure of the timeline between the end of February and July of 1977. But on July 13, 1977, something happened that kind of overshadowed this whole case. Power transmission cables in New York were hit by not one, but TWO lightning strikes. This caused a huge blackout, which led to looting and arson. Like, at least 1600 stores were hit, and over 1000 fires were reported. It was a big huge deal in the tri state area.
But back to Adorno. At some point, a psychiatric evaluation was done. The report stated, quote, “He’s a monstrous human being…no remorse, no nothing, doesn’t care, doesn’t give a damn. The warning signs were there – at the age of 4 he set fire to his sister, who recovered from the burns.” The phrase “Doesn’t give a damn” stood out to me. Was this unprofessional or just indicative of 1977? It just seems like a weird and unprofessional way to diagnose someone, even if it IS true. Further to that, it’s interesting to note that the psychiatrist was a Freudian. So even when Adorno matter-of-factly explained that he killed taxi drivers for money, and that his MO was to kill them before robbing them because dead people can’t fight back and wouldn’t be able to ID him in court, the psychiatrist declared that Adorno suffered from an Oedipus complex (where a man subconsciously is in love with his mother and hates his father), and that therefore Adorno’s victims were a representation of his father. That would probably not fly in court today but it was interesting that it was a serious report at that time.
In late July, preparations were being made for Adorno’s trial. The judge, Burton Roberts, told Adorno that if he pleaded guilty, he would get a sentence of 15 years to life. But if he took his chances and went ahead with the trial, faced a jury, the whole nine yards, and was found guilty, he would get 25 to life. So he decided to plead guilty. Apparently this is what happened next: a clerk asked Adorno for his date of birth. He responded, "March 23, 1958." The judge, surprised, yelled, “What?” Because, if that was his birthdate, that meant that he was 16, not 15, during the period of July through October 1974 when he and his friends murdered those other 4 guys we talked about (pawn shop owner, parking garage attendant, taxi guy #1 Morris Ratter, and Mushmouth). And that’s important because at 16 you are eligible for an actual adult trial and prosecution. This would not have been processed at “Family Court” – the trial court for juveniles. They would not have thrown out those murder charges and replaced them with a simple robbery charge that he was able to serve only 18 months for! They would not have sealed the records. Maybe he would have been locked up for longer than 18 freakin months and poor Steven Robinson would still be alive. Realizing this, Adorno quickly backpedaled and said he made a mistake, that his REAL birth date was December 23, 1958. Judge Roberts told the District Attorney to get this clarified.
In any case, I don’t know if it ever got figured out, but in early September, Adorno was sentenced to 15 years to life, for pleading guilty, and would be eligible for parole after serving half the lesser period (so I guess 1992 would be 15 years, so 7 ½ years would be end of 1984). At the sentencing hearing, Judge Roberts said about Adorno that he quote “knows more about the ins and outs of police stations and Miranda warnings than half the lawyers in the city.” He went on to say that Adorno knew how to play the justice system like a concert pianist plays the piano. He knew how to bullshit his way out of everything. Angrily, he said: quote “Is there ever a time when a red light goes on and you say, 'We have to control this person.' ? If ever there was a fit subject for capital punishment, you are that individual. I do hope that you spend many sleepless nights reflecting on what you have done.” Apparently Adorno just smirked and looked up at the ceiling while being chastised.
Just as an interesting side note, Justice Roberts was the inspiration for the Judge in the book “The Bonfire of the Vanities” written by Tom Wolfe and turned into a movie. In the movie, the judge was named Leonard White, and he was played by Morgan Freeman.
September 15, 1977: Adorno begins his sentence. Fortunately, he did not get out in 1984, nor in 1992. There’s not much online about his three decades in prison. It looks like he was involved in some incidents, fights or something, with other inmates, a couple times. Probably regular stuff.
In 2007, Adorno sent a Xmas card to someone from his domicile at the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York (fun fact, the CCF is nicknamed Little Siberia). The card was dated 12/19/2007 and postmarked the next day. The front of the card says, “Remembering you, my special friend, at Christmas.” The preprinted greeting inside the card says “During the busyness of this Christmas season, it makes me happy to stop and think about you and the precious gift of friendship we have because of Jesus. Blessings on your Christmas season.” Then at the bottom there’s a quote from the bible. What Adorno wrote was this: “Dear someone (the name is blacked out), You see, I didn’t forget you. Wishing you and your loved ones a (something I couldn’t make out, maybe “very”) Merry Christmas and New Year! On December 14, 2007 my mother passed away. Give me a little time to write you a letter. Right now Enjoy the holidays! Your friend…George”
November 9, 2009: Adorno was released on parole, around age 50. He served 32 years.
And that’s where my trail went cold…can’t find anything current on him or his family.

Ángel Nieves Díaz (who allegedly had the nickname “Papo La Muerte”) was a convicted murderer, felon and suspected leader of the Boricua Popular Army (aka Los Macheteros), who are a militant nationalist group. Diaz was born August 31, 1951 in Puerto Rico. I couldn’t find too much on his early life. But I did find that he got married when he was in HS, and dropped out of his 3rd year. When he was 17, he was arrested for heroin possession. His next crime that I could find happened when he was 24, when he shot and wounded a police officer during a robbery. He was sentenced to 5-8 years.

Now, dates are fuzzy since i just said he was sentenced to serve 5-8 years in 1975 (yay for record keeping!) but according to my findings, in July 1978, Diaz killed the director of a drug rehabilitation center, stabbing him 19 times while he was sleeping. He was found guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to 10 to 15 years. In 1979, Diaz escaped from the Río Piedras State Penitentiary, nearly beating a guard to death in the process. It was then that he fled to Florida.
On December 29, 1979, Diaz and two friends, Angel Toro and another man who was never caught, robbed the Velvet Swing Lounge, a strip club in Florida. During the robbery, manager Joseph Nagy was shot to death. Unfortunately there were no eyewitnesses because most of the employees and patrons had been locked in a public restroom. No arrests were made at the time because these two fuckers fled.
In February 1981, Diaz was arrested on unrelated assault and firearms charges. He gave police a fake name, Emilio Baez, and posted bail. Before they figured out who he really was, Diaz jumped bail and fled north to Connecticut. He was later arrested on federal firearm charges in Middletown, CT. While awaiting trial, Diaz was sent to Hartford Correctional Center, from which he and 3 other inmates escaped in August 1981. They held one guard at knifepoint and beat the shit out of the other guard and made their escape. He was caught and convicted in federal court of second degree kidnapping and illegal possession of a firearm after officials found a loaded 38-caliber Derringer revolver in his cell. (who is checking their mail??) His federal conviction was later overturned under a now closed loophole due to Puerto Rico not being a state.
Diaz and Toro, the latter now serving life without parole for murdering a woman in Massachusetts, were charged with killing Joseph Nagy in 1983, after Diaz’ then-girlfriend ratted him out to the cops. Police found Diaz’ fingerprint on a matchbook left at the scene (ass). In 1986, he was tried and found guilty of first degree murder. During his trial, he seemed like a fkin brat. He apparently threatened witnesses, then fired his lawyer, and chose to represent himself. Diaz claimed that Toro had committed the murder and that he was innocent. The jury sentenced him to death by an 8–4 vote.
Diaz was also ratted out by a fellow inmate from Dade County, one Ralph Gajus, who was serving a 20-year sentence for second degree murder. In 1984, Gajus testified that Nieves had confessed in his cell that he had shot Joseph Nagy. Although Diaz spoke English poorly and Gajus didn’t understand Spanish, the two communicated with hand signals. Gajus would later recant his testimony, saying he lied because he was pissed at Diaz for hatching an escape plan and not including him. However, that changed nothing for Diaz.
Diaz of course attempted to appeal his sentence and in 2006, his last appeal was denied. As the date of his execution came closer, the case was again brought to the public attention. On Nov. 28, 2006, then Governor of Puerto Rico, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, asked then Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, for clemency. Governor Vilá voiced concerns about the fairness of Diaz trial, the recanted testimony of Gajus, and Toro's life sentence (oh yea, they gave Toro life w/o parole for the crime). Clemency was not granted.
December 13, 2006, Nieves was set to be executed by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison in Raiford. He never ordered a last meal, but was served a prison menu of shredded turkey with taco seasoning, shredded cheese, rice, pinto beans, tortilla shells, apple crisp, and iced tea, which he turned down. His final statement, translated, was: "The state of Florida is killing an innocent person. The state of Florida is committing a crime because I am innocent. The death penalty is not only a form of vengeance, but also a cowardly act by humans. I'm sorry for what is happening to me and my family who have been put through this."
Now this is where the fucked up part really comes in, and also winds up inadvertently being a Puerto Rican First (check out our two episodes of PR Firsts!) because he was the first Puerto Rican to have to endure a horribly botched execution!
Now to fully understand exactly how fucked up this dude’s execution was, I have to get a little technical for a moment. For a lethal injection, there are 3 different drugs administered to the person being executed:
The first is sodium thiopental, which is essentially supposed to knock ya out.
The 2nd drug is pancuronium bromide, which is a paralyzing agent.
The 3rd and final drug is potassium chloride, which stops your heart.
Contrary to the usual practices, Diaz needed an additional dose of drugs to be executed. The whole process took approximately 34 minutes as opposed to the usual 7.5 minutes.
So whomever was to administer the drugs, whether by carelessness or not being aware, pushed the catheters through both veins and into subcutaneous soft tissue—an error that is known in medicine as “infiltration.” As a result, the drugs flowed between layers of soft tissue in Diaz’s arms rather than into his bloodstream. This created large chemical burns. On the right arm, the burn zone was 12 by 5 inches, with numerous blisters and a sloughing off of superficial skin. On the left arm, the burn zone was 11 by 7 inches.
It’s believed that Diaz remained conscious as the drugs pooled in his arms and the pancuronium bromide began to paralyze him. Diaz would have become chemically locked in—which means he was mentally aware but had zero ability to move a muscle—and he would have starved for air as his diaphragm shut down and he slowly suffocated. In the autopsy report, the medical examiner noted “bilateral jugular venous distention”— which is an abnormal swelling of both jugular veins in Diaz’s neck that could be a sign he struggled for air. Witnesses to the execution said he was moving throughout the entire thing, and that he seemed to be trying to fight off the paralysis. Chris Tisch, a St. Petersburg Times reporter who witnessed the execution, wrote that Diaz immediately began grimacing and appeared to speak at the start (his words could not be heard by the witnesses because a glass window separates the death chamber from the viewing room). He repeatedly squinted his eyes and lifted his chin. Ten minutes into the execution—around the time he was expected to die—he turned his head to the right and began to cough. Sixteen minutes into the execution, he was still moving his mouth and chin. By the twenty-second minute, he appeared to have stopped moving—but then two minutes later his body “jolted,” according to Tisch, and his eyes opened more widely. At 6:34, a doctor checked Diaz’s vital signs. He or she left the execution chamber, returned a minute later, checked again, and at 6:36 an execution team member pronounced Diaz dead. Tisch wrote in his notes that for several minutes Diaz’s mouth was “flexing like a fish out of water”—a sign he was struggling for air. Ron Word, an Associated Press reporter, also witnessed the execution. Afterwards, he wrote: “It seemed like Angel Nieves Diaz would never die.”
Gretl Plessinger, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections, said that Díaz did not feel any pain and that a liver condition was the cause of the delay, but the family then denied that Díaz suffered any such condition.
As a result of this horribly botched execution, Jeb Bush postponed all pending executions until further notice. However, on 18 July 2007, the new governor, Charlie Crist, lifted the ban by signing a death warrant, authorizing the execution of Mark Dean Schwab. So the ban didnt last long at all.
In 2014, The New Republic published photographs of the botched execution, showing discoloration on the prisoner's arms. It’s gnarly. We’ll post links in our shownotes.
(btw, if you're wondering about Toro, his other murder conviction was vacated in 2004, making him eligible for parole. He was paroled on Nov. 18, 2008.

https://murderpedia.org/male.A/a/adorno-george.htm
https://www.nytimes.com/1977/07/13/archives/youth-19-pleads-guilty-in-slaying-of-cab-driver.html