Did you know that the Church of San Servacio in Valladolid has a dark, bloody secret? So dark, in fact, that the extreme measure of reorienting the church from East to North was deemed necessary as a result of this profanity.
Now you might think it had to do with the savage and intense Caste War that began in 1847 near Valladolid, which pitted the (mostly Indigenous Maya) people against their (mostly white) oppressors. But you would be wrong. No, this was a murder—a double murder, actually—and a crime of passion committed by a former mayor and his assistant against the man (also a mayor) who dared to cast his flirtatious eye on the woman he loved.
The Crime of the Mayors (El Crimen de los Alcaldes)
In 1703, the mayor of Valladolid was one Fernando Hipólito de Osorno. An incurable romantic (or high-libido stalker, depending on your viewpoint), he famously would try to woo any woman who tickled his fancy, without much concern about whether or not they were single, married or otherwise compromised.
To his eventual misfortune, his eyes fell upon the object of affection (girlfriend) of an important citizen of the city, Miguel de Ruiz Ayuso. De Ruiz Ayuso took great offense at the lascivious attention and, leveraging his high level contacts in Mérida, conspired to have the mayor removed from office alleging misconduct. The complaint also included Hipólito de Osorno’s “second” or assistant mayor, Pedro Gabriel de Covarrubias. As a result of the accusations, the mayor and his sidekick and amigo were removed from office and arrested. The accuser (Miguel de Ruiz) meanwhile, and not at all coincidentally, was named the new mayor of the city.
The disgraced former mayor and his assistant managed to escape from custody and took refuge in Valladolid’s church, believing they would be safe. However, a group of eight men entered the church, dragged the two men outside and, in front of this holiest of holy buildings, on July 12, 1703, brutally beat the two men to death. Leading the aggressors was, of course, the newly minted mayor Miguel de Ruiz and his sidekick/accomplice Roque Gutierrez (Author’s note: Interestingly, and in keeping with the culture of the time, the name of the woman in question does not appear in the history books).
This violent act shook respectable Yucatán society to its core. The resulting indignation compelled the powers that be to act, and so, two years later, on May 28, 1705, justice was meted out against the leaders of the murderous group. Miguel de Ruiz and Roque Gutiérrez were judged and sentenced to death by hanging, and subsequently executed in the capital city of Mérida.
Aftermath of the Crime of the Mayors
The bishop at the time was so perturbed by all that had transpired that he declared the church to be “profaned” and ordered its partial destruction to re-orient the Catholic temple to its present condition. Nowadays, if you visit, you’ll notice the Saints Paul and Peter are located along the side of the church, when in fact they used to flank the entrance to this sacred building.
The crime is famously known as “el crimen de los alcaldes” or “the crime of the mayors,” as both parties were mayors at the time of and during this violent historic event.
There are no bloodstains in the limestone-paved courtyard where the assassination took place, and tourists now flock to the church for photo ops and selfies, for the most part blissfully unaware of what happened that fateful afternoon in 1703.
First published in Yucatán Today print and digital magazine no. 453, in September 2025.
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