First Look at Natividad Corona, The Brother of Juan Corona

Wow, after nearly 3 years of researching this case, I have finally seen the face of the elusive brother of Juan Corona, Natividad Corona. I feel confident that I have seen proof that he did, in fact, die in the spring of 1973.

For years there has been a debate about whatever happened to Natividad. In the second phase of Juan Corona's case, his defense attempted to pinpoint the brother as the actual murderer.

Natividad Jose Corona - Sanchez

Many of you who follow this blog, know how much time and effort I have put into this case. For me, it started with a morbid curiosity after having grown up hearing about the "Machete Murders of Yuba City" (for me it was of Bear River, only to find out that it was actually the Feather River). As I went on to find information about this case, I began to realize everything I thought I knew about this case, was not true.

The location, the victims, the true story....all wrong.

So when I started the Deviation Diaries I made it a personal goal, to right as many wrongs as possible and to really sort what was fact and what was rumor or legend.

At the back of this story has always sat the name of Juan's brother Natividad. He was this faceless owner of the Guadalajara Cafe (Now Silver Dollar Saloon), that was shrouded in mystery for me.

Until today.

To give you some history on Natividad-

Back in 1970, he faced a lawsuit from José Romero Raya. On February 25th, 1970, a 1 a.m. the man was discovered in the bathroom, by patrons at the Guadalajara Cafe. The man had been molested, hacked and beaten about the face and head by what appeared to be a large knife or machete. The man was still alive, but the beating had left him with 3 skull fractures and permanent disfigurement, including his lips being cut from his face.

Although he survived, Raya sued Natividad for the incident, even though no one was arrested for the crime. Raya won his case, but Natividad sold his business and fled to Mexico avoiding any restitution.

A year later, Juan Corona would be arrested (and later convicted) for the murder of 25 farm workers, that he recruited as vagrants, to work on the Sullivan Ranch. Evidence was more than damning and sufficient.

Officials attempted to look for Natividad but he was like a ghost. He was nowhere to be found.

According to the New York Times - "Mr. Hallinan told the jury he had gone to Mexico to look for evidence of Natividad Corona's death. He said the doctor who signed the death certificate never saw a body. Mr. Hallinan said he doubted Natividad Corona was dead."
You can see why I needed to know what happened to Natividad. You can see why I would have spent countless hours trying to find him. Who was he?

To tell you how elusive information on this part of the case was, I spent a year of my research simply trying to find a photo of the Silver Dollar building as the previous Guadalajara Cafe. I could find nothing. But I found an image by happenstance when watching a documentary about Chinatown, by Daniel Barth. I just happened to catch the image in a slight fragment of a moment and was able to grab a screenshot. I was ELATED!

Can you imagine me this morning when I'm scrolling and happen upon the face of the man who's been a mystery to the people who've followed this case for decades?

Occasionally I throw keywords into the Google Search bar. You never know if someone just like me is out there writing and compiling info trying to right wrongs, and deliver correct info. Today was such a day. I put Natividad Corona's name into the search bar, and there was A FACE! Strangely enough this was a blog entry by a Lisa Medina that was published in 2016/ 2016!? Do you know how many times I've tirelessly searched what I thought was every corner of Google searching the name "Natividad Corona"? COUNTLESS. But today it was meant to be. Not only did I see a face, but Lisa's research also presented what looks like a death certificate.

So for this portion from one researcher to another, I give 100% of the credit for this, to Lisa.

Natividad's Application for Nonresident Alien's Border Crossing Identification Card, SOURCE: Lisa Medina - from Border Crossings: From Mexico to U.S., 1895-1964 Ancestry.com

Natividad's Application for Nonresident Alien's Border Crossing Identification Card, SOURCE: Lisa Medina - from Border Crossings: From Mexico to U.S., 1895-1964 Ancestry.com

Civil Registration of Birth for Natividad Jose Corona, DOB 12/30/22. SOURCE: Lisa Medina from Jalisco, Mexico, Civil Registration Births, 1857-1947, Ancestry.com

Registration of Death for Natividad Jose Corona SOURCE: Lisa Medina, from  Jalisco, Mexico, Civil Registration Deaths, 1856-1987, Ancestry.com

Thanks to a translation on the above document by my friend Luis Castillo, I am able to learn that Natividad Juan Corona (Sanchez, mother's name. Documents indicate that he was an illegitimate son) passed away in Guadalajara on May 24th, 1973 at the age of 50 years old, due to complications of diabetes. An indirect cause of death was a heart attack. Time of death was "Yesterday at 12pm..in house #3 ?tals?.. (illegible) ?town? Mesa Del Norte Sector - Libertad (Liberty). His body was taken to the Municipal Cemetery in Guadalajara, Mexico. He was examined by "Jose Francisco Rios Castellanos". "Horacio Goona Ruiz" was the Official civil registrar. Witness to his death may have been a "Daimaso Sanchez" (family member).

So how can I be sure that this is, in FACT, Natividad, the brother of Juan Corona? He was born in the same city that Juan derived from. He was born on 12/30/22 and died on 5/24/1973, that does indeed make him 50 yrs old at the time of death. From the information I've read, 1940's-50s would make a correct time of entry for Natividad into the United States (Juan came later before '55). The Crossing Borders documents above show the date of 1945-6.

I have no doubts.

Below is an article explaining how intertwined Juan's Half-brother was to his trial. After Juan had gone through his first case, his defense attempted to implicate his brother as the true murderer in the 1971 murders.

"CORONA'S BROTHER BLAMED IN DEATHS
By WALLACE TURNER, Special to the New York Times
Published: March 17, 1982

HAYWARD, Calif., March 16— Defense attorneys in Juan V. Corona's retrial for the murders of 25 itinerant farm workers in 1971 have nominated his half-brother, Natividad Corona, as the actual murderer.


Juan Corona, now 47 years old, was convicted in 1973. In that trial, the defense was blocked from discussing Natividad Corona and no defense evidence was offered. A California Court of Appeals ordered a new trial after finding that Mr. Corona had had an inadequate defense in the first trial.


''We have to look for a motive in these killings,'' Terence Hallinan of San Francisco, a defense lawyer, said to the jury in his opening statement Monday. ''They were done in a maniac rage that was occasional and spasmodic. The only person who fits the profile is Natividad, an active, aggressive homosexual.''


Mr. Hallinan also told the jury that Natividad Corona may have planted some of the state's evidence to implicate his younger half-brother, Juan. The lawyer described Natividad Corona as a clever, intelligent man who learned English easily after immigrating to the United States. He said Juan Corona was ''a simple man of below average intelligence.'' Juan Corona is following trial testimony with the help of an interpreter. 'Insanity and Rage'


Natividad Corona suffered from tertiary syphilis, Mr. Hallinan said, and ''this leads to insanity and maniacal rage.'' The lawyer said Natividad Corona returned to Mexico, where he was reported to have died several years ago, after a man he ''slashed and hacked'' in a saloon men's room sued and won a judgment of $250,000 for injuries incurred in the attack. The victim, Jose Raya, say Natividad Corona attacked him after Mr. Raya rejected his sexual advances.

Mr. Hallinan told the jury he had gone to Mexico to look for evidence of Natividad Corona's death. He said the doctor who signed the death certificate never saw a body. Mr. Hallinan said he doubted Natividad Corona was dead.

In the first trial, Juan Corona's attorney, Richard Hawk, tried to suggest that Natividad Corona was the murderer, but he was blocked from using the half brother's name by Judge Richard Patton of Superior Court, who is also presiding at the retrial.


Judge Patton told Mr. Hawk it seemed to him that Natividad Corona was being used as a ''straw man.'' The judge did not block Mr. Hallinan's use of the Natividad Corona theory. Meat Receipts in Grave


Ronald Fahey, the prosecutor, said in his opening statement that the evidence would include meat receipts with Juan Corona's name on them that were found in a shallow grave where one of the murder victims was buried.


Mr. Fahey described in detail how each of the 25 bodies was found and what caused each death. One was killed by a gunshot to the head. The others were stabbed, bludgeoned or slashed as with a machete.


Mr. Fahey said that after the ninth body was found, the police were told that the victim had been seen in a van driven by Juan Corona. The police then searched his home and office and found ledger books with names of some of the murder victims listed among other farm workers; receipts for meat purchases similar to the one found in the grave; bloody floor mats and rugs in a car trunk; a 9-millimeter pistol, the same caliber as the gun used to kill one victim; a pair of bloody rubber boots; two pairs of men's undershorts, one with blood spots; bloodstains in Mr. Corona's van, and two knives.


The early evidence today consisted of testimony validating the accuracy of a map based on an aerial photograph of the orchards where the bodies were found. The map is 11 feet by 7 feet and shows an area of two and a half square miles. It is outfitted with lights that mark each of the burial sites."


A special thanks to Lisa Medina for her hard work and also to my friend Luis Castillo for helping me translate these documents!
Sources

Article  New York Times -
http://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/17/us/corona-s-brother-blamed-in-deaths.html

Document credit -
Lisa Medina
https://medinagenie.weebly.com/medina-genie-blog/category/corona