No One Really Wants Arthur Rochford Manby's Murder Solved.

Arthur Rochford Manby

He was an imperialist who dressed in expensive clothing. He thought of the wilderness as an empire that he believed he was destined to rule. Manby had a brilliant mind, refined taste, and an appreciation of the visual beauty of the Taos Valley. He also was devious, calculating, greedy, manipulating, persistent, and a murderer. In short, he was a loner, and had few if any friends.

He was born July 14th , 1859 to Emily Norton and the Reverend Edward Francis Manby in the village of Poulton-le-Sands, in Lancashire, England. Arthur was the eighth of nine siblings. He went to Belfast for schooling, where he studied architecture and mineralogy. Arthur was also a talented watercolorist

A ambitious 24-year-old Arthur migrated from England to the United States in 1883 via boat. He then took a train to Raton New Mexico, where began ranching and mining with his two brothers, Jocelyn and Alfred. They built their ranch at Castle Rock, later to be determined that it was on the Maxwell Land Grant. He established several land companies, including the Taos Land Company and the Colonial Bond and Security Company, both in New Mexico. He did this by conning, stealing, lying, begging, and bribing both Native Americans and Spanish families.

Manby’s goal was to acquire the vast Antonio Martinez Land Grant (61,605.48 acres) near Taos. He obtained the Antonio Martinez land grant in 1913. This included the hot springs on the Rio Grande, today named Manby Hot Springs. It was his plan to build a grand hotel and gardens at the hot springs. However, Manby used investors’ money to improve his personal estate rather than to make improvements to land grant properties. 

Within 3 years, the Land Grant was sold at public auction as a result of Manby’s accumulation of debt. He retained the 23 acres of land that included his hacienda and surrounding gardens.

Manby tried to entice multi-millionaire Dr. Victor C. Thorne of New York, to pay accumulating debts. He also formed the “United States Civil Secret Service Society”, the purpose of which was to fleece its members of large sums of money. 

In December of 1919, Mable Dodge Stern and her husband Maurice Stern appeared at Manby’s front door and asked to rent his home, to which he agreed. A friendship of sorts developed between Mabel and Manby. However, Mabel became wary of Manby and moved out.

In 1929, a US Deputy from Santa Fe tried to serve legal papers related to a lawsuit to Manby. When no one answered, the Deputy went to the courthouse in Taos Plaza and asked the Taos Deputy Sheriff, his brother, if anyone had seen Manby. The Taos Deputy Sheriff was told that Manby was likely dead because of flies swarming on his screen door. The end result was that these two law officers plus others who appeared at Manby’s residence found his body in one of the front rooms of the house, and his head in the adjoining room along with his German police dog. It was rapidly concluded that Manby died of natural causes, with the assumption that the dog had chewed off Manby’s head.

Some people, including his family, weren't sure it was truly Manby's body. So, in late August of 1929, his body was exhumed. Manby’s dentist, a blacksmith, a detective sent by the Federal government, and Doc Martin concluded that the body was indeed that of Manby, identifying his dentures and jewelry,  that he had been shot numerous times in the chest and face, and that his head had been severed from his body with a sharp object. 

A set of presumably Manby’s dentures were found at Manby’s bedside by a private detective hired by the Attorney General of New Mexico ~ July 9th, 1929, and the dentist who identified Manby’s body by his dentures in August later recanted his story. Doc Martin destroyed his autopsy results because the state never paid him. And, there were reports that Manby was seen both in Mexico and Italy after his “death”.

Nobody in the community wanted the murder solved, believing that the death of Manby was itself the ultimate justice. And in 1930 the case was dropped.