Chapter 3: The Liquid Matthew Case

 Chapter 3: The Liquid Matthew Case 

Some of you reading this may have been to a dinner party theater production, which have become popular over the last several years. If you have not been to one of these productions, the concept is interesting: as the diners enjoy a meal, a play takes place that usually involves some type of murder mystery. The audience/diners are often encouraged to get involved by offering their clues and/or theories concerning the crime. In the end, the caper is solved, the cast takes a bow, and everyone goes home full and satisfied with an interesting night out. Several of you have also probably taken part in a scavenger hunt at some point in your lives. Some of the most elaborate scavenger hunts take place over several miles of territory and sometimes, like dinner party theater, involve a fictional crime that has 

taken place. In order to solve the fictional crime you have to locate a clue, which then leads you to the next clue in another part of town and so on and so forth. The clues are often written as cryptic poems that, to those not involved in the game, would seem very bizarre and creepy. For those of you who have been a part of a dinner party theater or a crime based scavenger hunt, you probably have fond memories of the event. But what if your scavenger hunt somehow miraculously became part of a real murder investigation? That is exactly what happened in suburban Miami on December 6, 1983. The case became known as the “Liquid Matthew Case” because of cryptic writings that were found at the scene of an apparent homicide. A Body and Cryptic Clues On the morning of December 6, 1983, residents of the quiet Miami suburb of Hialeah, Florida awoke to the grim display of what appeared to be a corpse on the side of a road. Local police were quickly called to scene and after searching the body, determined that the male had fallen victim to murder. The body showed signs of strangulation, but little more than that could be determined. The victim had no identification on him, and area

 residents did not know who the man was. At first, the police could only say that the man was a Hispanic John Doe. Homicide detectives cordoned off the area and began their search for the usual forensic evidence—a murder weapon, footprints, or even a blood trail. But the evidence they found proved to be truly unsettling, even for veteran detectives. Taped to a nearby sign, investigators noticed a bag, and within that bag was a handwritten note that said, “Now the motive is clear and the victim is too. You’ve got all the answers. Just follow the clues.” At first, the investigators believed the note was some type of prank. What else would explain the cryptic note being found at the scene? After all, only in Batman movies do criminals leave riddles at the scene for law enforcement to solve. In fact, some police officers on the scene thought that it may be the work of some sort of scavenger hunt, although that would not explain the dead body laying just feet away. But when they found another note taped to the back of a nearby speed limit sign, they began to fear a psychotic killer was on the loose in suburban 

Miami. “Yes, Matthew is dead, but his body not felt. Those brains were not Matt’s because his body did melt. For Billy threw Matthew in some hot boiling oil. To confuse the police for the mystery they did toil,” read the contents of the second note. The police were confused and confounded with the cryptic message. What did it mean? Was Matthew the name of the Hispanic John Doe? Was a man named Billy his killer? As the authorities struggled to find answers in the bizarre murder mystery, which became known as the “Liquid Matthew Case,” the public became extremely frightened when the details emerged. The residents of sleepy Hialeah were just as confused as the police and afraid that a thrill killer or serial killer was operating on their streets. Residents of the community began to barricade their homes and arm themselves for a potential showdown with a serial killer, and the local 

police began working overtime to solve the enigmatic crime. But the investigation soon turned up a benign explanation for the notes. The Explanation As the police investigation into the Liquid Matthew Case progressed and its details were made public, it was learned that the notes were actually part of a Halloween murder mystery game/scavenger hunt sponsored by four area churches. It turns out that the notes and the game fell victim to the rainy south Florida climate. After the game was completed, organizers failed to pick up all of the notes because heavy rains that swamped the Miami area. As for the victim? Police eventually identified “Liquid Matthew” as a Columbian sailor named Francisco Patino Gutierrez. It is believed that Gutierrez was probably killed in one of the many drug smuggling schemes that were prevalent in Miami during the 1980s, but the details remain unknown. With that said, local authorities can say unequivocally that Gutierrez’s murder and the cryptic scavenger hunt notes were not connected in any way. He was not boiled to death and whatever his killer, or killers, name was, it was clear that the person had no intention of even remotely

identifying himself. The Liquid Matthew Case was just one big bizarre coincidence.