The House of Capitulation is a building with colonial characteristics of the mid-eighteenth century located in front of the Bolivar Square in Maracaibo city, Zulia State - Venezuela. There are no records of the exact date of construction or the name of the original owner, but we do kwon that for many years the house was the official residence of the colonial governors of Maracaibo, although for two years it was occupied by the Spanish Captain Francisco Tomás Morales, who took it militarily between 1822 and 1823.

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Its historical value is given because in its main hall, on August 3, 1823, the treaty of Capitulation of Captain Morales was signed after the Spanish forces were defeated on July 24 of the same year in the naval battle at Maracaibo Lake.

This document ended the War of Independence in our country, reason why in 1965 the National Protective and Conservative Board of the National Historical and Artistic Heritage declared it a National Historic Monument. It is currently the headquarters of the Academy of the History of Zulia and the Bolivarian Society.

In it rests a copy of the original treaty of the Capitulation and presents a permanent graphic exhibition of the Naval Battle. Despite this, the house is better known for the legend of the ghost of Josefa Caballero than for its legitimate national value.

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The crime

Jorge Valbuena was the superior judge of the supreme court of Zulia State and the owner of the house of capitulation at that time. The building was his family residence, including his grandson who had Down syndrome.

Since the child required a lot of care, they hired the Colombian Josefa Caballero to attend him, but due to complications in his illness, the little one died at the age of three.

However, Josefa continued to be linked to the family as a housekeeper until September 27, 1891, when she was found in an open field, raped with 7 stab wounds on her genitals.

Some people saw her and took her to the village hospital. That same afternoon, Josefa confessed to the priest José Parra the information of who had tried to kill her, but the next day the priest died strangely as well as Josefa.

Later that day, the detective in charge of the case raided all the nearby houses and got the signs of the crime in the house of capitulation. She was murdered in the back of the house and transported in a family carriage late at night. The police officers of the town saw the carriage leave and they thought it was something unusual, but they did not do anything because it belonged to a judge, a person with a lot of authority.

According to popular legend, Josefa was a very beautiful woman and was romantically involved with the Judge Valbuena's son-in-law. Presumably, this led to a crime of passion and the suspicion of the investigators pointed to the family that was occupying the house at the time.

The crime went unpunished since Valbuena used his influences to hinder the investigation and after this all the people who spoke with the victim died, disappearing their death certificates and all the evidences linked to the case.

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The Ghost

Many witnesses say that after her sanguinary murder, Josefa Caballero is still there, wandering in the rooms of the house of capitulation, manifesting herself through the silhouette of a beautiful brunette woman, with a tight green dress and black straight hair up to her waist.

The workers say that for many years a bloody hand has appeared on one of the walls, which they paint to cover but it reappear. They also claim to have seen the spectrum several times.

Those who walk around the area at night claim to hear falling objects and horrible screams, but we only known that the room where everything happened was closed so that no one could return to live there.

Historians remember the house of capitulation in Maracaibo, as a place that marks the independence of Venezuela, but is also visited by many tourists who hope to verify the alleged presence of "La Caballero".

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Would you dare to visit the house of capitulation?

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My uncle told me most of this story because he is part of the historians who work in the house of capitulation and I use these internet sites as references to complement the information:
1, 2, 3, 4

If you are a lover of mystery stories, I invite you to read the previous chapter of UNSOLVED MYSTERIES:

• UNSOLVED MYSTERIES: DANCED TO DEATH

• UNSOLVED MYSTERIES: LUXOR MANSION “MARACAIBO'S HAUNTED HOUSE”