Reader Submission: The Hanged Man

In 1882, a transient named Charles Owen reportedly broke into a Tampa home and attempted to rape a young woman inside. Authorities arrested Charles, but he never got a trial. Instead, an outraged mob broke into the jail and hanged Charles soon after his arrest. Now, the hanged man reportedly haunts Tampa’s historic Oaklawn Cemetery. Here’s a story I received from a reader who’s sure she encountered Charles’s spirit.

“I was waiting for a bus in front of Oaklawn Cemetery about eight years ago. It was overcast from rain, and as my bus was more than an hour out, I decided to walk the cemetery.

As I passed a grave, I saw the name Owen and saw that the stone said Hanged. Shocked and amazed, I continued walking to the far side of the cemetery. I was startled when Charles Owens walked past me. He was wearing a silky blue shirt with kind of ballooned sleeves and a pair of tan pants. He had shoulder-length, dirty-blonde hair. I can still remember how handsome he was.

I was not afraid and softy uttered the words: ‘I saw you’ at which time he appeared next to his grave. There is NO doubt he saw me as I saw him. We stood and stared at one another until I looked away, distracted by a nearby light. When I looked back, he was gone.

I haven’t returned to Oaklawn, but I feel that Charles spoke to me of his innocence. I was later able to track him from a boat in England that brought him to the U.S.

I swear on my life that this is a true incident. I am going to be 64 in January and have never been known as one to lie.”

Legend has it Charles has long haunted his gravesite. Author Deborah Frethem shares more details about Charles’ life and death in her 2013 book, Haunted Tampa: Spirits of the Bay.

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