Joaquín Murrieta, Murrieta also spelled Murieta (baptized 1830, Alamos, Sonora, Mexico?—died 1853, California, U.S.?), legendary bandit who became a hero of the Mexican-Americans in California. Facts of his life are few and elusive, and much of what is widely known about him is derived from evolving and enduring myth. A Joaquín Murrieta was recorded as baptized in Sonora, Mexico, in 1830; while still a teenager, he married and migrated with his wife to California (1848).