| “ | One drink, one bar of gold | „ |
| ~ Mr. DeCruz forces Mr. Farwell to give him gold bars in exchange for water. |
Mr. DeCruz is one of the protagonist villains of the The Twilight Zone episode "The Rip Van Winkle Caper", being a member of a four-man gang who steals gold bars and then puts themselves in suspended animation for a century so as to wake up in an era where no one remembers the robbery, and they will thusly be in the clear. He was portrayed by the the late Simon Oakland
History[]
DeCruz is introduced as a member of a quartet of criminals. He is said to be an expert in demolition and various forms of destruction. Under Mr. Farwell's leadership, he and the others use a specially made compound of gas of Farwell's design to knock out an entire train full of people, allowing the gang to steal the gold bars on the train that were bound for Fort Knox. However, this was just one part of Farwell's plan; in order to ensure that he and his accomplices will be free to spend their plunder without fear of reprisal, Farwell constructed four sleeping chambers for himself and his associates. The plan is that they will be kept in suspended animation for a hundred years, the idea being that by that time no one will remember the heist, and the gang will be in the clear. DeCruz objects to the plan, apprehensive about being asleep and helpless in a glass casket for so long, but he is overruled.
However, upon awaking after a century in the year 2061, the gang finds that one of their number, Erbie, was killed when a rock fell on his glass coffin, cracking it and releasing the gasses that kept him in suspended animation. As a result, Erbie perished and is now just a skeleton. Soon after, Mr. DeCruz kills gang member Brooks, leaving only Farwell and DeCruz without a truck. They must now traverse Death Valley on foot, with limited water. Sure enough, the older and heavier Farwell quickly becomes dehydrated, and DeCruz gleefully offers him his water...in exchange for bars of gold. At first reluctantly agreeing to this, as Farwell becomes weaker and weaker from the heat, he finally snaps in the face of DeCruz's demands for more gold and the sadistic pleasure the man takes in his suffering, and brutally kills him, leaving Farwell alone.
