USA > California > Contra Costa County > History of Contra Costa County, California, including its geography, geology, topography, climatography and description; together with a record of the Mexican grants also, incidents of pioneer life; and biographical sketches of early and prominent settlers and representative men > Part 40
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searched after the life of the woman had been taken. On Friday, the 28th, a mixed-blood Mexican and Indian, called Manuel Jaurez, was arrested un- der circumstances which tended strongly to identify him with the murder, several articles which belonged to Mrs. Robinson having been found in his house in Martinez. He was duly incarcerated, and, after a trial lasting an entire week, was found guilty of murder, the testimony against him being entirely circumstantial, but most conelusive. On May 10, 1867, he was senteneed to be hanged on June 28th, on which day he was executed at the jail in Martinez. Before the carrying out of the sentenee, in response to the notice that he was at liberty to say anything he might desire to com- municate before execution, in substanee he remarked : " In a few minutes I shall be in the presence of my God, and I now deelare that I am innocent of the crime for which I am condemned to die; and what I have previously confessed, I did in the hope of eseaping punishment."
KILLING OF SACRAMENTO LEIBAS .- On the evening of Monday, January 7, 1867, Sacramento Leibas was shot and fatally wounded by Antonio Figueroa, in the Pastor House, a saloon and boarding-house in Pacheco, and principally patronized by native Californians. A difficulty had existed between the parties for some time, and several weeks before, deceased com- plained of Figueroa for threats against his life, but the evidence submitted to Justice of the Peace Sayles, before whom the ease was brought, did not warrant the plaeing him under bonds. On the evening of the killing three men came into the saloon together: Bonifacio Pacheco, Espirito Almosan and Antonio Figueroa, all somewhat under the influence of liquor. Figueroa commenced to abuse Leibas, who replied, " It's all right, I don't want any words." He then directed his conversation to Antonio Leibas, brother of the deceased, in the same strain, and finally the remainder of those present came in for a share of his vituperation. After a while he went out, but soon returned followed by Pacheco, who was apparently endeavoring to hold his arm. Figueroa raised a pistol, pointed it at Sacramento Leibas, who was standing behind the counter, and fired, the ball taking effect near the heart of the unfortunate man, who died in about an hour and a half. Not- withstanding being pursued, Figueroa escaped. Pacheco and Almosan were arrested as accessories, and after examination were discharged for want of evidence ; they were subsequently re-arrested and lodged in jail in Martinez. Figueroa was traeed to a point on the San Joaquin, near Firebaugh's Ferry, where it is supposed he obtained a erossing in a boat kept there by a party of Sonoranians. The accessories were found "Not Guilty," May 18th, and discharged.
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KILLING OF PETER LYNCH .- It appears from the records that for some time previous to the committing of this deed, a Portuguese named Antonio Corquillo, had been in the employ of Peter Lynch, who resided on San Pablo
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creek. On a certain Saturday evening in the month of March, 1867, a bottle of liquor was taken to the cabin where both the men lived, and both becom- ing intoxicated a quarrel ensued. The Portuguese finally went to his bed, but was soon after assailed by Lynch. A struggle ensued, and in self-defense Corquillo seized a monkey-wrench from a tool-chest near by and dealt to Lynch a fatal blow. He made a full confession, surrendered himself to the authorities, and on May 11, 1867, was tried and acquitted.
KILLING OF ENOCH J. DAVIS .- One of the proprietors of the Cumberland House, at the Black Diamond coal mines, named Enoch J. Davis, died March 1, 1867, from the effects of a knife-wound inflicted by William Bowen, some ten days prior to the decease. From the testimony given at the inquest it appears that Bowen and another party got into a quarrel over a game of cards and were ordered by Davis to go out of the house to settle their difficulty ; they accordingly went out and after a fist scuffle, returned, still disputing, when Davis again ordered them away to fight the matter out, at the same time applying some derogatory epithets to Bowen, upon which he ran to his room and returned with a knife, asking Davis if he called him a "son of -- ," and upon the reply of Davis that he did, plunged the knife into his breast ; then going back to the room, in which there were several other lodgers, threw the bloody weapon on the table and declared he would take the life of any man who called him such a name. The wound of Davis was not thought at first to be mortal, and Bowen remained at the place until within a few days of the decease, when he left.
KILLING OF WILLIAM NESBIT .- The circumstances of this case are these, as gleaned from the dying deposition of the victim. The murder was com- mitted near Somersville on the night of December 21, 1866. On that night a difficulty having originally occurred between Nesbit and George Vernon, he (Nesbit) went to the house of Vernon for the purpose of settling the difficulty without further trouble and called at the door of Vernon's house and told him that he wished to talk with him peaceably and settle their difficulty without further words. Vernon told him all right, wait until I get my boots and I will come and talk with you. Vernon went into the house and returned instantly with a pistol, and whilst Nesbit was sitting on the porch of Vernon's house, he fired at him, the ball striking him in the breast, and as he jumped to run he again shot him in the back. He also fired other shots which did not strike him. On April 24, 1867, Vernon was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to ten years imprisonment in the State Prison. In 1871 he was pardoned, the grounds given by Governor Haight for so doing being: "There are serious doubts of his guilt, and it is the opinion of many of the citizens of said (Contra Costa) county that he should not have been convicted, and these doubts seem to be well founded."
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KILLING OF S. A. CARPENTER,-On September 30, 1868, S. A. Carpenter, an old and well-known resident of Alamo, was found dead in a trail leading over a ridge to his residence, about two hundred yards from which the body was discovered. His horse, all saddled, had been previously found roaming about, the circumstance which led to the search. The deceased was in his shirt-sleeves, as if only a temporary absence was intended. He had been shot through the body, the ball entering the right side just below and be- hind the arm, and coming out of the right side a short distance below the nipple. There was no apparent deflection in its course, and passing about an inch below the heart, produced death almost instantaneously. From its evident force, the ball was thought to have been discharged from a rifle or heavy revolver. His pantaloons were also cut in the folds on the left side, apparently by a ball that passed clear of the body. Mr. Carpenter is de- scribed as a man of very eccentric disposition. He was unmarried, and lived alone in a little spot that he had surrounded with a wealth of floral beauty. Shrubs of various kinds were artistically trained in the most at- tractive style, and flowers of countless hues unfolded in beauty and mingled their fragrance around his humble dwelling. His house was a model of neatness and order, that would have won encomiums from the most thrifty housewife, and the general aspect of the place gave evidence of the æsthetic traits of its possessor. Some time before, Mr. Carpenter gave unmistakable proof of insanity, and was for a time removed to Stockton ; since his return he had not been generally regarded as of sound mind. He was very irrita- ble, and disposed to be quarrelsome towards his neighbors and all others with whom he came in contact. He had made threats to poison stock, and in many ways made enemies. Possibly some one unaware of, or unwilling to allow for his infirmity, may have compassed his death in revenge for injuries received at his hands. Be that as it may-the murderer made his escape.
KILLING OF MRS. LAURA WALKER .- A man named Walker, who lived on the farm of Mr. Sellers, near the Kirker Pass, on the Nortonville side, was arrested on Sunday, September 5, 1869, for causing the death of his wife by beating her. Both the accused and deceased are reported to have been indulging excessively in drink on the previous evening, at the house of a neighbor, and the beating occurred on the way home. On November 30, 1870, Walker was convicted of manslaughter, when a motion was made for a new trial, which was denied, and the prisoner sentenced to ten years im- prisonment in the State Prison.
KILLING OF JOSE VACA .- In an affray at the village of Concord on Monday, May 2, 1869, a Californian Indian named José Vaca was killed by another called Fernando Feliz. The deceased had been well known in the vicinity for a long time as a drunken, brawling, besotted fellow, the other being also well known as a quiet inoffensive person, past the meridian of life
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and afflicted from an early age with an infirmity that made him a cripple. It appears that the deceased, who had been drinking to inebriation, ap- proached the hut of Feliz with a bottle and wanted him to drink, an invi- tation he declined, saying ; that "much whisky is no good;" but told the other he would make a fire and give him something to eat. While making the fire José seized hold of him, saying: " Now, I have got you where I want you, and mean to kill you," thereupon striking him a heavy blow with the bottle and breaking it-Fernando struggling to defend himself, José in the meanwhile slashing and punching his face with the fragments of the bottle still held in his hand by the neck. In the scuffle that ensued they got outside of the shanty, where Fernando found an opportunity to seize a large knife with which he gave his antagonist two or three lunges, one of which, as was found on the post mortem examination, passed entirely through the heart, severed the fourth rib, and killed him instantly. A judg- ment of justifiable homicide was returned.
KILLING OF GEORGE MINCHELL .- George Minchell, who, with his family, had been living in Ygnacio Valley, about two miles from Pacheco, and farm- ing on the land of Charles S. Lohse, was shot at his own door on the morn- ing of Thursday, September 8, 1870, by a man named William Donovan, who had been in his employ, and who claimed an unpaid balance of wages ; while, it is asserted on the other hand that he had been overpaid eight dol- lars. It is said that Donovan visited the house of deceased on the pre- vious evening, demanding payment of the claimed dues in abusive and threatening language. Thursday morning he returned at day-light, and as the deceased was lighting the fire, entered the house, using threats and abusive language. Minchell directed him to leave the house, and followed him out. A moment afterwards the discharge of a pistol was heard and Minchell re-entered the door saying to his wife : " Mary, I am shot !" " You are not going to die, George, are you ?" " Yes, Mary !" And he imme- diately dropped dead upon the floor. Donovan was arrested, and when the Sheriff approached him with the manacles he exclaimed, fully realizing his situation, " Oh God, this is what drink has brought me!" He was duly tried, and December 8th sentenced to be hanged on February 3, 1871. Judgment was stayed, and on April 15th William Donovan was granted a new trial on the ground that a continuance asked for the defendant on the former trial was improperly denied. The continuance was demanded for the procuring of witnesses to prove that the prisoner had been an inmate of an Insane Asylum, and it was denied on the admission of the prosecu- tion that the fact alleged would be proved by the required witnesses if they were present. The Supreme Court decided that this admission was not sufficient, and that the defendant was entitled to an opportunity of proving the fact. The case was moved to the San Francisco courts, and on December
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12, 1871, Donovan was convicted of murder in the first degree. After- wards, in February, 1872, a motion for a new trial was sent on appeal to the Supreme Court, who issued a writ to stay execution of sentence until the " pending motion is heard and decided," and on June 27th directed that an order be entered affirming the judgment of the Court below, and direct- ing the lower Court to fix a day to carry the sentence into execution-he was, therefore, sentenced to be hanged on Friday, December 13th. In the meantime a petition to pardon the murderer had been sent to the Governor of the State who declined to interfere, but ultimately execution was stayed by Governor Booth, who was moved thereto by an immense petition for a commutation of sentence.
KILLING OF HERMAN HEYDER .- From November 18 to 25, 1870, the Fifteenth District Court was occupied with the trial of Matthew Caspar, indicted for the murder of Herman Heyder, by poison, put into the food served to him by the accused, when the deceased was a visitor at his house, some ten or twelve miles southeast of Antioch. The general facts and fea- tures of the case may be briefly summarized as follows: On the sixth or seventh of September, 1870, Heyder and Caspar were brought into Antioch, at one or two o'clock in the morning, Heyder lying in the bottom of the wagon and Caspar sitting upon the seat beside the driver; both were represented to Dr. Howard to be suffering from the effects of strychnine taken with the food they had eaten for supper at the house of Caspar, some five or six hours before. Heyder died soon after reaching Antioch. Cas- par recovered, and from the medical testimony, and other facts subsequently developed or considered, it appeared doubtful if he had exhibited any symptoms of having been poisoned at all. A jury was summoned to make an inquest in the case, and after a very patient, tnorough and protracted investigation, Caspar was held, on their finding, to answer before the Grand Jury on a charge of poisoning Heyder. The finding of this jury, and, pre- sumably, of the Grand Jury, was based wholly upon strong circumstantial evidence of the guilt of the accused. It was, in the first place, almost in- conceivable that so atrocious and diabolical a crime could have been com- mitted without some motive of envy or cupidity ; and the most diligent inquiry failed to develop a fact or suggestion whichi warranted suspicion that any one had been prompted by such motives to enter Caspar's house in his absence and mingle strychnine with the various condiments and arti- cles of food, which would be eaten by him on his return, for the purpose of killing him. Large quantities of strychnine were found in the sugar- bowl, pepper-box, the salt upon the table, the syrup, the butter and in the batter-pan, and the flap-jack cakes, cooked and caten, at least by Heyder, for supper-for he was unquestionably poisoned, exhibited all the most painful symptons, and died within a few hours after the fatal meal. Strych-
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nine was found in his stomach, on chemical analysis of the contents, and in the undigested portions of the cake he had eaten. The question then arose with the jury of Inquest: Had Caspar any motive which would possibly have prompted him to such an attempt to destroy the life of his visitor and guest ? It was shown that Caspar and Heyder had been acquainted for some time ; had worked together in herding sheep, that Heyder had money, and that Caspar had been trying for some time to borrow several hundred dollars from him. His statements in relation to the preparation of the sup- per when Heyder came with him to the house after having been with him when he had been at work during the afternoon, and many other circum- stances developed in the investigation, produced a conviction of Caspar's guilt in the minds of the Jury of Inquest; and the testimony before the Grand Jury doubtless produced the same conviction there, to warrant his indictment for the murder. With the strong circumstantial evidence of guilt which had warranted the findings of the two juries, the prosecution on the trial brought in the testimony of two prisoners confined in the jail, to prove an admission, on the part of Caspar, to them in prison, that he did the poisoning. "This was the only testimony purporting to be of a positive character, against the prisoner; and it probably had not the weight with the jury that the testimony of persons unaccused of crime would have had, though these prisoners had no apparent motive for testifying falsely against the life of another; it is therefore not surprising that, under their solemn responsibilities, with no alternative but condemnation to death or acquittal, the jury should have failed to find a verdict according with the general conviction of the prisoner's guilt.
KILLING OF JAMES FERGUSSON .- A stranger named James Fergusson, on his way from Gilroy, where he had been employed in the redwoods, to his home at Windsor, Sonoma county, arrived at Martinez too late to cross the ferry on the evening of Sunday, June 4, 1871, and met a violent death between midnight and Monday morning, under circumstances of a pecu- liarly painful nature. The deceased was accompanied by three sons, aged respectively eighteen, thirteen and ten years, and being obliged to remain over night at Martinez put up their horses in the stable of the Alhambra Hotel, where he and his two younger lads at a later hour made camp beds, the eldest boy at a still later hour going to his bed in their wagon, which stood in the stable yard. During the evening Fergusson had been drinking pretty freely, and obtained from George Gordon Moore, Senior, a sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, which deceased had given him to take charge of. This money was not found on his body. At about 8 o'clock P. M. he went to the saloon of Francisco Saurez, and there remained until one o'clock on Monday morning, leaving at the same time as did Alexander Naghel, William Higgins and K. W. Taylor. The first of these, whose testi- mony is the most important relative to material facts, stated at the inquest
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that while there, Taylor playing on a guitar and Saurez on an accordeon, deceased jumped up and began talking about soldiering, saying that he had had command of fifteen hundred men. Not much attention was paid to what he said, and after a little they all drank together. The deceased then began showing the sword and fist exercises with his cane and fists, most of them joining in the play. Deceased then asked Taylor to take the stick (for attack) and he would defend himself with his fists. After one or two passes Fergusson said to Taylor: "There ! I could have hit you, so and so." Taylor replied : "I could have knocked the knuckles off you," etc. After a general "skylarking," Taylor handed the stick back to deceased, who in flourishing it dropped it on the floor, then giving it a kick that sent it over the screen. Saurez picked the stick up and told the deceased he would keep it until he went away. After this Taylor and Saurez played the guitar and accordeon, and deceased wanted them to play " Dixie," and they complied, playing and singing, Fergusson joining in the chorus. Negro and Irish songs were then sung. Then Higgins asked for a Union song. The deceased said : " Anyone that will sing a Union song is a d-d son of No reply was made to this remark by any one. Taylor sang one or two more songs, and then sang a Union patriotic song. After more singing, Saurez said : "Let us all go to bed." Taylor said: "Let us all take a drink." All drank except the deceased, who got up and said he " had a boy twelve years old in his wagon over there, and he had made that boy fetch his man." Taylor said there was no use in talking about that now, the war was over. Deceased then began talking about one Southerner being equal to five Yankees. Taylor and Saurez were at this time looking over the accounts of the latter, and while thus employed, and while the deceased was bragging about being able to whip five Yankees, Higgins, who was sitting on the billiard table, came forward and proposed that all should go home. Taylor said: " We will all go home if Saurez will treat." Saurez treated, and all drank, including deceased. Taylor, Higgins and Naghel then went out of the saloon and started towards the bridge. The deceased started at the same time, but turned back to enter the saloon, when Saurez ejected him, telling him to go home and go to bed, as he wanted to shut up. Naghel further stated that he left Taylor in order to go down the street; that the deceased walked up against Taylor, who then turned aside and tried to avoid him. Naghel then walked back to where they were. Deceased again walked up against Taylor, who said : "Go away from me; I don't know who you are, and don't want you to follow me. Go about your business." At this time Taylor gave him a shove and he fell backward. After he got up Naghel told him he had better go away, but he would not, and persistently thrust his society upon them. Naghel then asked him where his wagon was ? He pointed in the direction where it stood, and he was told to go to it. He started in the direction, Taylor,
Theo Wagner
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Higgins and Naghel walking after him towards the residence of the first- named, deceased walking on the sidewalk and they in the middle of the street. When deceased reached Wittenmyer's corner he halted and turned back, still walking on the sidewalk, and went around the corner towards Sturges' Hotel. The three then remained talking for a short time in the middle of the street, and opposite the thoroughfare leading to Bent's ware- house. While standing there, Fergusson came back from the direction of the Alhambra Hotel, and approached in the middle of the street within about fifteen steps, when he dropped on one knee with a gun pointed in the direction in which they stood. Naghel remarked to his companions, “ He has a gun ; look out !" They all thereupon concealed themselves in sepa- rate places of safety, and the deceased got up to follow. Naghel ran again in the direction of Bent's warehouse, but did not notice where the other two went. He saw, however, deceased drop on one knee as before, and saw the flash of a gun. About a couple of seconds after, he heard Taylor call : " Brown !" Naghel then went back to Brown's porch. He (Sheriff Warren Brown) brought out a carbine and gave it to Taylor, cautioning him to be " very careful, for it would go off easy," and "not to shoot if he could help it," or words to that effect. In the meantime Naghel was dispatched for Mr. Gift to arrest the man. Taylor then took up his position by the rail- ing near the end of the bridge. He now saw deceased approaching, holding his gun as if ready to fire, and searching about him for some one. Seeing Higgins, he pointed the weapon towards him. At this moment, Taylor stepped to the end of the bridge and ordered him to hold up his gun. He immediately wheeled round and pointed it at Taylor, when he (Taylor) fired and killed him. Taylor then handed himself over to the Sheriff, who had now come up. The jury found a verdict that deceased was killed by K. W. Taylor, the shot being in self-defense.
KILLING OF SILVERIO MONJAS .- Of this affair the Contra Costa Ga- zette of July 8, 1871, has the following : " During the past week or more, the people of the central portion of the county have been intensely excited by occurrences growing out of the disputed ownership and possession of a cer- tain portion of the Moraga grant, about which there has been much litiga- tion and contention for several years. The land in question is elaimed on one side by Isaac Yoakum, and on the other by members of the Moraga family. Some two months or more ago the Sheriff, by writ of the District Court, was directed to put Yoakum in possession of the lands then occupied by a portion of the Moraga family, but he had, as is claimed, no authority in executing the writ, to remove and dispossess such of the Moraga children as were not named in the instrument, and he refused to do so. Yoakum, or his agent, as is said, refusing at the time to accept possession unless all the Moragas and their personal effects were removed. Yoakum subsequently,
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however, went into occupancy of the portion of the premises to which the writ entitled him; and the Moragas remained in possession as the Sheriff had left them, of a portion of the land claimed by Yoakum, and to which, as we understand, he would have been entitled under the judgment of the Court, but for an error of omission in the complaint in action, upon which the judgment was rendered in his favor. From this situation of affairs, both parties claiming and believing they had legal and equitable rights which they were justified in asserting and defending, much heat and bitterness of feeling has arisen, and several serious collisions have occurred to the immi- nent peril of life on both sides. Some time early in May several rifle shots were fired at one of the Moragas, and the horse he was riding was killed hy a man in the employ of Yoakum, named William Steele, who was at that time, together with one of the Yoakum boys, under one thousand dollar bonds to answer before the Grand Jury of the county.
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