Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-10-02
MURDER WILL OUT"
curiosities of Chinese Crimtnality A
Singular Murder Case.


Singular Murder Case.
The familiar maxim Murder will out"
like many others equally ancient, generally
finds an exception in case of murder among
the Chinese. It is pretty well understood by
those connected with the press and Courts of
California that unless Chinese murderer is
caught in the act, the chance of his convic-
ton upon the evidence Of his countrymen is
very remote. Instances have been known
in this city where cases of homicide have
been tried and adjusted by the informal
Courts of the Chinese, and the American
Courts were afterwards powerless to act, be-
cause of the impossibility to find the wit
nesses and obtain the testimony necessary to
convict. Again, the arrest of innocent men
has been caused by Chinese, and strenuous
effort made to convict, retaliation by one
company upon another for the misdeeds of an
individual. 1t seems to be the policy of the
Chinese to punish not particularly the offend
ing person, but any member of the company
of.which he is a member. A striking in
stance of such conspiracy occurred in Sac
ramento few years ago. A Chinese inter-
prefer called on business upon the then Dis
trict Attorney at his residence, and remained
there while that gentleman ate supper, and
both left the house in company. During the
time the interpreter was at the house Chi
naman was murdered on | street, and hearing
of it, the District Attorney and his COM
panion went together to the scene. Half an
hour later the interpreter was arrested upon
a warrant sworn out by some member of the
company to which the deceased had be-
mission of the murder. The case was
of course Immediately dismissed by
the District Attorney. The majority of
Chinese sham pro ecutions, however,
have their origin in schemes to obtain possess
sion of women, and a Chinaman who marries
under our laws without first purchasing his
wife, is quite apt to be arrested for some inn
aginary crime, and the woman is spirited
away while the Benedict is restrained in jail,
and afterwards-the object being accom-
plished-the prosecuting witnesses also disap-
pear, and the case is dismissed. AE inter-
esting case, defended upon the theory of q
desire by the managers of the prosecution to
steal woman, was examined before Justice
A. c. Ruggles, at Woodland, on Wednesday.
On March q, 1878, Chinese woman was
murdered in a house in Woodland. At the
Coroner's inquest, held on the next day,
Chinese woman testified that she had seen,
through a knot-hole, certain Chinaman
commit the murder, and other Chinese, who
claimed to have been in the house at the
time, related circumstances tending conclu-
sively to fasten the crime on the same party.
He was arrested and examined, when several
reputable white men swore positively that
the defendant was at Blacks Station at the
time when the murder was committed, and,
of course, he was discharged. The matter
rested until the 10th of September Of this year,
when Chinaman was arrested at San Fran
cisco, upon a complaint sworn to by one of
his countrymen, charging him with killing
the woman. This last man was examined on
Wednesday, the people being represented by
District Attorney Garoutte and F. E. Baker,
and the defendant by Charles T. Jones and
hand by. Winfield J. Davis of this city.
Two Cinnamon testified for the prose-
cution that on the night of the
murder they were in room on the
opposite side of the hall from that in
which the killing occurred that the doors
between the rooms were open that they saw
the prisoner enter the woman's room, and,
after playing with her awhile, he threw
handkerchief about her neck, and drew it up
tight and uplifted a hatchet; that at that
moment the defendant pushed the door to
with his foot; that they then heard the blows
of the hatchet, and the cries of the woman
that Lung Foo (the defendant) was killing
her; that the defendant called out that he
would kill anyone who would inform on him,
and for that reason they had concealed his
crime. Two other Cinnamon testified that
at San Francisco about two weeks ago the
defendant stated to them in an opium den
that he was about to leave for China,
and that he had committed this murder.
Several Woodland Cinnamon testified
that he had often been in that
place prior to the killing, and that he was
there upon the day when the crime occurred.
The defendant testified that he had never
been in Yolo county before the arrest that
he had on the 18th of September last married
woman on whom All Chick had claim,
and he produced the Justices marriage cer-
tifcate that All Chick was among those
who pointed him out to the arresting officer;
and that he believed his arrest had been pro-
cured to afford an opportunity to steal his
wife. Several Cinnamon swore that
the defendant was at San Francisco at
the time of the murder, and the Presi-
dent of defendants company testified that
the President of the company to which the
prosecutors belonged had offered to have the
case dismissed if the woman was surren-
dered. After patient hearing of the case
Judge Ruggles on Thursday afternoon held
| the defendant to answer, and remanded him
| to Jail without bail. It was case where all
| the Chinese witnesses on the one side or the
other committed perjury deliberately, and
where no conclusion could be arrived at
which would be entirely satisfactory. 1t is
now left in position where, if the defendant
| is guilty, he will be safely kept until the time
| of his trial; and if he is innocent he will
probably be able to establish it conclusively,
as he knows precisely what the testimony Of
| his prosecutors will be.