Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-01-11
TIE BLOODY MYsTERy.
A Graphic Scene in Room ofDeath.-
Who is the Murderer Of Francisco
Ybsrra s-why is not the Slayer
Arrests6s
lwrltssn tor the HzsALp.I

Arrosteef
written for the HskALp.l
There is horrible, sickening fascina-
tion which draws ones gaze upon o
corpse that Il not to be defined and
which can rarely be resisted. This fear
| ful feeling Is intensified when the dead
man before you has been untiInely called
10 face his Maker. sent there by the
bloody hand q . fellow creature. Have
you evsr been present At post.morten,
examination Of the body Of murdered
mani It.is breathlessly impressive .
scene. will never forget an autopsy
which witnessed month pgo. 1t was
that Of Francisco Ybarra, Who was muir
dsrsd on Upper Main street. On the fifth
day Of last December, at 2 o'clock in the
morning. Ybarra had been shot through
the left eye near the nose. no one knew
by whom, and was found lying dead in
The street an hour later. A coroner's
jury was summoned, and the inquest
had already commenced when the writer
enterod the room IN which the corpse
lay. How many horrible fancies went
trooping through my brain as bent
over the victim who was lying stretched
out there, cold and stiff in death, sur
rounded by all the s'trappings and the
suits Of woe which bic humble p p,sition
warranted /! Did he see the hasll Of the
powder Did be hear tho pistols report
ere the fatal ball went crashing through
his eye and skull and brains Did he
feel any pain. / wondered, when he was
falling. dying. to the ground : Were his
last thoughts defiant in that awful nc.
mtnt, when, on the border Of eternity Ill
the details Of his life went hurrying past
his dying sight. =. they say. happons
In that supreme instanti These, and
many otherr. were the morbid fsncies
which came into my mind as l looked
upon the dead Ybarra. whose ending
was wrapped in such i,npenetrable mys-
terry. But the formal Investigation into
the cause Of his death was going on.
The details Of tho finding Of the body
had been recited. and the time had no Y
come to complete the ceremony by find.
ing the course Of the deadly missiye.
and the bullet itself. il possible. The
physician appointed to do this work
then began his repplsivs lsbora, With
deft, quick strokes the knife maize its |
red circuit Of the dad mans head, |
around tho centre 81 the forehead, paas- |
Ing over tho skull. A few easy pulls
barred the bone Of the skull IN gaping |
wound, from which the thick and life-
less blood oozed out In slow, uncertain
stream. With the first incision Of the
surgeons knife . horribly offensive odor
the room, making many of
those present turn away sickened. Then
commenced the saving in two Of the
dead mans skull. Each time ths rasp-
ing noise Of thes surgeons saw sent its
nervous sound through the crowd.
could rec the quickened shiver which
shook each frame, and. from the smsll
room adjoining. could hear the DESC
late vail Of women sobbing out their
grief to the blood-curdling refrain Of the
saw's teeth against the bone. For sf-
teen minutes, at least. this hideous car
niyal Of death filled our ears. At last
the head was sawed in two and to our
was held up the fatal lead
loupd imbelded iu the victims brain.
II only that lead could speak, how many
Ealss IL might tell | The eoroner's jury
.tood there and saw all this. and more.
and, in conclusion Of its labors.
gave in . verdict that Francisco
Ybarra came to his death from
] gunshot wound from a pistol in the
hands Of parties then in custody. ! do
not blame the jury; their verdict was
warranted BY the evidence adduced.
But tho rest is yet to be told. Two
Msxicans were srrsstsd an suspicion.
They were examined before City Justice
Adams and discharged, Il being shown
that they could not have been the per.
petrators Of the terrible crime. Where
then Is tho murdsrers Whose is the
hand which is STEPPED in
the blood Of fellow man. A woman
has been the recipient Of the murdsrsr's
in which he claims that he
acted IN self defonse. Why y he not. at
least, arrestedi Il crime. then. so soon
forgotten, that red. handed murder can
90 unchallenyeds II there il ary ele.
ment Of self defense in this killing, let u
be judicially shown. Justice cries out |
for action. Let all the machinery Of
the law Re brought to bear upon the
out Of this mystery, which.
as yet, is shroudsd in suoh fearful dark
ness. Time il ripe for the supprossing
Of these bloody crimes which have for
20 long stained the history Of our
county. Where is the slayer Of Fran
cisco YbAr7as O..
tss t