Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-08-31
THE INQUEST.
The Coroner's Jury Unable to
Decide the Question.
THE VERDICT AS RENDERED..
Which Weyermann Fired the Shot
that Killed Bernhard on
Temple Street.

The Coroner's inquest on the body o
Bernhard Weyermann, held yesterday
was one of unusual interest. The i'm
portance of the verdict to be recorded il
its bearing on the charge of murde
which has been entered against Arthur
was shown by the presence of the Dis
trict Attorney and Arthur's counsel. The
evidence offered was as carefully siftet
as though it had been before court anG
a regular jury. The entire day was con
sumed by the affair, and number o
witnesses gave testimony.
The first witness was Joseph Phillis. 6
composit0r. He said: Early on the
morning of the 2lst of this month was
passing the corner of Fort and Temple
streets. 1 noticed two men. One was
sitting on the curbstone and the other
leaning over him. did not notice them
carefully, and it was too dark to dis
tinguish their appearance. When I was
near CASTELAR, street heard shot fred
and came back. When arrived several
men were already on the spot. The de-
ceased exclaimed: "Who shot me?" 1
do not think that the man who
was standing up was the brother of the
deceased, but l am not certain. The
man in question was of average size and
wore a dark suit of clothes. He after
wards stepped away from the one who
was seated on the curb. The brother
and father were on the spot about a
minute after I heard the shot fred. I
heard one man swear, but the tones of
his voice were not those of man who was
very angry.
DR.. D. G. MCGOWAN testified as to the
postmortem examination which was
made Wednesday afternoon. The course
of the bullet was accurately described
and the death attributed to peritonitis
caused by the wound.
Charles A. Miller, a restaurant cook,
testified to the quarrels which had taken
place between the brothers, Arthur and
Bernhard, and the restaurant which
they undertook to run. On one occasion
he saw them come to blows. He also
testified to the cartridges which were
found on the shelves OF the restaurant.
Daniel Siebert. the butcher, swore to
having loaned Arthur Weyermann re-
volver three or four months ago-a 32-
calibre-which was never returned.
Officer Bowler was sworn and testified
as follows: When came to the spot
where the shooting occurred Bernhard
was holding his hands on his stomach
and saying: 90! my stomach My
stomach" asked him who had shot
him, but he only said that he was very
faint and wanted to lie down. Then Ar.
thur came up and said: "This is my
brother" l helped put the wounded
man into hack. after having unbut-
toned his clothes and found that he was
seriously wounded. Ii he had had any
revolver on his person l should certainly
have felt it. Two days later l arrested
Arthur in saloon on First street and
went to his house to search for the re-
volver. We searched only his room and
we did not find it.
Fred Myslng, near neighbor of the
Weyermanns, was present when Bern
hard was brought in wounded and heard
him say, "Let me die; have nothing tc
live for" When under the influence OF
liquor the deceased was reckless and
violent. The witness had known him
intimately for four years and could testify
to this.
Theodore G. Msrzler, of the detective
force, testified to having taken the de.
ceased's first statement and submitted
the document to the jury. "After the
statement was made we took Arthur
aside and asked about the pistol, which
he had had in his possession and he said
he had loaned it to friend. He said he
did not know who shot his brother; that
Bernhard had had trouble with Swede
by the name of Alfred Smith over Ger.
tain girl. He admitted that he had had
quarrels with his brother and when
asked him directly if he had shot his
brother he was very much agitated. AT
last, without any urging on my
part. he told how Bernhard had
pulled the revolver from his (brother's,
pocket and shot himself"
Thomas Mccarthy, of the detective
force, testified to the second statement
made by the deceased, in which he said
that the revolver went off by accident
when he and Arthur were struggling fol-
the possession of it; and that they were
both too drunk to know what they were
about.
A. W. Marsh, of the detective force
testified as to the confession made by
Bernhard in the cell at the station. The
prisoner was much agitated, and said
"My God, why did l doit." He told the
story Of the shooting as he had told it be
fore to Metzler. He said that the reason
why he had not told the truth in the frs
instance was that he did not want to dis
grace the family.
William s. Waters, Notary Public, tes
titled as to the final statement which wa:
taken from the deceased just before hi
death. On the evening of the 29th ht
went to the house on Temple street where
the wounded man lay and took the depo
sition. The man was in great pain anC
almost delirious. The statement which
was submitted to the jury declares tina
the defendant shot himself, his brothe
being seated on the curbstone at the time
DIR. James J. Choate testified to tn,
condition in which the deceased wa
when he was first called to see him an(
that his death must have been the resul
of the wound.
The jury was out over two hours. Tht
discussion turned on the point of whether
the Indictment of Arthur for murde
should be recommended. A compromis,
was finally effected. The verdict rem
.dered was as follows:
Bernhard D. Weyermann, native o
Kentucky, aged 81 years, came to hi
death on the Goth day of August, 1883
by gunshot wound inflicted by pisto
in struggle with his brother, Arthu
Weyermann, for the possession of tn,
pistol, but whether said wound WAS in
flicted while the pistol was in the hand