Los Angeles herald., 1890-09-09
Captain Moody Stabbed by
Charles Lawson.
The Result of a Quarrel Be-
tween Detectives.
An EncOun ter Which Nearly Ended
In q Murder.
The Assault as Described by Eye-wit' :
nesses-Captain Moody Receives a
Serious Wound-The Two Law
sons Arrested.

At II AS O. clock last night A. B. Law
son, the detective, and Chas. Lawson
his brother, were arrested and locked up
in the city jail by Constable Fred.
Smith and Officer Hill upon the charge
of assaulting Capt. l. N. Moody with in
tent to murder him.
From the statement of eye witnesses
to the affair the Lawsons made most
cowardly assault upon their victim,
which fortunately for him, however, did
not result in any serious injury.
About II 80 O'Clock Captain Moody
was standing in the doorway of the Lam
franco block ON Main street, talking to
j. F. Swift, travelling salesman, in the
employ of Sanders, the cigar dealer,
when a buggy containing the two Law
sons and Richard Culver, a reporter,
drove up. Detective Lawson, who was
under the influence OF liquor, at once
alighted and walked across the pave
ment to where Moody stood, and with
his hand upon his hip pocket,e asked
the latter whether he had applied
an opprobrious epithet to him.
Moody gave him an evasive answer, and
also placed his hand back ready to draw
his gun at the least sign of any hostile
demonstration. While the two men
stood thus, the younger Lawson and
Culver also alighted from the vehicle and
approached Moody, who then drew his
pistol. AS he did so, Swift ran away,
leaving him to settle his differences as
he saw fit; and at that moment
Moody dropped his pistol and Charles
Lawson advanced upon him with
knife in his hand. Moody stepped back,
and stumbling against the stairs, fell
down, when both Lawsons rushed on
him. After desperate struggle he
hurled both men from him, and spring
ing to his feet ran across Main street
towards the Downey block, followed by
his assailants. He stumbled and fell
heavily over the cable car
track, and Charles Lawson i'm
mediately jumped upon him and
stabbed him in the abdomen with his
knife Moody's cry of pain attracted
the attention of Officer Hill and Consta-
bic Fred. Smith, who at once ran up and
placed both Lawsons under arrest
before they had time to make their
escape. Capt. Moody was then picked
up, and as he bled profusely from a
wound near the left groin, he
was placed in hack by friends
and driven with all haste to
the receiving hospital, where DR.. H. B.
Wing attended to his injuries, which
consisted of deep cut penetrating the
wall of the abdomen just above the left
groin, but fortunately not reaching to
the intestines, as far as could be ascer-
tanned Capt. Moody was very weak
from loss of blood, but soon rallied after
his wound had been sewn up, and read
lily made statement of the affair, which
in effect was in every way similar to that
recorded above.
In the meantime the .Lawsons had
been taken to the city jail and locked up
in separate cells, where both were sub
sequently seen by HERALD reporter.
Both refused to make any statement
whatsoever relative to the assault.
The knife with which Moody was
stabbed, and which was taken from
Charles Lawson at the time of his arrest,
was an ordinary putty knife, the blade,
however, having very recently been
ground down to a very fine point, thus
making short double edged weapon of
an unusually ugly appearance, and one
calculated to do fatal injury at every
stroke.
Moody's pistol was subsequently
picked up by Richard Culver, who de-
posted it at the station some hours
later.
Captain Moody was until very re-
Gently A. B. Lawson's right hand man
in his detective bureau, but owing to
business misunderstanding, the two
men quarreled; and on Sunday, the
31st ult., Lawson was only prevented
from shooting Moody through the door
way of his office by the intervention of
Culver, whose hand was injured in
preventing the discharge of the weapon.
Though not considered as in any
immediate danger, it was deemed ad-
visable to keep Capt. Moody in the
receiving hospital all night where at
the hourof going to press he was rest
ing easily.