The record-union., 1891-06-08
THE LATEST TRAGEDIES.
No CleW Yet to the Murderer of Old
Philip Peyran.
a suspect in Jaf1-The Police Believe
That Mrs. FassIer is Not Tell
ing the Truth.

1t has been definitely settled that the
charred body which was found in the
ruins of John Olsen's dwelling on Six
teenth street-an account of the burning
of which was published in Saturdays
RECORD -UNIoN-was that of Philip Pey-
ran. 1t was believed at first that John
Olsen was the victim, but that gentleman
has been found alive and well.
1t appears that when he went away
Olsen left the house in charge of Peyran
and requested him to sleep there.
1T WAS MURDER.
That Peyran was foully murdered be-
fore the house was fired there seems to
be little doubt. The police are working
diligently on the matter, and hope to be
able to unravel the mystery. officer
Shook arrested a man named Murray
during. the fire on suspicion of being an
lncendlary. 1t was not known at the
time that human life had been lost.
Murray had been acting rather strangely
around the house, getting in the way of
the firemen and trying to impede them in
their work. He made conflicting state
ments to the officer, and it was decided to
lock him up.
THE VICTIM.
Philip Peyran, the victim of this
latest murder, was 64 years of age,
and was well known in this city. He
owned an express wagon which for a
long while has stood at K and Eighth
streets. Some years ago his wife, a we'll
known saleslady in different local stores,
procured a divorce from him. He was
the father of Miss Belle Peyran, a teacher
in the Sacramento public schools, and
Charles and Philip Peyran, Jr. The
sons, who are grown men, live, one in
the State Of Washington and the other in
San Francisco.
THE AUTOPSY.
City Physician c.. B. Nichols performed
an autopsy Yesterday afternoon on the
remains of the unfortunate Mr.. Peyran.
The fracture in the skull, the doctor
says, was undoubtedly made with q ham
mer or some blunt instrument. In his
opinion Peyran was murdered before the
OF hours before. This. he says,
is evident for several reasons.
The large quantity of blood that was
found where the body lay proves con-
clusively that Peyran was not injured
during the fire, for in that case there would
have been no blood visible. Besides this
no heavy timbers had fallen from the
roof during the fire, and, more than that
there were no timberS in the building
heavy enough 20 have madesuch a wound
by falling upon Peyran.
MRS. FAssLER'S CONDITION.
The police are actively at work, too, on
the case of the cowardly assault upon
Mrs. Fassler, better known as Mrs.
Spillner. The unfortunate woman still
lies in very precarious condition and
will probably die. She is still conscious,
and still insists that the story she first
told is true, viz, that three men broke into
the house when she refused to give them
whisky, and one of them struck her with
hatchet. The police, however, are in
clined to doubt this story, and think that
Mrs. Fassler knows who her assailant
was, and is trying to shield the guilty
person.
Mrs. Fassler's husband has not
yet been found, and neither has the hired
man. The fact that the matter was kept
quiet for so long is circumstance for
which the police are trying to find an
explanation. Fassler is
THE ONLY HEIR
OF his wife. She had a son by hel
former husband, but he" the woman
said, sis a hoodlum and has no claim on
me-" She also had an adopted daughter
but the girl ran away, and it is not known
where she is now.
Some two weeks ago the officers were
called to Mrs. Fassler's place, on report
that there was serious trouble. When
they arrived they found Mrs. Fassle1
much excited. She explained that she
and her hired man had had row. She
said that the hired man had attempted to
run the place contrary to her orders
stating that her husband had given him
authority TO do so. She demurred to the
usurpation and the hired man threat
ened her. There is theory that the
hired man in a revengeful mood may
have assaulted the woman. No one
seems to know the hired mans name
The police would like to get their hands
on him, but he cannot be found.