Los Angeles herald., 1892-05-17
MORE OR LESS DRUNK.
The Actors in the Filanc
Tragedy.
Result of the Inquest at Cotton
Yesterday.
Filanc Was Well Known In This City.
Dora yalenzuela the Girl in
the Case-Salazar and
BeIarde Held.

Eneas Filanc, the man killed near the
bridge over the Santa Ana river between
Fast Riverside and Cotton, on Sunday
morning, is well known in this city. In
1889 and 1890 he drove a hack in Los
Angeles. He was a big, sturdy man
and was considered dangerous char
acter. 1t now appears that it was Dora
yalenzuela who was with the deceased
when the fatal shot was fred. She is a
rather good looking Mexican girl, and
for some time past has resided at the
Filanc ranch.
The inquest was held yesterday at
the Cotton city hall. The place was
crowded all the afternoon and contained
a miscellaneous crowd. Filanc's father
is Frenchman and his mother is Span
ish, while Daniel Salazar and Jose
Maria Belarde are Spanish.
The principal witness at the inquest
was Dora Valenzuela. She testified that
she and another woman named Assem-
clone Morales accompanied Eneas
Filanc to East Riverside. In regard to
the shooting she testified that just be-
fore they reached the bridge Salazar
came uu to the side of the buggy and
| fred three shots, and that Jose Belarde
was walking behind the buggy when the
shooting occurred. The third shot took
effect. and Filanc fell over on his shoul-
der. and soon after fell out of the buggy.
Salazar never spoke word, neither did
| the deceased. Salazar and Belarde rode
up on one horse until they got near the
| buggy, when Belarde dismounted.
The witness was cross-examined by
Attorney Peck, and considerable was
brought out that she had held back. 1t
seems that there were several go-as-you'
please fights before Filanc started out
on his homeward journey, and it ap-
pears that Salazar acted as peacemaker,
and told Filanc that be was his friend.
The witness also stated that they had
plenty OF whisky and beer in the buggy,
but that she did not indulge. After
Filanc slapped couple of men and
knocked them down, the woman known
as Ascencione went away crying. The
witness did not see Filanc shoot boy
in the leg. She also stated that Belarde
started home in the buggy with them,
and that Fiianc and Belarde got into a
fight in which Filanc came out ahead.
Belarde was then thrown out of the
buggy. The supposition is that Belarde
went back and got Salazar and they fol-
lowed after the buggy on one horse. All
the parties were more or less drunk at
the time.
Constable Bingham testified that
when he arrested SalaZar he said
"Yes, 1 did the shooting, because l
thought that he was going to kill my
friend. There is the gun did it with. "
Salazar and Belarde were brought into
the courtroom heavily ironed. The dis
trict attorney;started in to swear them,
but their attorney protested and told
them to say nothing and not word
could be obtained from either. Salazar
is quite boy and is probably not yet 20
years old. Belarde ia a hard-1ooking
citizen and his reputation is IN keeping
with his looks.
T. B. Matthews, a young man, told q
whole lot about the disreputable row.
He saw Filanc knock down a couple OF
men, and also heard couple of ehots at
the dance, but he did not find out who
fired them. He also heard the shots
near the bridge. Considerable other
testimony was adduced, but it was of a
very contradictory character. The yer.
dict was in accordance with the above
facts. The Valenzuela woman knows
more than she has admitted about the
| origin of the trouble. There was no
evidence introduced that Filanc shot
| Belarde's cousin in the leg. Daniel Sal
azar and Jose Belarde were taken to the
Jail at San Bernardino at the conclusion
| of the inquest,