The record-union., 1892-11-12
Special to the REcoRD-UNrox.

SEeclal 10 the ItECORD-UNION.
SAN JOSE, Nov. 1.-THE dead body of
Henry Planz, aged 25 years, the recently
appointed Manager OF the Fredericks-
burg Brewery at this place, was found
hanging to pepper tree on Julian street,
near the Guadaloupe Bridge, this morn
ing. The first thought Of those who dis
covered the corpse was, very naturally,
that it was case of suicide, but q second
glance proved this to be impossible. The
dead mans hands were tied behind his
back, his feet were also bound together,
and over his mouth handkerchief was
tightly drawn. All around the tree and
for distance Of thirty feet away the
ground was disturbed and torn as if from
a terrible struggle Of several contending
men.
The peculiar means which had APP
parently been adopted to bring about the
young mans death at first seemed to in
dicate that those who had taken his life
had done so from motives Of revenge or
to punish their victim for some real or
fancied crime. Robbers who kill in the
preparation of the deeds incident to their
nefarious calling are not in the habit Of
/ hanging their victims, and the affair
| therefore seemed at first something III the
nature of a lynching. the more so that
the number OF footprints indicated that
! several men had been concerned in the
| deed. The fact that diamond ring was
left on his finger also seemed to preclude
| the possibility of the tragedy having
been the result of robbery.
! But the more the officers and local
newspaper representatives investigated
tine case the more they were inclined to
believe that robbery was, after all, the
motive which led to the attack upon
/ Planz and to his murder.
| a conviction is growing in the minds
of the Investigators that the victim was
not suspended to the limb until after life
was extinct, the theory being that he was
murdered some forty or fifty feet away
| from the tree, the hanging OF the body
being an afterthought OF his slayers, de-
signed to confuse the detectives. There
were no marks or wounds on the body,
except that apparently made by the rope
around the neck. For this reason il is
believed that a rope was suddenly thrown
over his head by his assaiants who by
this means strargled him to death.
Planz was last seen alive, except by
his murderers, by Henry JoGvanel who
| keeps the lunch counter at the OberOn.
Planz had attended the theater last even
| ing and afterward went to the OberOn,
where he ate lunch and drank two
glasses Of beer. Then he went away, but
about Il o'clock Jouvanel met him on
| First street and the two walked to ST.
James street before they separated. Jou-
vanel remarked that it was rather strange
for Planz to be going home alone at that
| hour.
''Oh, Pm not afraid" said Planz, laugh
ing.
SWell, you've got a long pair of legs
to take you out of harm's way" re-
marked Jouvanel, referring to Planz's
extreme length Of limb, the young mau
being six feet three and one-half inches
in hight.
The two men then separated, Planz
walking away toward his rooms on
| Stockton avenue, about a mile from the
center of town and quarter of mile
/ from the brewery. His route thither was
! through a rather thinly settled section of
town. This was the last that was seen OF
him alive by any Of his friends.
The robbery theory gained strength
with the progress of the Investigations,
in spite of the fact that the dead mans
diamond ring had been left upon his
finger.
He was known to have worn fine gold
watch, presented 10 him some years ago
/ by Mrs. Schnabel, the wife of one Of the
former proprietors of the brewery and
J bearing an appropriate inscription. This
was missing, together with his sleeve
! buttons, scarf-pin and the money which
| he was believed to have had in his
pocket. More than that, his pockets were
| turned inside out. The ring was prob
ably left on his finger either because it
was not noticed or would not come OFF
readily.
The rope by which the body was sus-
pended was fastened to a limb eleven feet
/ from the ground, being simply wound
around it four times without being
knotted at all. The end, however, was
/ tucked under. and the weight of the
corpse kept the rope from unwinding.
The soles of the dead mans shoes were
/ three and one-half feet from the ground
as be hung. Marks on the sides of tho
shoes indicate that the body had been
carried FOR some little distance with tho
feet dragging.
| The exact spot where the assault was
committed, however, has not yet been
| located. Everything points to the fact
that several men were concerned IN the
deed.
The body was first discovered by John
! f. sullivan, night yardman at the broad
gauge depot, as he was going home from
/ his work at 6:l5 this morning. He had to
| cross vacant lot, and as he was passing
! through break in the fence he saw a hat
/ lying on the ground. Looking up, half
mechanically, he saw the body hanging
almost in front of him.
/ At the inquest this afternoon there
were some few developments to throw
/ light upon the tragedy Mrs Fitzpat-
! rick stated that after hearing Of the trag-
/ edy she went in PlanZ's room and found
/ his watch and chain, diamond ring and
/ scarf pin.
Juvenal testified to having parted with
Planz at the corner of First and St. John
streets. Planz was going toward Market
street.
w. S. Leon, a railroad man, who re-
! sides on Santa Teresa street, testified
that somewhere between u and l o'clock
he was awakened by dogs barking furi-
ously. This continued for some time,
and finally he got up and went out
to see what the cause was. He walked
to Julian street and saw four men appar-
emily engaged in a row. They wero
! going in the direction of the scene of tho
| tragedy. When he turned around and
went home they were within a Jew rods
of the spot where Planz was killed.
The inquest was adjourned till 10
I O'Clock tomorrow morning.
! Abe Jones stated to a reporter that
about o'clock this morning he was walk
ing north on First street and caught up
/ to Planz in front of~the st. James Hotel.
They walked together on First street 10
Julian and about ten minutes past thew
parted, PlanZ saying, Come out to
Fredericksburg some Sunday afternoon
and we will have good time" IT is
possible that Leon is mistaken as to the
time of the night when be was awakened.
and that Planz, alter parting with Jones.
continued on Julian street, and it was he
and his murderers whom Leon saw,