The morning call., 1892-11-14
THE SAN JOSE MURDER.

The murder of Henry PlanZ manager OF
the Fredericksburg brewery at San Jose.
looks as though it was going to turn out one
OF the mysterious crimes OF the period.
The dead man. who was native OF San
Francisco and whose father lives here, was
a young man of good repute. He is not
known TO have had any enemies.
About 10 p. NJ. on Thursday last he en-
tered the room which he occupied in the
house of Mrs. Fitzpatrick on Stockton ave-
nue., changed his coat and waistcoat, depos-
tied bis watch and chain and his diamond
pin on the bureau and went out At IL
p. n. he was at the Palace saloon on the
Alameda road In company with two brew
cry employees named Vogt and Yokers.
Shortly afterward he visited the opening of
the Fredericksburg saloon, and little later
entered the Oberon saloon, where he drank
a couple of glasses of beer aid ate a sand
WITCH About midnight he left the Oberon,
and in First street exchanged some words
With Juyen al. the barkeeper at the Oberon,
who was going home. Still later, between
u 80 A. NJ. and / A. NJ, he met stone
cutter named Jones in First street and ex-
changed brief conversation with him.
Jones says he parted from him on First
street, near Julian.
About four hours later night watehman
at the depot named Sullivan, in taking
crosseut through field, saw mans hat on
the ground under a pepper tree. The next
moment his head struck the legs of PlanZ,
who was hanging TO branch of the tree.
Sullivan called up his father, who sum-
moned an officer and sent for the Coroner:
the body was cut down. II was found that
tie legs were bound with rope above the
ankles, the hands twisted behind the back
and tied at the wrists, and large silk
handkerchief was fastened round the nose
and mouth. The neck was eneircled, not
very tightly, with a moose which had extin-
guished life. Near the tree where the
corpse had hung the dirt OF the road ex-
hibited trails as If the body had been
dragged along with the feet touching the
ground. The only witness who knew any
thing Of the happenings at that place be-
tween l and A. NJ. vas railroad brake
man named W. S. Leon, who lives in a
cottage in Santa Theresa street. not far
from the pepper tree. He vas awakened
In the course of the nigbt-he cannot tell at
what hourly the barking of dogs. He
went out to throw stones at them, and
while outside, he saw three men in Julian
street talking loudly and scuffiing The
last he saw of them was rs they walked in
the uHtCllOn Oh TIE pepper Tree.
These are the facts as at present elected
at the inquest. To confirm the theory of
robbery it is observed that the dead
mans pockets were turned inside out, but.
On the other hand, his diamond ring still
remained on bis finger. If Planz had been
followed from one of the saloons ne visited
by outlaws on plumber bent. why did they
take the trouble to hang him to the tree
after they had robbed him? 1t has been
suggested that they garr0ted him, and did
their work so well that they found them
selves with corpse on their hands. But
surely it was work OF supererogation to
undertake the tedious and dangerous bust
ness of hanging him to tree by the road
side afterward.
Again. it has been intmated that PlaIz
may have fallen victim TO the vengeance
of an injured husband or brother. The
people who were intimate with the deceased
have all been Intercepted, but it does not
seem that he was known to have any affair
with a woman. He was friendly with
certain young lady, but be only seems to
have visited her three times this year. The
eossips of San Jose have evolved number
of theories Of love and romance. but they
seem to have no better foundation than
fancy. Such theories. too, are inconsistent
with the manner Of the murder. An out
ragged husband or parent shoots or stabs to
death the man who has wroDged him, but
he does not carry him out to the suburbs to
hang him TO a tree.
And yet it looks as If the motive of the
m rder must have been revenge. Some one
who believed that Planz had done him an
injury must have resolved on putting him
to death, and of adding to murder the ig-
nomny of hanging. There are races in
Europe in which death by hanging is con-
sdered far more oppr0bri9us than any
other form of homicide. The assassin, with
the aid of an accomplice, may have lain In
wait for PIanz and paralyzed him by sud-
den compression OF the throat, then, hastily
tying his hands and feet. must have hoisted
him with rope which he had In readiness
to the branch of the tree, taken two or three
swift turns of the rope round the branch.
and left him hanging. Further evidence
may explode this theory, but that is the way
il looks now.