Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1893-06-13
STONED TO DEATH.
Marcrlino yisil's First Drunk and
Brawl that Ended in
BloOdshcd.
Three Companions in Jail with Every
Indication that They Are the
Murderers--A Shocking
Tragedy,

arroyo ABOUT 2UU yaru3 east VI " II.
Bishops residence at an early hour this
morning. The body was in a shocking
plight. The head was beaten and crushed
wholly beyond recognition and the lower
half of the body was nude. Two pools
of blood near by, one small one, where,
evidently, the first assault with stones
had been made, and second one ten feet
away where the brutes who
STONED HIM TO DEATH
bad finished the job. The body was
taken in charge by Squire Garcia at Z
o'clock and conveyed to his Office, and in
commercially short time City Marshal
Alarid and the justice had clew that
makes it we'll nigh certain that the per-
petrators of this brutal outrage are in the
tolls. Desiderio Gallegos, Luterio Pa
dilla and Emiterio Garcia were promptly
arrested and placed in jail as suspected
of being the guilty parties, and at s
o'clock coroner's jury was summoned
and began IN investigation. Up to
o'clock some twenty witnesses had been
examined, the testimony all tending to
criminate the accused parties.
PARTICULARS OF THE GRIMM.
At shutdown last evening a quartet OF
drunken young fellows was seen by Mr..
Bishop, Chas. Wheeler, F. NJ. Jones and
others in tho neIghborhood of the arroyo
and they were at times quite boisterous
and appeared to be quarreling. One OF
the party was very drunk and laid in the
arroyo, and two others frequently went
toward him and lifted him up, but the dis
lance was so great and the twilight COM
ing on the witnesses could not discover
who the parties were or divine their &C.
tons. Pedro Martinez, the IL year old
son of Maxine Martinez, was near at
hand, however, and his testimony, which
important. He
SAW THEM QUARRELLIN0
and heard them, in their drunken frenzy,
utter oaths and SO demean themselves as
to brighten him and he ran away. He
recognized two of the parties, Gallegos
and Padillc, and those no to-day positive
ly identified in the presence of the jury.
The accused men were also examined,
briefly this afternoon, and they admitted
being with Vigil, drinking with him, and
being on tho scene of tho tragedy last
evening, but they allege that they left
him lying drunk in the arroyo, and went
to their respective homes, and claimed to
have no knowledge of the murder.
THEORY OF THE CRIME.
That the crime is the result of a
drunken. boyish brawl, seems to
be generally admitted. There could
not, it il said, have been any
pre-conceived plan to commit tho muir
der. Vigil was 10 years of age, the step
son of Epifanio Vigil, and was noted for
his quiet behavior and sobriety. In fact,
there were but one or two young fellows
in town with whom he was at all com
panionable, and he was never known to
be intoxicated until last evening. 1t
appears that he fell in with bad compan
and after taking several drinks started
homo with them, taking the shortcut
path via this arroyo. The theory of the
tragedy - that the boys first engaged in
friendly scufle then took to throwing
stones. one of which
STRUCK VIGIL IN THE HAD
and knocked him senseless in the arroyo.
1t is possible that the first small pool of
blood originated from this wound. The
idea further is that after the brawlers had
discovered what they had done they
lifted tho body partly up and
left him in natural reclining position,
then going to their homes, but that later,
after thinking over it, and under the
cover of darkness, they returned and
upon the theory that dead men tell no
tales, stoned their victim until he was
dead. The removal of the dead mans
pantaloons, drawers and shoes is sup
posed to have been Gone in order to add
as much mystery to the affair as possible.
A silver dollar, which Vigil had earned
yesterday in working for a neighbor,
was in the pantaloons pocket, as were
also number of trinkets indicating the
boyish nature of the young fellow.
The investigation is yet in progress
and it appears that the vigilance Of the
officers has been rewarded by securing
unmistakable evidence against the &C.
cused. Fortunately the grand jury is in
session and the NEW MEXICAN calls for q
prompt disposal of the case. If the facts
are az reported let the penalty be paiG
and that speedily.