Arizona republican., 1894-06-13
THE INQUEST. RamOn'S Murder FaS- tened Upon Franco. The Two Other Suspects
 Discharged. The Supposed Butcher Has So Far Hidden His Tracks. He Is Wanted in Sonora for a Mur- der Committed There Sev-
 eral Years Ago.

The inquest in the case of Ramon. the murdered Chilean, was closed yes terday. With enough astuteness to be credita ble to the senate bribery investi- gating committee the inquest wrapped the cloak of secrecy about its elongated self and proceeded to ascertain: First. Is Ramon deal? Second, If SO, under what circumstances did he die? Third, Did he hack himself into immortality, or was he aided and abetted in that bloody deed by some outside and dis interested party? Fourth, Who was the alder and abettor? Fifth. Should the circumstances that the dead body was found in Vicente Franco's house and that Vicente Franco is missing be regarded as reflection upon that ab- sent individual? Sixth, Is it not pos sible that Ramon after having effected self extermination had swallowed Vii cente Franco with no other purpose in view than to add mystery to the pro-
 
 oner's quest necessity? Seventh, Is there not sufficient reason to believe that Vicente was not an alder and abet- tor, but murderer and fugitive from justice? Is it not reasonable to sup pose that he acted without the cooper ation of Ramon, but killed him with out his consent?
 Certainly no coroner's inquest was ever before confronted by so many difficult propositions.
 The first thing to be established was the death of Ramon, for what WAS the use of holding an inquest over the re- mains of living individual. Evidence was adduced to show that the mangled body of Ramon had just been buried. Corroborative testimony in the shape of burial certificate was submitted. The health officer could have no motive l in lying about it, so upon the strength of the certificate the inquest decided that it was safe to conclude that either Ramon was dead or there had been 8 case of suspended animation. In the latter event he must be dead anyhow, and there could be no risk in going on with the inquisition.
 The two most important witnesses | were the shoemaker Alleman and the woman Salome Mattas, who lived with Franco, and both of whom were in cus- | tody for supposed connection with the murder. Al1eman says that he did not see Franco until about 5 o'clock on Monday morning. They got in buggy and further ladened the buggy with 8 jag and drove about the town. Twice they went out to the tent where the body lay, but the witness didn't know it was there They also went to Juan Alatorez' house where Salome Mattas ! was and afterward came down town. On account of the frequency with which they stopped to drink things began to assume misty form and All leman lost track of time and incident until evening, when he was held up for | information about the murder of which l he had not heard.
 The woman testified that she had not | been at the house since about o'clock on Sunday evening. When she woke early on Sunday morning Ramon and Franco were sitting at the table play Ing cards. She fell asleep again and when she next awoke Ramon was gone and she never saw him again. Later in the day she arranged to go to Ala torez' house to be treated for her ill., ness and did not see Franco until next morning when he called with Alleman. | This made things look dark for Franco and tended to destroy both the theory that Ramon might have pounded hlm- self to death with the hatchet, and also the theory that he had been murdered by Franco in 8 fit of jealousy.
 1 The witness was shown the hatchet with the bloody finger marks on the handle. She failed to recognize it. She said that Franco had two hatchets, but this was neither one nor the other; 1t
 was an exotic, an extraneous instTu-
 ment of death imported from the out side. Here Ramon began to be sus-
 pected again of his own murder. Was
 it not possible that he had brought this
 hatchet there himself? Anyway it
 tended to esta blish an alIbi in favor of
 Francois hatchet. The situation was so
 perplexing that busses and carriages
 were called for and the inquest hastily
 adjourned to the scene of murder for
 the 'steenth time.
 In the meantime Michael McGinn
 paraded the street ill front of the sacred
 precincts of the cham Der of inquisition.
 He jubilated much and profanely over
 the exclusion of the press. "Its a pitv,'
 remarked MT. McGinn ironically, "that
 the newspaper men can't get in; they
 ought to be allowed to try this case like
 they always do."
 Newspaper men rush in," said g
 bystander irrevalentlv, "where angels
 fain would not tread"
 'They rush in," retorted Mir. Me
 Ginn with a misapprehension concern
 ing the word 'fain, "where a buzzard
 would faint to tread.''
 After while the inquest. cumulative O
 the example of the recurrsnt cat whicf the chaste, beautiful and accomplished