The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-12
Mystery Surrounding the Case
of the Oakland Boat
Suicide.
DEATH CAUSED BY DESPAIR
Her Lover Was G. w. Dunn, Mar
ried Man, but He Cannot be
Found.

steamer last Wednesday night, has been
partly solved. The following letter was
received by Coroner Hawkins on the IL
A. NJ delivery yesterday:
To the Coroner, San Francisco-DEAR SIR: in
tend TO leap from some boat into the quiet
waters of the bay to end my suffering. l am
young and foolish and have been deceived by
man who led me to believe he was single and
won my love, while at the same time he was
married l left my home to come to him, and.
God have pity on me, for this is the result. If
my body is recovered from the bay l am sure
Mr.. Dunn will not identify me, and l hope he
will not, as l wish to be buried as an unknown
in the potter's field. l know his place of abode,
but the last letter from him was addressed from
Oakland. If he should identity me please give
him this inclosed letter. God have pity on ali
simple girls like myself, who are easily led
NETr1E CHASE.
The inclosed letter was evidently to the
girls betrayer, and read as follows:
April 10, 1895
Ny Dear Beloved: You may be surprised to
think l have at last concluded to end my
worldly suffering and cover up my shame, but
God knows l am nearly craZy-crazed by my
love for you and the thought that cannot call
you husband. Oh; darling, you will never
know the extent of my love for you. could
think of nothing else but you and lived in the
fond expectation OF calling you husband; but
when you impaired the fact to me that you
were already married, o God, such a pain
pierced my heart, and life appeared not worth
living. Oh, dearest, why didn't you tell me
sooner that you were married, and keep me
from loving you SO? gave up my home, repu-
tation and everything for you. Why did
l ever leave my dear old friends and home?
Thank God! L am not known by my present
name, and my dying request is that you
do not notify them of my death, but if my
body is recovered from the dark waters OF the
bay, and you see my miserable form in the
Morgue, do not identify me- but allow them TO
m aS a n
/ know, darling, that you have bsen kind to me
in Offering to give me money, but could not
accept it, l rather die by my own hand than
die by having an operation performed. Oh,
dearest, can still feel your goodnight kiss on
my lips, and your encouraging words to cheer
up are still ringing in my ears. but cannot
heed them Life is a miserable lot TO me, and
am now going TO my lastleng sleep, from which
there is no waking Forgive me, dear ii ever
caused you angry feelings, and die not accus-
ing you for placing me in my present condi-
ton, but for the love have for you. 1t is now
midnight. SO, darling, good-by. Hoping to
meet you in heaven, am your true, broken
hearted NETTIE.
The letters to the Coroner and the mys-
terious "Mr. Dunn" were written in lead
pencil in small feminine hand. The
'Nettie' written twice was probably the
girls right name, but the surname was
erased and "Chase" substituted. With a
magnifying glass some of the name writ
ten first could be made to be Gard" The
supposition is that "Mr. Dunn" and his
wife were on the steamer with the un-
fortunate girl and witnessed her leap to
death. The Coroner is very much mysti-
fed over the matter
The dead woman was known in Vallejo,
where she bore the name Nettie Chase.
On January 80 last she made desperate
attempt to kill c. w. Dunn, who was then
employed as waiter in a restaurant. She
met him on Santa Clara street, in front of
the Dawson building, and fired two shots
at him.
One of the shots took effect in Dunn
arm, inhicting painful wound, but he es-
capped with his life. An attempt was made
to hush the matter up, but without sue
cess.
After the shooting Nettie Chase sent the
following letter to the editor of the Vallejo
Chronicle for publication:
Dear Editor: AS gossip and scandal-mongers
of Vallejo are bothering so in the endeavor TO
discover who shot Mr.. Dunn recently, and as
unjustlv accused of doing the shooting, there
fore l write you to inform the public in gen.
eral that l, a woman who had good and love-
~ home, endeavored TO kill Mr.. Dunn, my in
tentions being to kill him and then myself.
l became acquainted with Dunn two years
ago, at which time he was Government de-
tective, but he lost his position on account of
his fondness for women. My parents are highly
respected, and married man who thought
/ loved, but when met Mr.. Dunn l found that
| did not love my husband.
Mr.. Dunn is and always was great ladies'
man and seems to have power over women
which is irresistible. / fell madly in love with
he fell in love with me as much as he ever did
with any woman, which was just enough to
afrSSe himself and not to disturb himself
Seeing that his love could not be won con-
Guided to end my misery, and If could not
have him no one else would, although his
wife is in town yet.
I will finish the work which 1 started, and
upon turning the gun on myself the people OF
the city of Vallejo will then know who the
mysterious woman is who erred or account
of her undying love for man who belongs to
another.
Dunn has had many hairbreadth escapes, for
he was shot in the foot by an angry husband
in Oakland when he was in the employ of the
Government, and in 1893 young woman who
had been married two weeks took shot at
him in Sacramento, the bullet grazing his
head, she being promised a chance TO run away
with him.
In Petaluma a married man caught him
with his wife and knocked in his four front
teeth While in some town two girls of the
four hundred had fight over him and another
gave him horse-whipping, when he left town
and got married, trusting that married life
would change mis- ways.
He seems to be crazy after married women,
but despite all this love him madly. l en-
close a Petaluma item regarding him as proof,
and trust that may soon be able to lay him
beneath the sod before he breaks any more
hearts, as TWO young girls In the past TWO years
have committed suicide over him. | am u
"wronged woman" NETTIE CHASE.
No notice was taken of the letter by the
Chronicle, and second epistle was sent,
as follows:
VALLEJO, CAL, March 26, 1895.
Vallejo Chronicle-Mr. Editor: see you failed
to publish the note ! wrote you regarding the
heart-breaker, Mr.. Dunn. You probably thought
| did not mean what said, but you will see
within three days that my intentions are to
kill that man and then myself. / have in
formed him of this fact, but he still ignores my
request. "a WRoNGED WOMAN"
Dunn was interviewed at the time con-
corning the subject-matter of the letters
and admitted that they told the truth. He
did not attempt to leave town at once, but
tried to satisfy the enraged woman with
money.
He suffered greatly from his wound, but
endeavored to withhold all information.
He declined to give the woman's true
name, and, though every effort was made
to learn it, it never transpired.
The woman followed Dunn closely for
some time, but he pacified her in some
unknown way and later quietly disap-
peared. The woman for financial reasons
was unable to follow him, and somesthink
that being baked of her revenge she ended
her own life.
w. G. Long, who preceded Barry Bald
win as United States Marshal, dimly re-