The San Francisco call., 1895-10-15
MURDER OR ACCIDENT ?
He Claims That His Revolver
Was Discharged by a
Fall.
POLICE HAVE ANOTHER STORY
A Letter Revealing Infidelity
Thought to Have Led to the
Tragedy.

SACRAMENTO, CAL, Oct. 14.-Mrs.
William NJ. Christ, residing at 1914 l.
street, was instantly killed this evening by
a shot from her husbands revolver, which
struck her in the right temple and shat
tered her skull.
Her husband claims that the shot was
due to an accident, but later developments
give the killing the semblance of murder,
and Christ is now in custody.
1t is claimed that Mrs. Christ became
infatuated with Edwin Hart, brother of
Senator Lige Hart, and that she wrote a
letter to that gentleman telling of her love
for him.
This letter, it is claimed, fell into the
hands of Mrs. Hart, who placed it in the
hands of Mr.. Christ this morning. Christ
Immediately went home and taxed his wife
with her faithless conduct.
The woman, it is said, denied the author
ship of the letter. and the husband, parti-
ally convinced of his wife's innocence, re-
being barber in an uptown hotel
1t is thought that he brooded all day
over the matter, until he became con-
vlnced that the charges against his wife
were but too true.
CHASTITY tragedy that was enacted in the
little sitting-room of that cottage, which
for seven years had been the happy home
of Christ and his beautiful young wife
The mother of the victim, who is crazed
with grief, states that when Christ came
home this evening they all went to the
dinner-table, and, after the evening meal,
at which there was not the slightest hint
- IL
room, and. after chatting for a while, she
bade her daughter and son-in-law good
night and went to her own room.
Suddenly a shot rang out and rushing
into the sitting-room she found the body
of her daughter stretched upon the carpet,
with CHASTITY wound in her temple.
"What have you done?" she asked the
husband, who was standing over the body
of his wife, while on the floor lay the
weapon with the smoke still floating from
the muZZle.
u fear have killed her, was the reply
'But it was an accident. l took my re-
volyer from my pocket and laid it in its
case on the writing case and it fell. When
it struck the floor it went off, and fear i
has killed my wife. y
Christ then left the house, and after tell
III NIC lC4SLbDASi nLOs nCdIlIlB lu6 report
OF the pistol, had thronged into the street.
went after the dead woman's brother, who
came ana removed the grief-stricken
mother.
That his account of the tragedy is incor-
rect Is proven by the fact that the face and
hand OF Mrs. Christ are black with pow
der marks, proving that the weapon
must have been close to her head
when discharged, and that the bullet
instead OF ranging upward, as would have
been the case had it been discharged upon
the floor, ranged downward, as evinced by
the autopsy held soon afterward. The
leaden missile was shattered into small
pieces.
The supposition is that the woman was
sitting on the sofa with her head resting
on her right hand, and that her husband
when her face was turned from him caught
his revolver from his pocket, placed the
muzzle close TO her head and fired
Christ has been arrested, and it is
claimed that when searched at the city
prison the letter that caused the tragedy
was found upon his person.