The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-04-21


The question which is agitating the
minds of the police authorities and in
fact everybody in the city who has
read of the tragedy, is who killed John
Hamilton?
That he died from the effects of a
pistol shot is not disputed, and then
the only thing which remains to de-
.ermine is. who fred it?
There are three theories advanced.
The first is that he committed suicide;
the second that his wife shot him; the
third that the killing was done by a
third party, and if the latter be true.
the time ella psing between the moment
she saw him alive for the last time.
and The firing of the weapon. was so
brief that she must have seen the as
sassin approach on his errand of death.
Now as to suicide.
1t seems highly improbable that the
man took his own life. True. there
are men who would resort TO felo do Sc,
when they discovered the partner of
their affections was guilty. of criminal
intimacy with other men. But from
ali information to be derived in the
case, ii is apparent that Hamilton was
not that kind of man. The state
ments made by his friends. as viii be
seen later on, do not bear out the idea.
Hamilton was found lying dead with
a bullet through his heart 1t was
fired, beyond doubt, from the pistol
which laid by mis- side. with every
Chamber exploded. NeighbOrs declare
they heard six shots. So il cannot be
denied that every chamber of that re-
VoIver was emptied that fatal evening.
The wound was inflicted on the left
side, as indicated in the cut in his is
sue. That it was fired when the muz-
xle of the revolver was close to the
garment is evident, as also shown.
Hamilton was a right handed man.
He could not have placed himself in
position 10 discharge the weapon so the
bullet would have ranged upward
through his heart unless he held the
gun in his left hand. 1t would have
been a physical imDossibility 20 have
done so. To have held the pistol in
his left hand and discharged it in the
manner il was discharged is also well
nigh impossible.
Examination developed the fact that
one bullet hit Hamilton, one the house
(Which was fred from an angle SOW
ing the shooter was inside the -ard), !
while the other struck the fence on
the west side at an angle, also showing !
the shooter 10 be standing in the gard |
The ball which struck the house was !
fred. from all appearances. by per- |
son in an Incumbent position The one I
which struck the fence was fired while |
the person who held the weapon was |
on his. or her. feet.
As stated. every chamber in the |
weapon was empty. Now no man who |
attempts bari kari by shooting fires I
all bur the last bullet and then makes /
a gymnast of himself in infiicting the /
fatal wound. II Hamilton committed !
suicide he, if this theory be true. must /
have first shot all his ammunition !
away save one bullet. and then, eoub-
ling himself around like human sna',t
fired the remaining one into himss I
and trusted TO luck for instant Death
On the other hand If he shot himself
first and then fired the remaining shots
he had more vitality than any man
who ever lived. for. with a bullet
through his heart. the man who could
caVort around a yard and shoot q 2is-
to- five times must indeed have been
a human wonder
one witness to the shooting SAYS he
heard some one cry oh" Mrs Ham
ilton who declares she was close to
him when the first shot was fired, that
her right ear was made deaf, SAYS she
heard nothing of the sort. One was
away across an alley. up stairs, behind
a window, the other was. according TO
her sworn statement, not fifteen feet
away Ten feet would be a better
statement
Everything points to the fact that
the bullets were all of-the same calibre.
The one dug out of the house by the
police was 81; the one taken from the
fence bv a Herald man was OF the
same caiibre. The wound inflicted upon
the person OF the dead man indicates
that it. too. was fired from the same
weapon.
So much for the theory of suicide It
is as improbable as to say the man died
with the measles.
Sow as to the theory that a third
party did the killing What was the
mouve2
Hamilton had no enemies. that any
one knows Of He had never, SO far as
can be learned. wrOnGed any one who ;
should ATTEMPT revenge by numbering
him. Noney could not have been the
object for he had none worth taking at {
the time the crime was committed. He I
was not engaged IN the commission of 5
an unlawful act, either. {
Hamilton was killed after a struggle, .
in which ne aid not deem it necessary
to call for help. The pistol was held l