The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-12-04

Mrs. Anna Mentel, who shot her nus
band in Alameda last Thursday night,
was not charged with murder by the Cor
oner's jury that investigated the case
last night. Little testimony was intro
duced tending to unravel the mystery OF
the tragedy. Senator Guy c. Earl was in
attendance as the representative OF the
young self-made widow. The verdict OF
the jury was as follows:
We, the jury, do find that thename
of the deceased was William f. Men
tel, aged about % years, and that he
came to his death on Santa Clara
avenue, near Union street, Alameda,
Cal, at about 6:45 p. M, December i,
1895, and that death was caused by
q bullet wound in the head inflicted
by the hand of woman giving the
name of Mrs. Anna Mentel.
E J. Bevan (foreman), J. A. Mon
TO, w. II. Walter, A. Kist,. E. B. Dun
ming, w. J. Kane, F. Furrey, G. E.
Weeks, W. G. Vallmar, George Clark.
All of the witnesses who saw the body
of Mentel where it fell agreed that the
right hand was in the trousers pocket
and that he had fallen on a bundle and
in position tending 20 show that he had
been holding it under his left arm. This
combats the claim of the woman that de-
ceased was in the act of choking her at
the time she fired the fatal shots. An eX-
animation of the pistol showed that three
cartridges had been exploded and two
had missed fire. One of the exploded
shells shows unmistakable evidence of
having been struck twice by the Trigger
before il went off. The woman stated
at the Receiving Hospital that she had
fired five shots at her husband and one
Ion ~ tfarnff y,
street, Oakland, testified that he noticed
her standing in the middle of the street
with her hands clasped to her head and
the blood flowing from wound IN her
head. She said:
"Oh, my God. I have shot mv-ol and
my husband, too. l wish you would take
me somewhere"
After she was assisted into the car she
moaned, "Oh, my mother, forgive me, for
give me- She pointed to where her huS-
band was lying on the sidewalk. jenkins
found Mentel lying on his back across
the sidewalk, with his head in the direc-
ton of the fence. He was still alive and
moaning. The blood was streaming from
a wound in. his mead. He. found the pistol
lying. near Mentel's feet.
officer Conrad asked the woman who
did the shooting and she answered that
she had. She was anxious TO know her
husbands condition, and implored the Of
ficer to go to him and ask him to for
titled that when he examined the man ne
took particular notice of the fact that
his right hand was in his pants pocket;
DR.. c. H. Lubbock testified that hat ne ne
her wound. She refused to make any
statement to him at first, but begged
that he leave. her and go to her husband.
Later she told inm that her name was
Anna Mentel and that she was the wife
of the man she shot. In answer to a
question of Coroner BaIowin the doctor
q, said the woman was not under the int1u-
ence of liquor.
]. L. Ansel, brother-in-law of deceased.
said none of his relatives knew that he
was married. To his knowledge, Mentel
had never owned a revolver. DR. s. H.
Buteau. the autopsy physician, somewhat
surprised the jury by stating that the
wound over the mans heart was merely
a flesh wound, and in no case would have
caused death The bullet glanced on a
rib and imbedded itself in the right Shout
der. Both snots were fired. in his opinion,
by a person standing to the right of the
deceased at the time of the shooting, and
the participants in the affair. from the
range OF the bullet, must have been stand
ing on a level. The bullet that went
through the head penetrated the brain.
The doctor found that the skull of de-
ceased was" completely shattered. 1t was
fractured in a manner that ne had never
known of before, and OF which he could
find no parallel case in any medical work.
The least fracture was where the bullet
entered the head. but the entire back part
of the skull was splintered. The doctor
SAID this might have been produced by a
broad blunt instrument, or might have
resulted from the deceased striking the
sidewalk. although the latter was highly
improbable. An the wounds We're powder
marked and the clothing of deceased was
powder burned, indicating that the shots
We're fired at close range. None of the
relatives of Mrs. Mentel were present at
the inquest. No testimony was introduced
excusing her action, and the verdict Of the
Jury was decided surprise.
William F. Mentel the man who was
shot and killed by his wife in Alameda
Thursday night, bad a large number of
friends in this city, who speak of the de-
ceased in the highest terms. To several
of them he confided the secret of his mar
riage and his consequent troubles. In his
confession he alleged that his wife was
fercely jealous. and gave him. no rest
with her ceaseless opportunities. To his
bosom friend. D. E. Dixon. of FOG Mason
street he said that she had driven him
to marry her at the point of her deadly
revolver and had been fiourishing ii over
him ever since the ceremony. Mr.. Dixon
says the woman shot Mentel because he
expected TO Join DR.. D'Evelyn who is
now travenng in the East lecturing. He
had written to the young man a few
weeks ago stating that he would send him
money to pay his way as soon as certain
arrangements had been perfected, and
Mentel was looking for this summons
every mail. Mrs. Mentel objected to her
husband leaving the State or going with
out her, and is said to have threatened