The herald., 1898-02-01
Juan OrOsc0 Arrested for
Wife Murder
lNcRIMINATING TESTIMONY
THE LATE LAMANDA PARK
TRAGEDY RECALLED
Suspicious Circumstances Seen by 8
Neighbor-The Prisoner En-
phatically Denies Guilt

| Juan Orosco, young Mexican of
Lamanda Park, was brought to the
county Jail last night by Sheriff Burr and
booked for the murder, on Tuesday
morning of last week, of Modesto, his
bride of only seventeen days.
Coroner Campbell went to the place
where Mrs. Orosco's dead body had
been found. with a bullet hole in the
center of the breast, ranging backward
and downward, the bullet being stopped
only by the spine. She had met her
death in the bed room upstairs of the lit
tie house where she and her husband
lived, on the Allen ranch. Her clothing
and the wound were badly powder
burned. There were several suspicious
circumstances connected with the case,
which to q certain extent made the sui
eide theory rather improbable; but, on
the other hand, no testimony connecting
Juan OroSco with the sudden taking off
of his wife seemed to be available, and
the jury found after lengthy investi-
cation, that the deceased had come to
her death from self-infiicted wound.
The jurors, however, left the question
of suicide or accident an open one.
Juan Orosco and his child wife, Nodes
ia Linares-she was only II years old and
had been married to her husband only
as many days-came from the neighbor-
hood of Downey at the time that he Sc
cured work on the Allen ranch. He was
considered to be jealous of her, so it is
said. On the night before Mrs. Orosco's
death they had been to Los Nietos to
witness the marriage of one of her sis
ters, and, as a matter of course they
were asked to stay to the bale that fol-
lowed. But the husband refused and
drove away with his wife long before the
festivities came to an end. This hasty
departure was ascribed by the friends
and relatives to his jealousy.
After Modesta's death and the inquest
they were not satisfied with the verdict
and set about making inquiries. Rumors
were thick about Lamanda Park, but
nothing was of a tangible nature The
brother of the deceased, Bito Linares,
visited the offices of the coroner, district
attorney and sheriff on Saturday, but
the information at his command at the
time was not sufficient to allow these
officials to act.
Yesterday morning he came again and
informed District Attorney Donnell that
an American woman who lived quite
close to the Orosco house had stated to
him that she had seen the husband go
into the house on the morning of the
wife's death and remain there about ten
minutes. While he was there she had
heard a shot and later she had seen him
go away
With such statement at hand, it was
resolved that an immediate investiga-
tion was imperative, and Assistant Dis
trict Attorney Williams took charge of
lit. He and Sheriff Burr proceeded to
Lamanda Park in one carriage. while
Deputy Sheriff White took another one
by way of the mission, to head off Oros-
co if he should undertake to run away,
in case his suspicious became aroused.
The American woman was found to be
a Mrs. Neblino, a middle-aged person
married to a Mexican, and who. formerly
worked at the ST. Elmo hotel. Her story
was somewhat different from the Lin
ares version. She lives only about 20
yards away from the OrQsco place. She
said that on the day of Modesta's death
she had heard a shot in the house at s: 80
in the morning. Some twenty minutes
later she saw Orosco, as she wended
her way to a little clubhouse, on his own
doorstep going in. He remained inside
a few minutes, then came out and went
away. He did not speak to Mrs. Neb-
limo at that time.
1t was considered by the officials that
there We're sufficient suspicious circum-
stances connected with Orosco's doings
on that day to justify his arrest, and
Bito Linares was permitted to swear to
a complaint charging Juan Orosco with
the murder of his wife on the 25th of
January. Justice Rossiter of Pasadena
issued a warrant which was served up
on the accused as he was plowing yes
terday afternoon on the Allen ranch by
Sheriff Burr.
Mr.. Allen was with the sheriff and
said to Orosco: John. this is the sher-
iff. The people don't seem to be salts
fled with the verdict at the inquest"
II don't see why they shouldn't be
satisfied" replied the Mexican, as he
quit plowng and asked to be permitted
to put on his overcoat.
He was then taken before Justice Ros-
sitter at Pasadena and remanded without
bail pending examination. Upon his
arrival at the county Jail his main
thought was that he was very hungry
and wanted a good hot supper. Orosco
is tall, swarthy Mexican with piercing
black eyes and a heavy moustache, not
i'll looking. While being searched and
prepared for identification he said that
it was all nonsense to say that he had
been at his house about o'clock in the
morning on the 25th as he was fully pre-
pared to prove an unassailable alibi |
He pretended not to know why Mrs
Neblino should say that he was there
when he was not and claimed never to
have spoken to her in his life
He laughed scornfully when told of
the stories of his jealousy and said that
they were lies AS to his brother-in-
law, Bto Linares, he stigmatized him
as a liar, because he had told him that
he had had nothing to do with his arrest
when as a matter of fact he alone had
moved the machinery of the law to bring
it about. All this time the prisoner was
picking his teeth with a match and re-
verting to that hot supper which. the
sheriff had promised him and which he
wanted right then.
Orosco will be taken to Pasadena this
morning, arraigned before Justice Ros-
sitter and the date of his examination
set
Fractured His Arm