The herald., 1898-01-28

ber of the crowd would try to pick him
off as he was in the wagon.
The body of the murdered woman was
allowed to remain where she had fallen
while the officers were taking her slayer
away. 1t was soon surrounded by a
| large crowd who crowded and pushed
each other in an effort to get view of
| the remains. DR.. Johnson was the first
physician to reach her. He saw at once
| that she was dead Police Surgeon Ha-
| gan arrived soon afterward and upon
his order the patrol wagon was again
summoned and the body was taken first
to the receiving hospital and the coroner
notified.
THE INQUEST
Ten minutes before in the afternoon
| the murderer was taken to the under
taking establishment by Detective Good
man and held in a side room until a
! jury was secured. Just before the in
quest was begun an autopsy was held on
the remains by DR.. Hagan, assisted by
the coroner. Two wounds were found
upon the body, either of which would
have been sufficient to have caused
death almost instantly. The first, which
was made by the first shot fired, struck
the woman in the back three inches to
the left of the center and two inches
above the kidneys. In entering the
body the bullet had struck a rib, and,
| glancing to the right, entered the spinal
column, passed through it into the
spinal canal, severing the cord and shat
tering the bone surrounding It, This
bullet was very much blunted from con-
tact with the bone. The second bullet
entered the body below the twelfth rib
and severing the aorta, the largest
blood vessel in the body, passed through
the liver and stomach and lodged just
under the skin near the top of the alb
dominal cavity. The abdomen was full
Of blood but there had not been much of
external hemorrhage.
ARTHUR RETELLS HIS STORY
A jury was impaneled without diff
Guilty, and after viewing the body they
heard the evidence. Arthur was the
first witness. He was told by Coroner
Campbell at the outset that whatever
statement he desired to make would be
entirely voluntary and might be used
against him; that he was not required
to make any statement. He said he
desired to tell the story of the tragedy,
and in response to the questions of the
coroner repeated much the same story
as is given in the foregoing. Among
other things he said that he had once
tried to leave the woman, and for that
purpose had gone to San Pedro without
telling her where he was going. She
followed him there, and he returned with
her and resumed their adulterous rela-
| tionS. He denied that he had struck her
before shooting her, saying that without
| a word he had fired at her back before
she saw him. After he had retold of his
having bought the gun to kill her the
coroner asked:
You fully considered the conse-
quences of this, did you not?"
"Yes, I did," was the response. 'I
bought the gun for the purpose of killing
her. 1 don't think 1 have known what l
was doing for the past two years, for
during that time 1 have led a life which
1 would have scorned to live before.
had no memory, and at times things
seemed to be a blank to me-"
| "Well," said the coroner, that was
pretty cold-blooded proposition this
morning, wasn't it?"
Maybe it was,' responded the pris-
| oner, but for a man in my condition it
might not have been. had been drink
ing all the week and was never SOBER"
Arthur said that he had never been
! insane, and that none of his relatives
| had ever been insane. He also denied
that he had taken the drink at First and
Broadway for the purpose of steadying
| his nerves. He just wanted the drink
and got it. AS soon as he completed his
evidence he was taken back to the city
jail
| Deputy Constable w. c. Ware was the
next witness. He told of the arrest of
the murderer, the particulars of which
are given in the foregoing.
KENNEDY's VERSION
John Kennedy, the man of whom Ar
thur was jealous, stated that he lived at
135 South Main street. He had known
Mrs. Ransom several months. When he
was clerk at the Chicago house she and
Arthur lived there Arthur would go
out for whisky at all hours of the night.
Upon his return he would frequently
curse and abuse the woman and often
struck her. 1t was necessary to warn
him to keep quiet number of times, as
his profanity disturbed the other people
in the house. After Arthur went away
he (Kennedy) became intimate with the
| woman. II was uHuSIStOOu tIldI DOlH Oh
them were to work, and she obtained the
promise of a job at the marmalade
works next Monday. AS result she and
Kennedy were preparing to go to house.
keeping on a small scale. He then re-
cited the particulars of the incident of
last Saturday night when Arthur had
tried to speak to Mrs. Ransom on the
street. He declared that the woman was
afraid that Arthur would kill her, and
frequently said so, but he laughed at
her fears. After telling all that he did
yesterday morning he said he had met
her near the Ramona hotel shortly be-
fore II o'clock. She said, eXcitedly, that
she had something to tell him, and they
started down the street.
AT the point where new building is
being erected it was necessary for them
to leave the sidewalk, and as Mrs. Ran
som was about to step into the street
Kennedy took her arm. Just at that in
stant he heard a shot. He could not
tell whether it was a shot or not and
thought at first it was a falling timber
| in the new building. The woman
screamed and drew away from him. He
| thought she had stumbled. Almost in
stantly he heard a second shot and
| ~ mn