The St. Johns herald., 1899-02-11
Horrible Butchery.

Ou6 OI the T6VOlLlUR uuTQoTS III LUt
 annals of the criminal history of Ari-
 zona was brought to light Sunday after.
 noon last by finding of the blood-be
 spattered and mangled remains of John
 Bleak and James Dowd in the big wash
 at HackbIrry, within 8 few hundred
 yards of the railroad depot. The finder
 of the grewsome objects gave the alarm
 and the whole town hurried to the
 scene. The sight was an awful one: The
 remains of Dowd lay in the wash with
 the head almost severed from the body.
 He had apparently been struck in the
 head with rock which broke the bones
 of the nose and crushed in the forehead
 and while he lay on the ground was
 heaten into insensibility with large
 rocks. The cruel murderer then drew
 his chin up and cut his throat clean in-
 to the neck bone. Many other wounds
 were found on the body. A fter his throat
 had been cut and all the blood had run
 from the body, U was pulled into the
 wash and there apparently robbed.
 Bleak body lay about twenty feet away
 and showed signs of mighty struggle
 for lite, the ground being all tramped
 up for space of twenty feet square.
 Bleak's body was horribly mutiIated.
 He had been stabbed in the shoulder
 and twice in ohe back of the head. The
 knife passed through his hat and into
 the head piercing the scull through
 which wounds the brains oozed out. The murderers then attempted to cut
 his throat, but made bungling job of it. His face was slashed in three plac- es and his throat cut in four or five places. The jugular vein was severed and the blood flowed out over his beard. He had evidently been rolled over in the sand, as clotted blood and sand covered his face. his hands were cut as if in an effort to guard himself from the knife of his assailent. Several blood stained rocks were found in a bush near by and within hundred feet of the bodies the murderers had burned up blood stained coat or portion of one. A Small piece of a spanish news paper, was found Tn the ashes of the fire. An inquest was held Monday and Tues day but nothing definite could be learn ed regarding the perpetrators of the murder. From all that could be learned the deduction is made that Dowd and Bleak, who had been drink ing, had fallen in with two Mexicans and having bottle of whiskey drank the contents while going toward the bridge camp and that Bleak went back to town to get another bottle. While he was gone the Mexicans fell upon Dowd and murdered him. When Bleak returned an saw what had been done to Dowd he started to run when he was and stabbed in the shoulder and then in the head. In siabbing him in the head the head bones turned the point of the knife. Bleak when stabbed fell to the ground, but still struggled for life. The knife having been bent could not be made to do as good a job as that done on Dowd, as the cuts all show jagged. The two men were buri- ed in Hack berry. Sheriff Hubbs and Deputy Lovin arrested two men named Jose Maritime and Friso Costello aud charged them with the crime. From Castillo was taken an ugly looking pocket knife of the dirk pattern. A half inch of the point was bent over and on it was spots of blood. It also showed evidences of having recently been secured. The point was bent but a short time as the inside showed no ev- Idence of the blade having been opened only few times. Had it been opened | oftener groove would have been cut in the lining of the handle. On | preliminary examination the men call ed Tn many Mexicans to prove that they were in Thurber's camp, about nine miles east of Klngman Thursday night 10 late hour, but their alib is contro- 7erted by the time book and time keep ,r at the camp and by many witnesses It Hack berry. The examination is III before Judge Baker today and he chances are the two men wsll be Ield for the murder. At the examin- stion the knife taken from Costillo was itted into cut in Bleak's hat and it fitted the hole exactly. The officers Ire still working on clue that may orge the chain of circumstantial eyi- ionce still tighter.