The times., 1899-07-23
THE Case OF MATTE RICH
Mexico Requested to Give the
Woman a Fair Trial.
Peculiar Action of the State Depnrt-
ment in u Very Unusual Case-The
First Criminal Ever Surrendered
to n Foreign Country - Charged
With killing Her Husband.

The State Department has requested the
Government of Mexico to use its good Of
fees in behalf of Mrs. Matte Rich, eitI-
zen of the United States, to secure a fair
trial for the woman in the Mexican courts
on the charge Of numbering her husband
John ID. Rich. This action OF the depart-
ment is peculiar and unprecedented. and
I the excuse for it is that Mrs. Rich is Z
woman and has many supporters who be-
lieve that she Will not secure a fair hear
ing in the Mexican courts.
The case of Mrs. Rich is not only inter-
esting because she is a woman, but on ac-
count of the fact that she is the first
American citizen ever surrendered by the
United States for trial in foreign country.
Her extradition from this country 10 Mex
leo was secured under a treaty which re-
Gently went into effect. This treaty con-
tained clause that citizens of one country,
who had committed a crime in the other,
and then returned to the land of their al
legiance, should be extradited for trial in
the foreign country. This provision was in
serted in the treaty at the instance OF ths
United States. Considerable dificulty has
been experienced in the past over the fire.
quency with which Mexican citizens who
had committed offences in the United
States, along the Mexican border, escaped
to their own country. where they remained
secure against punishment, as there was
no agreement between Mexico and the
United States by which they could be
brought back to the American side OF the
line for trial Strangely enough, the first
case TO arise under this treaty was that OF
an American charged with the commission
OF crime in Mexico.
Mrs. Rich has described herself as the
Champion Lady Pugilist of the United
States" She was married to John d.
Rich at Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1893.
Both We're native born citizens of the
United States. They went to Juarez, Mex
leo, the year Of their marriage ard lived
there up to the time of the mans death.
They met first in Chicago, where Mrs.
Rich was giving pugilistic exhibitions.
Rich died on May l last from the effects
of two bullet wounds in his abdomen. On
the evening OF April 20 Mrs. Rich, accord
ing to her testimony, found her husband
walking on the streets of Juarez with a
lewd woman. Mrs. Rich's pugilistic train
ing enabled her, so she said TO give the
woman "a pair of black eyes" She testi-
fed that Rich did not come home that
night. The next morning Mrs. Rich sum
moned her husbands business partner and
a physician, who found the man dying.
Rich, in an antemortem statement, said
that his wife woke him up early in the
morning and asked him about a eonversa-
ton he had had the night before with
another woman about taking his wife to
the Santa Rosalie Hot Springs, as I'VE
were always living like cats and dogs"
Rich said that his wife told him she would
kill him with a butcher knife unless he
made an immediate explanation Of the con-
versation with the woman He jumped out
of bed ana demanded the knife. Then. ac-
cording to his statement, Mrs. Rich pulled
a pistol and shot him. Rich was taken
across the Rio Grande to El Paso, Tex.
where ne died four days later. His wife
also went to El Paso, where she was ar
rested at the request OF the Mexican au-
thorities on a charge of murder.
Application was made to the United
States by Mexico for the woman's extra
dition under the terms of the treaty pro-
vision that citizens Of one country might
be extradited for trial in the other. y
popular outcry against granting ths re
quest of Mexico arose in Tex and tsic-
grams in behalf of Mrs. Riah -
ceived by President Mckinley from, sy-
ernor Sayers Of that State and many prota-
inent Texans. After careful examination
OF all the evidence produced in behalf Of
the woman before the examining magiS-
trate in FL Paso and the evidence against
her President Mckinley felt obliged TO
grant the request for her extraditiOn, as
the testimony clearly pointed to Mrs. Rich
as the murderer of her husband, and the
terms of the treaty were such that the
President had no alternative in the matter
1t is claimed by Mrs. Rich's friends that
she is subject to fits OF insanity and that
she is in delicate condition. The woman
has been taken to Juarez, where her trial
will occur.