The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-08-11
CATCH Thief
AND GET GOLD
Man Who Robbed California
Shelter Makes Confession.
OFFICERS RECOVER
S13O,O0O OF BOOTY
Did the Job Alone and VIII
Escape Punishment.

]
! Smelling works robbery. has confessed
| the crime and so far $4,000 worth of
| bullion has been recovered from the
! bay where he had sunk it, For three
/ days the detectives have tried all sorts
/ of intimidation 10 make Winters con-
! fess, but their threats apparently had
/ no effect upon him. Finally he asked
! to see Superintendent Ropp Of the
| works, who. he said, was the only
! friend he had. In his conversation with
/ Ropp, Winters manner indicated that
/ he knew where the gold had been hid
| den. Ropp told him that they had a
/ strong case against him and that he
| would be sent to prison for thirty
| years. He said:
You viii be an old man when YOU
get out and it viii do you no good to
hide the gold. We know it is hidden
in the water near the works and we
will search every inch. You may be
sure that the gold viii be found before
you get out OF prison"
Winters finally weakened and told
Ropp that he had taken the gold and
would take him to the spot where it
was hidden The man., in company
with Superintendent ROpp and force
of detectives, left on a tug last night
for Crockett. There they waited all
night for low tide Winters pointed
out the place at the end of the railroad
wharf, behind the coal bunRers at the
beginning of the Vallejo ferry slip. At
that point, at low tide the mud IS
about four feet deep, covered by a foot
of water.
When the tug first reached Crockett,
Winters pointed out the spot in the
water where he said he had thrown
the gold superintendent ROpp
marked the place on the wharf and the
tug steamed away to wait for low tide.
This morning Winters himself got into
the mud and water up TO his neck and
for an hour and a half CROPPED for the
missing bullion. Up to 10 o'clock Sl1O,-
600 worth had been recovered. This
includes the four bars of fine gold.
" Inters rad put some of The bars In
bags. He said that one of the bags
had broken and some small bars had
dropped out Tt is now only "a question
of careful search to find the rest Of
the $2S0,000
Did the Job Alone.
Winters claims that he did the job
all alone. He says that he made four
teen trips from the vault to the wharf
from which he dropped the gold. The
smelter officials, however, are positive
that he received assistance from some
one. The detectives think that his
story that he did it all himself is cor
rect
Winters. when he had made up his
mind to tell all he knew about the
crime, was exceedingly willing to give
all the information that was necessary
for the recovery of the bullion. He
practically assumed charge of the Op-
erations and led Captain Seymour and
Superintendent Ropp to the dock. He
Or n ~ ~ ~rr-sra
employed on the case than a prisoner.
As soon as he arrived at the waters
edge he called the superintendent to
his side and said.
Now watch what 7 am going 10
show you. Be careful that you get the
locations right"
STOPPING, he picked up three stones.
andd, pacing forward. he tossed one Of
them into the water. Tt fell to the
south Of the spot at which the prisoner
stood Another stone fell to the east
and the third was thrown directly in
front of Winters.
That" said the prisoner, will mark
the water boundary of the place where
your gold is hidden"
Stepping to the left, Winters drew
a nail from his pocket and asked for a
hammer. He then paced Off a few
yards to the right and drove another
nail in the timber.
1.-The gold" he continued, will be
between these two nails, somewhere IN
line with the spots marked BY the
stones just tossed into the water"
A small boat was secured. and into it
Sheriff Veale, Detective EimbaII Of the
PinkertOn agency ard two Iaborers
we're loaded. Winters assisted in the
search for the bricks. He talked glibly
All the while. The deep mud finally put
! stop to operations and it was decided
% build a Golfer dam before trying to
recover the rest Of the treasure
How Robbery Was Done.
Winters told the officers that he
planned the robbery long ago with mi
lute detail. He had been two or three
months on the work Of his little tunnel.
t had taken two nights labor to cut
through the brick wall Of the smelter.
Most Of the boring in the bottom Of
he vault had been done on the night
when the gold was taken.
He carried the plumber, which was
-ery heavy, from the vault to the water
ma deposited it where the water was
rom three TO six feet deep at low tide.
The distance from the vault to this
ache was ABOUT a quarter Of q mile,
md he made fourteen round trips He
vas at work four hours on Monday
light. Four small bars Of refined gold
he concealed among the stones OF the
,reakWater. just at the further mouth
4 the railroad tunnel His purpose
lad been to use this gold Tor present
leeds.
Winters. on his last trip, had per-
eived that dawn was breaking Not
.aring to complete the trip, he laid on
he shore the two bricks which were
ound Tuesday morning at the point
where the robbers boat was supposed
o have landed. The trail If red pep
,er. ending at that point, had been a
lind.
In view of the fact that promises Of
lemency were made Winters in CON
liberation Of his unearthing the gold,
is thought that his punishment viii
e light Detective Gibson is quoted as
aging that il was promised Winters
Y President Ralst0n Of The SeIby
melting works that he should not only
e unprecedented but should receive
p. zoe.
Winters cannot be prosecuted said
detective Gibson, for there is TO evil
ence against him All that has hem
rawn from him was secured by the
electives under promise that It would
OF be used against him. Under such
circumstances II would be extremely
iflcult to secure a conviction.