Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1902-04-08
SANTA FE SHOOTING.
Mysterious Shooting Of Sotero Mar
tinez Last Saturday Evening.
ATTORNEY ORTIZ ACCUSED.

A mysterious shooting affair oc-
Cured on Saturday evening near the
Guadalupe church. in which Sotero
Martinez was wounded, probably fatal
ly, says the New Mexican. Martinez
is said to have been intoxicated when
shot and accused City Attorney Hilario
l.. Ortiz of having shot him, but later
withdrew the accusation. The shoot
ing was done, 1t seems with %.
caliber revolver and the shot entered
Martinez's chin. ranged downward
through the throat and entered his
lungs. After being shot, Martinez ran
to the house of his brother-in-law, ST.
mon Arias. A physician was sent for,
but refused to come. In the meantime,
H. l.. Ortiz and several others arrived
and cleaned and dressed temporarily
Martinez's wound and then took him
in cab to the office of DR.. J. M. Diaz.
The following is the story of the
shooting as told by H. l.. Ortiz this
morning: Il had been to the postoffice
and was on my way home on the Aqua
Fria road on the south side. While l
was down town, saw Sotero Martinez
beastly drunk enter saloon. On my
way home. at the Galisteo street
bridge, Bernardo Rivera caught up to
me and we walked together down De
Vargas street. Near the Guadalupe
church we heard a shot in back of us,
coming from between the house of
Luciano Baca and Ceciliano Borrego.
Immediately after the shot came
YELL Don't shoot, for Gods sake, | am
Sotero Martinez. Some one was then
heard running along the river bed at
top speed. We hurried down to the
river bed from Guadalupe church.
Who's shot, | asked as | saw a dark
figure running near the old Frank
Chavez saw mill. But there was no
answer and the figure was soon out
of sight. We then returned to the
street and saw three men ahead. We
walked up to them and found they
were Juanito Herrera. Esteban Lujan
and another man. We asked them who
had fired a shot, but they said that
they did not know and that it appar-
emily came from across the river They
had also seen man running along the
river bed. We then went to the house
of Simon Arias, thinking that Martienz
had probably gone there. We found
him there bleeding severely. | asked
him. 'Sotero, who shot you" He an
swered: 4 thought you did, for rec
ognized your voice and you were COM
Ing lOWdIu Will dnotbNi hioh'
Was there any trouble between you
and I?' He replied: Never, in the
world" Ortiz then asked to be search
ed, but those present refused to do so
until Earl Lamberson arrived with a
hack and searched Ortiz.
At the Office of DR.. Diaz, Martinez
said: Il only accused Ortiz because |
heard his voice as | ran past him and
he asked: Who's shot?'" Later Mar
tinez denied that Ortiz had shot him
and refused to make a statement TO
District Attorney E. G. Abbott. He
also refused to bring complaint against
Ortiz because he was uncertain as to
who shot him.
DIR. Diaz believes that Martinez's S
wound was made either with heavy
buckshot or with a small caliber re-
volver. Ortiz is a total abstainer and
was of course, perfectly sober on Sat
urday evening. He never carries re-
volver. Martinez is known as a relia-
BILE, hard working, inoffensive man. He
is about As years of age and married.
Bernardo Rivera tells virtually the
same story as Ortiz. No arrest has
been made as yet
This afternoon Martinez was report
ed as somewhat improved and that he
has a fighting chance TO recover. DIS
trict Attorney +. C. Abbott will spare
no means to get at the bottom OF the
mysterious shooting