The Tupelo journal., 1904-11-18
MURDER
OF WEBER FAMILY
Knife and Bullet Wounds Are
Found on the Body.
THE SON HAS THEORY
Only Survivor of the Family Re-
fuses to Express an Opinion, But
Said, Reluctantly, That His Fa-
Their Had n Violent Temper.

Auburn. Cal, Nov. 12.-It is now
known that julius Weber. his wife,
their 19-year-old daughter. Bertha, and
their son, Paul, aged IA, were murdered
Thursday night by an unknown as
sassin, who set fire to the home in an
| effort to cover his crime. Before the
fire had made any great Roadway the
| bodies of the murdered woman and her
two children were rescued from the
burning house. Mrs. Weber and her
boy were. still alive, but died almost
as soon as they reached the air.
Undoubtedly Case of Murder.
An examination of the bodies
| showed that Mrs. Weber and the chill
dren had been murdered before the
| fire had been started. The daughter had
been killed by a pistol wound, as had
been Mrs. Weber, On the boys head
were several deep cuts. He had also
been shot.
All effort to reach julius Weber, the
father, who was also thought to be in
the burning house, was abandoned I'M
til Friday, when a search was made in
the burning embers, and his body was
found in the bathroom of the dwelling.
He, too, had been shot down before be-
ing left to be consumed by the flames.
This makes the death list as follows:
| julius Weber, aged 48; Mrs. Julius
Weber, aged Al; Bertha Weber, their
daughter, aged 10; Paul Weber, son,
aged IA,
The body of Mr.. Weber was so badly
burned that it has been impossible to
ascertain how often he was shot. 1t
has been a~scertained beyond a doubt
that the women were killed in n
room and their clothing set on fire,
and that. they were Their dragged into
| the apartment where their bodies were
discovered.
a Peculiar circumstance.
One very peculiar circumstance Of
the tragedy is that while the bodies of
the mother and daughter were burned
to some extent, the apartment in
which they were lying was not on fire
when the firemen broke in, which
showed that they had been. killed in
some other portion of the house, par
TALLY burned and then dragged into
the room where they were found.
The physicians are holding an au-
topsy over the badly charred remains
of julius Weber. Coroner Shepard,
Sheriff Kean and District Attorney
Robinson are making a thorough in
vestigation Of the tragedy. They are
advancing no theories, but the facts
would indicate that the murders were
the work of a mailman or a cool, cal
culating, premediated crime. The rob-
berry theory is about exploded, as no
incentive has beer found.
Adolph Weber, the son, aged 20, who
is the only member of the family alive,
talks but little, but to the conorer and
sheriff he says he did not think the
motive was either robbery or revenge.
When asked if he had a theory, he said
he had, but would not give it. He did
say, reluctantly, that his father had a
violent temper. The boy said he left
the house about $50 and came down
down, purchased a pair Of trousers, and
did several other errands. When he
went to the fire he dropped his old
trousers, which were in a bundle, in the
burning building. He is now at the
home of Deputy County Treasurer
John Adams. Young Weber had a
good reputation. Two 22-calibre revolt
vers were found, but the bullets ex-
tracted from the body were of 32-cali-
bre. The officers are looking for the
pistol from which they were fired.
The inquest has been adjourned, to
await the result of the autopsy.
Julius Weber was a retired brewer.
and was possessed of considerable
wealth. The family lived in a hand
some home here, and Mr.. Weber pos
sessed valuable property in Oakland,
Cal. He was about 4S years of age.
Mrs. Weber was Al years old.
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