Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-16
THINK JEALOUSY
CAUSED MURDER
FRIENDS GIVE REASON FOR
TRAGEDY
kafitz Boy Believed to Have Killed
Brother and Himself Because
of Disagreement About
Management Of Estate

The coroner's inquest held over the
bodies of Fritz Kafitz, 20 years of age,
who shot and killed his brother and
then committed suicide, and Ludwig
Kafitz, % years OF age, the brother
who was shot, both of 1103 Fedora
street. resulted in verdict of homicide
and suicide. 1t was thought that some
light would be thrown on the ques-
tion of the sanity of the murderer,
IT was not brought out at the inquest
that he was insane and in returning the
verdict Coroner Trout made no men
ton of the facts which pointed to his
insanity.
The only witness examined was the
father of the two brothers, William
Kaftz. He told practically the same
story of the shooting as was told in
The Herald yesterday morning.
II had just gone to bed when l heard
the shots" said Mr. Kafltz to the cor
oner. After the first shot l heard the
exclamation, Ach, Gott in himmel,'
and it sounded as if it came from
Fritz.
Following it l heard three more
shots and rushed to the room occupied
by Fritz. / found both boys lying on the
floor dead and blood over everything.
Ludwig was shot in three places, twice
in the head and once in the body.
Fritz was shot through the head. Be-
which Fritz had written"
Writes Farewell Note
The note, which reads as follows,
was turned over to the coroner: Nov
IA, 1905. Dear Pa, L am tired of life
and will throw it off. l want to be re-
leased from all evils of this life. Lud
must go with me. By this means you
Will get back again the whole thing
that you gave away when you gave
Lud power of attorney. Farewell, 1
will never return; we will never see
each other again.
"It is for the best thus that two poor
crippleS shall not remain on earth who
cause you only trouble and pain.
II am tired of myself and Lud is
bad-a miserable fellow. Thus 1 will
do q piece of good work when we are
both snuffed out. Farewell, farewell;
to part, ah, to part hurts so much.
1t is heart breaking, but it must be,
as it is for the best for the three of us,
and the best is barely good enough for
us.
"Then you will be able to marry
again, so that you may have some one
to care for you. You have no need of
having children, or can, If you like.
At any rate, 1 will make a clean sweep
to correct the mistake you made when
you took a drunkard. 'Ye shall be
known by your acts "A useless tree
is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Says Deafness Caused Trouble
'"Thus with us, and if 1 don't do it
some one else will; the law in any
case. So that is all I wish that you
may have many happy days after our
departure.
lone weed has withered; now it is
the others turn. We go, both of us.
May it be the fate of all weeds; or
shall 1 say vermin, instead of weeds?
We are both bad, and that which is
bad cannot exist. 1t disturbs itself.
Look at the example of ourselves.
"We will be forever snuffed out and
will never come back. At any rate. |
we will make you no more pain or
trouble or worry. Lud does not know
what 1 will do with him. 1 will not
tell him. 1 use compassion with him.
! myself have to swallow the bitterest
pill. Farewell FRITZ"
"P. S. 1 grow more deaf every day. |
For that reason l have no more in
terest in life
Friends who knew the murderer and
suicide and knew OF his relations with !
his father and brother, think that the
real cause of the tragedy is jealousy.
Fritz, it is known, had bad hearing, |
and his sight was defective. The
younger of the brothers, Ludwig, who
was % years of age, was given power
of attorney over his fathers estate
Believe Jealousy Real Cause
The father and the older son. who is |
20 years old, went to Europe and had
recently returned. While they were !
away Ludwig had entire charge of the |
financial affairs of the estate and took |
the part of head in a real estate COM
pany composed of the two sons, the |
father, w. j. Getz and Mrs. w. c. |
Schwenk, an aunt of the two young
men.
The cause at first assigned for the
act was melancholia brought on by
broodirs over the death of the mother |
of tie two young men. She died of
heart failure about a year ago and |
since that time Fritz has constantly
brooded over her death. Friends say
that while she lived he was given an
equal share with Ludwig in the affairs
of the family estate, and that she al
ways favored him because he was her
first born son.
The Kafitz's are among the wealth.
lest people living in Pico Heights and
both sons were among the leaders in
the present fight that is being carried
on against a crematory that is to be
built at the corner of Sixteenth and
Grover streets. They had both sub
scribed heavily to purse for fighting
the crematory.