The San Francisco call., 1906-10-04


thing unusual had taken place.
The time chosen for perpetrating the
desperate deed was opportune. Two
clerks. I Watanabe and Y. Takakuwa,
were out 10 lunch and the vice presi-
dent and the paying teller were alone
In the bank. The men entered the
bank and under the pretense OF trans
acting business lured the two officials
-on duty to the managers room in the
rear of the building and there crushed
their skulls with piece of gaspipe
fourteen inches long concealed In oroi-
nary wrapping paper
g.: While the two custodians of the bank
funds were lying unconscious and
bleeding from a half-dozen wounds the
.robbers searched the drawers of the
safe. which was open. and also swept
tho. money on the counters into sack.
they then made q hurried departure
-;through the front door.
LEAVE VICTIM DYING.
!: The boldness and brutality with
which the crime was committed in
cifnes the police to the belief that the
Thugs who murdered and robbed are
the same men who killed William
.Friede, the Market-street merchant,
and Johannes Pftzner. the McAllister-
street shoe dealer. In each case the
weapon used was an iron bludgeon
bound in wrapping paper. In the cases
- Of -Phtzner and Friede the police were
, completely baf1ed by their inability TO
sobtala even an approximately accu-
rate description Of the criminals. In
the present case IL is different
The detectives have three or four
.clews which may lead TO the detection
Of the bank thieves and murderers.
Two persons, both women. saw the
men in the bank about the time the
crime was committed. While their de-
scriotions are meager. a sufficient
.nEmber OF details relative to size. ap-
pearance and dress have been obtained
TO make Identification almost positive
IN the event OF the men being caught.
Aside from the description OF the rob-
hers who went inside the bank, the
police have the names Of three white
men who made deposits in the japanese
bank without any apparent cause, and
= also the description Of two men who
were seen hanging about the bank
premises Tuesday from midday until
o'clock IN the evening. With these
slight clews in their possession the
police are making extraordinary ef-
forts TO capture the murderers.
From the stories told by the wit
:nesses in the case, the time OF the
commission OF the crime is nxed al ap-
5roxinately 1910 o'clock. The dis
coxery that the bank had been robbed
and that murder had been committed
was made by japanese depositor, Yazu
Kitashina, a restaurant man, whose
place Of business is at 46T Eighth
street, Oakland. He called at the bank
shortly after u o'clock to cash
.eheck for f27-5O. When he entered
the bank aIl was still, and as no one
appeared TO meet him, he raped on
the counter. Receiving no answer, he
rapped a second time. and again
failed TO receive any response. He
then decided 10 investigate He went
aroand the counter past the receiving
and the paying tellers' windows and
. entered the managers room
:: DISCOVERED By DEPOSITION.
The scene which met his eye forced
him back in fear and establishment
Seated; at a desk in an Office chair was
s: Murakata- the vice president. with
three. streams of blood flowing from
wounds on his head. In a corner be-
tween the wall and the desk was the
bleeding form OF the paying teller. Sa-
saki who also acted as cashier. In the
middle OF the room was a pool OF blood
almost covering the entire surface of
the floor. At the feet OF the vice pres
4dent was a piece Of ordinary gas pipe
fourteen inches long.
8 without pausing to make an inves-
-tigation the terrified depositor ran out
=. IN search Of a policeman. He met Pa
trelman c. J. Carroll a half block dis
tsEt and IN broken English told him
his terrible discovery.
Carroll accompanied the Japanese to
the bank after sending an alarm to
police headquarters with request that
an ambulance be sent to the scene. The
time. elapsing between the robbery and
the arrival of Policeman Carroll could
not have been more than ffteeRa or
twenty. minutes.
.. A hurried investigation of the bank
premises revealed the fact that the safe
had been rifled and that the counters
hs6 been cleared OF coin. The only evil
denee. the robbers left behind them
was the blood-besmeared bludgeon
found. by the side OF the vice president.
after turning in the alarm Carroll
gave his attention TO the two Japanese.
Vice President Murakata was seated in
his chair. and despite the fact that his
.s9ull was fractured in three places he
was conscious.
ri VIII be all right" he said in reply
10 the policeman's questions. Il will
be alt right. but the pain is terrible"
sNho. struck your" asked the offlcer.
!" Il Will be all right" mumbled the
stricken banker.
Nothing more Ineligible could be
obtained from the Injured man, and Po-
liceman Carroll directed his attention
10 the paying teller. who was lying on
the floor between the wall and the vice
presidents desk. Te gave no sign OF
consciousness.
EVIDENCE OF A STRUGGLE.
From the condition Of the furniture
inside the bank railing it is believed
that a desperate struggle took place
One OF the robbers in all probability
entered FIRST and engaged the vice pres.
ident in conversation. The second rob.
her entered a few seconds later and
approached the paying teller. At g
given signal concerted assault was
made. Murakata was probably ren.
dered unconscious by a terrific blow
while seated in his chair. The fac
that the bones OF one of his hands were
broken would indicate that he wardec
Of a blow and gave battle to his as
sailant He succumbed, however, to
blow on the head which fractured hi.
skull above the right ear.
After rendering their victims un.
conscious the robbers continued to beaa
them. on the head in a fiendish manner
A remarkable fact in connection with
Murakata's case is that brain matter
was oozing from one Of the fracture,
Of the skull, and yet he was still semi