Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-27
DOOMED!
Frank Hoffman,
S17 Howard street.

S17 Howard Street
The above mysterious words. written
in scrawllng hand upon the face of
an old envelope, were the only marks
of identity found upon the person of
Frank Hoffman, who fell to his death
yesterday afternoon about $3.50 o'clock
from the third story of the Arcade
hotel, at Fifth street and Central ave-
nue. The address given on the envel-
ope was the home of the dead mans
brother in-law, Michael Felix, where
he was accustomed to going when COM
ing to Los Angeles from Bakersfield,
at which place he was employed as a
laborer
What first was supposed to be a case
Of suicide is now looked upon, with
well grounded suspicious, as murder.
The circumstances of the murder are
dark and terrible.
The single word "doomed" written
upon the envelope places the police de-
partment in maze of uncertainty
whether the murder was committed by
the party to feud or by the member
of some secret society.
The fact that Hoffman is Of Spanish
descent destroys the theory of the
vendetta, but the mysterious word of
warning urges the belief that an
enelny'S revenge was the cause of the
mans fall to the street yesterday.
May Have Been Robbed
The police are also working upon the
theory that he was robbed and in his
struggle with the thief fell eadloug
through the window. His sister, Mrs.
Michael Felix, who was seen last night,
said that her brother never came to
Los Angeles with less than hundred
dollars, and when found in the street
yesterday after his fall to the pavement
he was without penny. His trousers
pocket was turned inside out, which
fact pointed strongly to the robbery
theory.
1t was first supposed that the man
had come to his death by jumping
from the window of his room with in
tent to commit suicide, but the fact
that the window was not raised whtn
the mans body was hurled through it,,
defeats such an assumption.
Upon this circumstance of Hoffman's
mysterious death is hinged the almost
conviction that he was flung backward
through the window while struggling
with the supposed thief
Known to Have Money
1t was said at the hotel that he was
known to have money in his possession
as he had left $21 with the clerk of
the hotel while he was eating, and
upon returning to his room obtained
his money.
A little girl whose name could not
bn cuid cha To-
as he was ascending the stairs hur-
riedly and he stopped her and said
in breathless agitation, did you see
that man who was trying to choke
me?''
The man is said to have then rushed
to his room and within very few mo-
ments the crash of breaking glass and
the thud of the mans fallen body was
heard in the hotel.
No arrests have been made and no
suspects have been named
The story told by the chambermaid
of the hotel adds to the confusion of
circumstances connected with the
man ) death. If the maids story is true
there is Il probability that Hoffman
was insane and jumped from the hotel
window while i'll a sudden fit of de-
mentia.
The maid said that she went to Hoff-
mans room late yesterday morning to
arrange his bed, but found him sitting
OH the edge with his head in his hands
and apparently in a melancholy con-
dition.
Gives Money to Clerk
"As soon as he saw me-" said the
maid, 'he called me, and holding out
$21 to me asked if l wouldn't give the
500 to his sister and keep the remain
ing 81. told him that did not know
IA ,t, he Il
not seem to be able to tell me, | sug-
gested that he place the money in the
care of the clerk until he wished TO use
1t. He said he would do so, and soon
returned to his room, saying that he
had followed my advice. Then he re-
membered that he had not eaten and
rushed to the clerks desk for his
money. Upon entering the dining room
he stood staring dazedly in the center
something to eat. When waiter was
about to conduct him to a table he
suddenly ran from thereon across the
street, and entered the Arcade depot to
wash his hands. Coming back he had
no more than seated himself at a table
than he again rushed from the room
and washed his hands in the hotel toilet
room"
These peculiar actions give some ere
dence to the belief held by few that
Hoffman was insane, and had leaped
from the hotel window in the imaglna-
ton that some one was pursuing him.
His sister, Mrs. Felix, said last night
regarding her brothers mental condi-
ton;
Had q Former Fall
About four years ago he fell from
the third floor of building and in