Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-21
DEPUTY GILBERT TRACES MURDERER
Dead Woman Was Cladie BesOld Wife of Los
Angeles Brvarian Butcher, Who Tired of Her
Because She Wasted Away With Sickness.
Pursuit Ends in Washington D. G..


geles Anton Besold, Bavarian butcher,
indicted by the county grand jury on
a charge of having murdered his wife,
Glade Besold.
The woman was murdered during the
early part of July, the crime taking
place in the Temescal canyon, just
north of Santa Monea, but the body
was not found until month later, and
at that time exposure had accomplished
it's work and the woman s own mother
would not have been able to identify
the mass of stuff which had once been
human.
The discovery of the body was made
by Posey Horton, a grocer Of Gala
basas.
There had been wealth of tragedy
surrounding that pitiful little body. The
woman had been poorly dressed, the
dress goods being of most common ma
terial
Led to Ambush
She ha d eviden tly been led far up the
canyon before the murder occurred and
the head, after the first fatal shot had
crashed through her temple, had
dropped as thou gh she were very tired.
A second shot had torn through her
breast and the body had sunk back
against a bush.
How long that lonesome little woman
had remained in the canyon was a mys-
terry The body had dried instead Of
decaying, but even at that the flesh
had dropped off. leaving the white skull
showing through the forehead.
The Vultlres had been kind and had
kept away from the woman as she
rested in the canyon through the long
hot hours of the day and the biting
hours of the night, and at last when the
grocery man from Calabasas happened
to enter the canyon to water his horse
the sight he saw there was not a
pleasant one. The odor from the body
was rightful, and the Officers detailed
to the case became i'll while trying to
move the corpse.
Clothes the CleW
Who the woman was or how she
happened to meet death in the heart of
the can yon rem aimed un neXplained. The
body was inspected by the coroner. 1t
had become desiccated by time and ex-
posure until the face had rotted off.
The woman's wealth of semi-blond
hair car off in great handful at the
officer s touch.
The clothes were rem owed and taken
| to the sheriff's office and renovated, a
| description of the teeth taken, as we'll
as a description of the wounds and the
position of the body, One other item
was taken into considerat ion-the
woman's nose had been broken, as evil
denced by the curved bone.
Then the body was taken away and
buried and officers began their search.
Every article of clothing was carefully
inspec ted by the officers, but no clew
could be obtained. The records of peo
pie who had disappeared were care
fully looked over, but no case could fit
the description Of the dead woman Of
the canyon.
Then Deputy Sheriff Charles Gilbert
was detailed to the case. The officer is
was etailed to the case The officer Is a
little man, und erstatured, quiet and good
natured but observing He toe: charge
of the case and inspected the clothes
He looked over the garments but found
no clew until at last h happened to
pick up the pair Of drawers worn by
the woman There on the band was a
laundry mark, 1870"
Gbert's Good Work
Gilbert noted the mark and started
out on a bit of work which by its ter
nina tion in the arrest of Besold at
Washington yesterday marks the deed
and the man as foremost in the records
of detective work in the history of the
south west.
The officer spent days and nights
scare hing for the laundry whose system
of marking resembled that found on
the clothing of the dead woman. He
found that the western laundri es used a
differ ent ink from that on the band, but
still he perSeVered and at last found
that such mark had been used by the
American Laundry company on South
Los Angeles street.
He found the driver and traced the
stuff to the Besold family, and then he
seemed to quit work on the case, for
after that no one learned anythin 6
further of the proceedings.
The case became mOnotonouS and the
newspapers stopped publishing the de-
tails Accidents happen frequently in
the southwest, so that the Temescal
canyon mystery with its grewsome find
passed from the minds of the public.
In the meantime the officer came and
went at the Sheriffs office, being absent t
days at time, and his superiors did
not question him.
Several days ago, however, he walked
into the sheriff's private Office and ex-
planned the case in a few words to his
superior
Sheriff White Goes North
An hour later Sheriff White was on
a train speeding mort Inward to Belling-
ham Bay, Wash, the former home of
BesOld, and Gilbert went before the
grand jury and told them few things
about the old Temescal canyon case
that made the jurors take notice.
Last Friday morning an indictment
was issued charging Besold with the
murder of his wife, Glade Besold, an d
the beginning of the end was at hand.
A careful watch had been kept of the
ports to keep Besold from leaving the
country. He had been traced to Chi
cagO, where he ordered his mail for
warded to him at Washington, d. C.
Yesterday morning when rath er
hea Vy-set, neatly dressed man, evil
den tly a German, applied at the general
delivery window at Washington for
mail addressed to Anton Besold the
clerk smiled grimlv and handed out a
letter
The man turned and looked down at
the steel cuffs on his wrists, for the
work Of the waiting eastern Officers had
been too quick to admit of description,
and though Besold at first denied his
identity he later practically admit ed
Il by refusing to give the Officers any
Information regarding himself,
SO Gilbert started north last night,
armed with a petition TO Governor Par