Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-25
SAY CONDUCTOR
WAS MURDERED
DETECTIVES DOUBT THEORY
OF ACCIDENT
Railroad officials Conduct Inquiry Re-
gardine Death Of L. o. sosey,
an Employe Of the Pacific
Electric Line

four hours, l.. o. Sosey the street car
conductor whose unconscious body was
found Thursday night on the rear plat
form of the San Gabriel car, of which
he was in charge. died last evening at
the county hospital. The man never
regained consciousness and the cause
Of his death still remains a mystery.
Passen gers on the car attributed the
mans condition to accident, believing
that he had leaned from the car for
scme reason unknown and that his
head had struck against trolley post,
but this theory Is secuted by the rail-
way detectives who are investigating
the case.
Curiously enough the murder, as It Is
believed to be, has not yet been for
mally reported to the police, nor has
the police department been asked to
take the affair up. This course is un-
usual, even though the injury was in
hlcted outside the city limits. Why 1t
has been adopted in the present in
stance is not known. .i
The theory of the detectives Is that
Sosey was murdered by some man at
present unidentified, and who probably
had, or thought he had, a grievance
against the conductor. The murderer
is thought to have boarded the car
after 1t passed the junction, but before
the city limits were reached. Between
lleSt DOlIllS Tie CdT ulu IOL Sup DUI
there Is a short stretch of road where
the overhead wires were in bad condi-
tlon and where the car was compelled
to run slowly.
Believe Man Was Murdered
Here, the detectives say, the MUIR
derer lay in wait for his victim, and
when the car slowed down boarded 1t.
In all probability the conductor never
saw him, and even If he had regained
consciousness before his death 1t Is
likely that he would have been unable
to throw any light upon the identity
of his slayer.
Once on the car, the conductors back
toward him, the murderer is thought to
have drawn billy with which he dealt
the car man two blows on the back of
the head. The first probably staggered
Sosey. 1t may even have stunned him,
but before he fell his enraged assailant
found time to strike again. One blow
, cut a cash in the mans head and prob
ably was the second blow struck. The
first Is thought to have been delivered
on the back of the head, near the base
of the brain, the impact knocking off
Sosey's cap and leaving the top Of his
head wholly unprotected.
The conductor sank to the floor of
the car platform, blood streaming from
one ear and into his throat. Moreover,
If this theory is correct, and the au-
topsy should go far toward proving its
correctness, the murderer must then
have remained on the platform alone
with his victim for several minutes
while the car was traversing The dis
tance between the spot where he
boarded it and the city limits. Sosey
meantime lay in pool of his own
blood, easping for breath and even
then apparently in a dying condition.
Finds Conductors Body
At the city limits a young man,
whose name the railway officials have,
stopped the car and boarded it. AS he
did so, it is thought, the murderer
swung himself off from the far side,
the glare of the headlight preventing
the passenger from seeing him. To do
this he was compelled to step over the
body of his bleeding victim, but his
nerve did not desert him.
AS soon as he had boarded the car
the young man saw the unconscious
body of the conductor. Without stop
ping to investigate he threw open the
car door and ran to it's front end,
stopping only long enough to give the
bell cord two frantic jerks. There he
told the motorman what had hap
pened, and the two men returned to-
gether to the rear
Sosey was found lying on his back.
choking for breath and bleeding pro-
fusely At once the few passengers in
the car crowded around, and Miss Sadie
Bartram of San Francisco who served
as a nurse following the San Francisco
disaster, suggested that the conductor
be turned over so that the blood might
run out of his throat. This suggestion,
however, was not acted upon. The
man was left as he was found, one
foothanging over the inside step of the
car The motorman returned to his
post and the car was run, without stop,
to the county hospital, where the con-
ductor was carried inside for treat
merit.
Scout Accident Theory
Ait the time everyone seemed to take
1t for granted that Sosey had met with
an accident, The detectives, however,
sGon abandoned this theory. They de-
dared that the injuries inflicted could
ilot possibly have followed an impact
of the mans head against a trolley
pole. To begin with, even If such an
= impact had not thrown the conductor
from the car it is inconceivable they
say, that he could have escaped with
out a. considerable section of his skull
being crushed in, so great was the
cars speed. That there was a fracture
is certain, but it was nothing like the
crushing that would have resulted, they
declare, IrOHl an dcclQenL Sucn as mad
been imagined.
Moreover, there were two blows This
seems to be indicated beyond reason
allie doubt, and to prove Conclusively
that 1t was human agency and not ac-
cident that sent the conductor to his
death.
If the theory of the detectives is cor
rect-and there seems to be good
ground for believing 1t so-they have
at least one clew to work upon. Evil
\ IDENTIFY the crime was committed by
someone familiar with the road. The
murderer must have known of that bad
stretch OF wire and must have counted
on the car slowing down there suf-
fciently for him to jump aboard. II
is not impossible that he was accus-
toned to running over the road, either
as passenger or perhaps as an en-
poye of the company
Must Have Been PremedItated
What is more, the man must have
been actuated by powerful motives. for
the crime, II II was committed as the
detectives say 1t was, must have been
premeditated. the details carefully