Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-16
DEATHBED WORDS
SAVE MEXICAN
VICTIM BELIEVED ASSAILANT'
INSANE
Man Who Fired shot That Resulted
in Death Is Sent to Patton
After Examination by
Commission

The admission of Ralph Galardo, n
Young Mexican. on his deathbed, who
was fatally shot in a quarrel Tor the
possession of his sweetheart, saved
Juan Soto from facing a charge OF
murder yesterday when witnesses pe-
fore Judge Rives in department TWO
of the superior court testified that even
the victim Of the assault had dpupteu
his assaiant's sanity.
Soto, by order of the insanity COM
mission, went to Patton insane asylum
yesterday instead of to probable death
at San Quentin, and If he enjoyed the
change no one could have told 1t by
looking at him.
Soto's case is peculiar and the COM
missioners were In n bad way yester-
day to settle the mans case. The mur-
der charge had been regularly fled
against Soto and he was awaiting trlal
i'm the higher court when his attorney
interceded with the suggestion that his
client was insane. The district attor-
ney sent Dr. George Cambpell to eX-
anime the prisoner and upon the phy-
sician's statement the murder charge
was withdrawn and an insanity COM
plaint substituted.
Mind Is Feeble
Yesterday when the man came up
for examination 1t was found that the
SYMPTOMS showed a feeble mind rather
than insanity. and recently by an act
of the legislature people OF feeble
minds have been sent to the poor farm
rather than to the insane asylum. 10
refuse to send Soto to the insane asy-
lum would have meant his release,
since the murder charge had been taken
down, so q compromise was effected
when Judge Rives, after learning that
ha Ip1iuht he restored IN the
near future, sent word to the hospital
officials ordering them to notify the
district attorney before they released
Soto on parole or as discharged.
Soto shot Galardo, another young
Mexican, during August for love of
Louise Rodriguez. He had become in
fatuated with the girl, and when he
discovered her talking to the other
man he fred at the group and the bull
let struck Galardo in the right knee.
Blood poisoning set in and Galardo
died during October.
Before he died he called several rela-
tives to his bedside and told them that
he did not wish Soto prosecuted, since
he did not believe the young man was
in his right mnd when he fired the fatal
shot.
Acts Are Peculiar
Several TRUSTEES from the county Jail
were brought into court yesterday and
testified that Soto frequently arose
during the night and took off dry cloth
ing and put on wet garments hung
upon the line to dry over night; that
he went from one cell to another ap-
propriating various hunks, like a sit
ting hen in confusion, and that he made
a general nuisance Of himself.
Those facts and his loss of sleep,
his history and his refusal to eat, con-
stituted the weight of evidence against
him until Soto was called upon to tell
his story of the shooting.
He told the court he did not remem-
Der the shooting, but that he had a
haunting fear that he had attacked
some woman, probably his sweetheart,
and had beaten her. He further testi-
fed that he thought he had hurt man
in a saloon fight. but he didn't know
whether it was man or woman with
whom he had the trouble.
AS he started to leave the court room
several Mexican women approached
him with small gifts. One of the women
was his sweetheart but all were denied
seeing the defendant, and he was hus-
tied away.