, 1907-10-24

ASEC0ND
FAILURE OF CARTRIDGE IN LEP-
PER'S PISTOL PROBABLY
SAVED LIFE OF MUIR
DOCK MATHEsoN.
Heard Shots Fired Which
Wounded Judge BrameI and Was
Hastenine to Law Office When
He Was confronted by Lepper,
Who Pointed Pistol at Him and
Pulle Tr,sser-BrameI Asleep.

Murdoch Matheson, who witnessed
the tragedy yesterday afternoon which
ended in the self-destruction Of VIII
lam Lepper after he had fired three
bullets into Judge Bramels face, dan.
gerously %wounding that attorney, tells
today how nearly he himself came to
being shot to death by the a Lep-
per met him in the stairway and
snapped the pistol at him point blank,
at close range, and but for the defect
in the cartridge there might have been
another and different chapter to the
afternoons events.
Mr.. Matheson Heard Shots.
MI. Matheson was standing near the
foot of the steps leading to Judge
Bramel's Office with his wife when he
heard the three pistol shots fired in
Judge Bramel's Office. He left Mrs.
Matheson standing on the sidewalk
and started up the stairs, meeting
Lepper just as the latter turned from
the room and started down.
What have you been doing up
there?" Mr.. Matheson asked.
81 don't know" Lepper replied, with
an oath, at the same time bringing
the muzzle of his pistol into Mathe-
sons face and pulling the trigger.
Stepped Over Dying Man.
Matheson said his wife called to
him to know what was going on, but
he urged her not to come, expecting
that he would be shot and that she
might be wounded also. Just as he
reached the head of the stairs he saw
Lepper raise the weapon to his temple
and pull the trigger. Lepper fell back.
ward and Matheson stepped sover him
as he fell, going to the front Office in
Judge Bramel's suite. That room was
full of smoke and he could only see
the attorneys feet.
Rushing to the mans side, he lifted
his head and asked if he had been
shot.
Or. Stevens on Scene.
II am shot," Judge Bramel replied,
IL thSh ldPcS" IA
Mr.. Matheson believes DR.. Stevens was
the first to arrive after himself, but is
not sure of that. He told his wife from
the head Of the stairs to summon help,
and she probably did so, the 10 be-
ing filed in a few minutes.
Chris Tegner told Judge G%roesbeck
today that half an hour before Lepper
shot Judge Bramel he had threatened
Groesbeck's life, and the latter now
realizes how narrow an escape he had
with the man in his office, probably
with his hand or the weapon all the
time. He said he realized that Lep-
per was insane, and his plan was to
so anger him that he would leave the
room in disgust. 1t is thought Lepper
went directly from Groesbeck's Office
to Bramel's, where he opened fire.
Lady Almost in Tragedy.
Mrs. AIDA Ulen, whose Office is in
the same room with that of Judge
Groesbeck, had stopped on the street
for a moment, meeting Lepper. on the
stairs as he came down the steps.
DuI wi IL ldCI ludl II SAShuh5Su q
word or two on the sidewalk with an
acquaintance, she would have been
with Lepper and Groesbeck when
they were quarreling. She waited at
the foot of her stairway until Lepper
descended. 1t was but a moment until
she heard shots through the separat.
ing wall.
Bramel Was Asleep.
Mr.. and Mrs. B. C. Bramel of Cen
tennial reached the city this morning,
in answer to a summons from here,
and Mr.. Bramel went at once to the
bedside of his father at the county
hospital. He found that gentleman
suffering great pain from the wounds.
The jaw on one side of his mouth had
been badly shattered, the roof of the
mouth was broken and the jaw on the
opposite side of the mouth had been
fractured. Last night there was
some bleeding at the ears, and this
morning the condition of the wounded
man was not quite as reassuring as on
yesterday afternoon, after his arrival
O. ~ ASSPithAs L ~ "
that he was asleep in his chair when
Lepper entered the room and opened
fire, the son gathering the information
that Judge Bramel had nc time to de
fend himself against the attack or to
get out Of the range of the bullets.
The shots came in quite rapid sue.
cession and evidently at close range.
Fatal Bullet Found.
In a post norton examination Of the
body Of Lepper at the Stryker morgue
this morning, DR.. James A. Ballard,
the county coroner, discovered the bull.
let lodged against the inner side OF
the skull on the left side OF Lepper's
head. 1t had passed through the skull
On the right side. completely through
the brain, and had fractured the bone
on the left side Of the head. 1t was
SO completely 1attened out that II
would not At into the empty shell but