Los Angeles herald., 1908-11-30
HELD DOWN ON
TRACK BY HER
JEALOUS LOVER
WOMAN SAVED FROM DEATH
BY M0T0RMAN
CREW AND PASSENGERS CATCH
WoULD-sE MURDERER
Tells officer He Tried to "eet Away
with Her" Because She Had
Preferred Another
Man

Thomas A Monroe, a rancher liv-
ing near Norwalk is a prisoner in the
city Jail with suspicion booked oppo-
site his name.
1t is alleged that Monroe made an
attempt to murder a woman near Cy-
press station, on the Santa Ana line
OF the Pacific Electric railway, by hold
ing her on the track in front of a
northbound Santa Ana car. Only the
presence of mind and promptness of
Motorman James Morton are said to
| have saved the life of the woman, and
probably that also of her little daugh-
ter who was with her.
| Moore was captured by the car crew
and a number of passengers and
brought to Los Angeles, where Detec-
tive George Churchill of the railway
| police turned him over to the city de-
tectives.
1t was shortly after o'clock when
the alleged attempt at murder was
made The northbound Santa Ana car
was making the run to Los Angeles
at the rate of fifty miles an hour.
Near Cypress station there Is a grade
crossing, and acting under the COM
panys rule, the motorman reduced the
speed of his car to twenty miles an
hour. After passing the crossing he
ndu On the GuIT6nI again anu
was increasing the speed of his car
when he saw something on the track
ahead of him. He Immediately turned
off his current, reversed the motor and
applied the emergency brakes, bringing
the car to a stop within fifteen feet Of
the object. Under the glare of the
headlight this revealed itself as a wom-
an with her body held across the track
by man. who was clutching her by
the throat.
Chased and Captured
Huddled near the track and holding
to the Womans dress was a little girl
who was crying and screaming. AS
the car came to a stop, the man rose
UP and started to run away, but Mo-
torman Morton, Conductor G.. e. Sisk
and d number Of passengers jumped
from the car and pursued him, and
captured him before he had gone fifty
feet.
When the party returned to the car
the woman and girl had disappeared in
the darkness. The man, who gave his
name as Monroe, was placed on the
car and brought to Los Angeles, where
Detective Churchill was waiting, and
turned him over to the police.
At the Pacific Electric depot Mon
roe made the statement to Churchill
that he tried ito get away with her,
but that they had caught him too
soon"
Asked his reason for wanting to kill
the woman in that horrible fashion,
he replied that she thought more of
another man than she did of him.
The woman upon whom Monroe
made the attack is Mrs. Margaret, a
young widow living near a winery one
half mile north OF Moody station and
one mile from Cypress. 1t is said that
Monroe has been paying her atten-
tion for some time, and that lately he
became insanely jealous of her be-
cause of attentions she received from
other men.
When brought to the station Monroe
acted as if insane, and pretended not
to know why he had been arrested.
He denied all knowledge of any
woman, and said he did not remem-
Der any occurrence of the kind hav-
ing happened.
On being questioned further, Mon
roe said he frequently had attacks of
loss OF memory which lasted for days,
and declared he had a brother VINO
had been in the insane asylum.
Detective Churchill will go to Cy-
press this morning to secure the tes-
timony of the woman and of any other
witnesses in the case whom he may
find.