Los Angeles herald., 1908-02-07
WIFE
AND SELF nv
JEALOUS FIT
WOMAN MAY LIVE; MAN WILL
DIE
Husband in Dying Statement Says He
Shot Girl Because She Refused
to Give Up Smoking
Opium

! Benjamin C. Evans, a machinist ir
company, shot and fatally wounded his
wife, Isabella Evans, last night, and
/ then shot himself three times in an en-
deavor to commit suicide.
The shooting occurred in Evans room
al the lodging house, S24 South Hill
street. Jealousy is said to be the cause
! for the deed.
Evans and his wife had been sepa-
| rated for more than a year, and the
V oman had been living in a resort al
/ 45S Commercial street.
| The two met frequently but uuarreled
at each meeting. The man. it is said
threatened several times to kill the
woman if she did not give up her mode
OF life and return to him.
Evans arrived at his room in the
lodging house shortly after o'clock
last night He appeared to be in a
cheerful mood, and his landlady heard
HIM singing in his room.
When Mrs Evans arrived at the
room is not known, but shortly after 10
o'clock there was the sound of a pistol
shot and then after a brief interval an
other. A woman's scream from the
loom was followed by three more shots
in rapid succession.
George Erickson, boy living in the
house, ran to the door of the room and
burst it open. AS he did so the woman,
who was leaning against the wall on
the opposite side of the room, ran to-
ward him crying, I'm shot! I'm shot!
My husband has shot mel"
Husband Near Death
Lying on the floor with his head so
-.
open it fully, was the body of Evans
With a bullet wound in the side of his
head and two others in his left breast
Blood was pouring from his mouth and
nostrils and from the wound in his
head
The woman, who was shot through
the abdomen, was evidently in great
pain, and was assisted from the room
and then attention was paid the man.
He was breathing, but at the time was
unable to talk because of the blood ris-
ing in his throat from the punctures in
his lungs.
An alarm was given and in few
minutes Patroinen Graham and Wind
sor arrived at the house and sent for
the police ambulance. Both Evans and
his wife were taken to the receiving
hospital
At the hospital Evans made a state
lAent, after he had been revived, that
he had done the shooting and that he
had intended t. kill his wife and then
himself. and he was sorry he had not
inade q good job of it,
Asked why he had shot her, he stated
it was because he could not break her
o. the habit of smoking opium
Mrs. Evans said the man had shot
her because she had refused to return
and live with him. and that he was
jealous of other men.
The wounded woman was Isabella
Connell before her marriage to Evans,
seven years ago and her home was in
Buffalo, n. Y.
Evans and his wife came to Los An
geles several years ago. The mother
If Evans lives in Whittier, and she
came to the city last night and was at
the bedside of her son before and after
the surgeons operated upon him for
the purpose OF removing the bullets.
The woman also was operated upon
" Drs. Quint Wiley and Cook, and
there is a bare chance her life may be
saved. 1t is SAID Evans cannot recover
and his death is but question of time.
Evans bore good reputation with
his employers and the people who knew
him.