The San Francisco call., 1909-02-27
.HORRID CRIME
. HIDES in RUIN
OF FARM HOUSE
Mother and Four Children Are
Murdered and Evidence De-
strOyed by Flames
Whole Family Wiped Out and
!. Bodies Found in Bed in
Burned Home
WOman's Crushed Skull and
Bloody Mattress Point
TO Foul Play

to Foul Play
~ .AKERSFIELD. Feb. 26.-The dis
K oovery OF the bodies of Mrs Min
Il ME Beekman and her four chill
dren in the ruins of their farm
nome. seven miles south of the city,
which burned at o'clock this morning,
brought to light crime as mysterious
as II was horrible. the indications be-
Ing that the five victims were first
:. murdered and the house set on fire to
I. destroy the evidence Of the deed Not
: a single stable clew has been discov-
=. erred by the authorities up to the pres
ept
The dead are:
Miss Minnie Beekman. aged 40, wife
. OF the ate w. Vi. BeeIxman.
Vera Beekman. aged IA.
Raymond Beekman. aged IL.
annie Beelxman, aged 8.
Arthur Beekman, aged G.
The first presumption of the neigh
borse on discovering the five pitiful
bodies in the midst Of the ashes of the
home, was that the place had caught
IRE during the early hours Of the morn
ing. and its occupants burned to death;
hut a short investigation and the sight
Of blood stains indicated that there had
been foul play.
Blood on Mattress
The mattress on which the body of
!. the unfortunate mother lay was soaked
with red. ugly stains They covered
the remnants Of the sheet found by the
-. -.coroner. A further investigation re-
..vealed that Mrs. Beekman's skull had
been broker, but. as Ear as could be dis
covered, the skulls Of the four little
*chifdven were intact With all the hor-
.rih3e evidences of the crime before them
Sheriff Kelly and Deputy Sheriff James
Quinn knew not where to turn for the
; *perpetrator Of the deed.
The only cIew they had was a sus-
picfon at the most. and implicated
. som OF Beekman by former marriage.
He had not been seen in the vicinity
. for some months past and when last
. heard Of two months ago was in Ven
tuTa county. Since then nothing is
known OF his whereabouts. An effort
was made to locate him today but
without success. and II when discov-
cred. he is able TO establish an alibi the
only. clew the officers now possess will
be worthless.
2. SheriG Kelly went on a wild goose
chase this afternoon by the report that
an insane man had been seen wander
ing about the country. He proved to
be a..sick boy whose whereabouts the
night before was readily accounted for.
~Rescuers Too Late
.Tha FIRE was first observed at about
- O'Clock this morning and the first
men TO appear on the premises found
=. the house mass of flames. but by
. bodies. OF the mother and the four chill
dnen: could be seen on the beds lying in
apparently natural positions. The fam
fly occupied a single bedroom. the
/ mother and two children sleeping in
. one bed and the oldest boy and girl
sleeping in another on the opposite side
= Of the room.
The fact of the FIVE bodies being
found in their beds and that none of
the sleepers had made any attempt to
escape from the burning building led
to. the conclusion that murder had been
done. before the house had been set on
fire.
The mother was known to be a wide
awake alert woman. and it was by her
arrangement that the children slept
with her. her responsibility since her
husbands death making her anxious
and vigilant during the hours of the
night. Her .neighbors scout the idea
that she slept while the house burned.
Robbery Not Motive
While there is but little doubt in the
minds Of the sherihfs department that
murder preceded the fire. it is at a loss
for q motive for the crime The first
theory that robbery had been the in
centive was destroyed by Mrs. Beck
mans attorney, who said that she was
a woman with a keen business sense
and that never. under any circum-
stances. did she .secrete sums of money
about the house. fully recognizing the
danger of doing so.
Another discovery leading to the
theory Of murder was that a reliable
watch dog owned by the Beekmans had
been poisoned two days before the
ira gedy. Another dog. pet OF the
chiIdren's. was found wandering about
the premises today, giving rise to the
belief that it had been taken away and
tied up somewhere on the night of the
murder but succeeded in breaking its
bonds TO return to the home-the only
living thing Of the entire household.
Mrs Beel<man was left widow about
q wear ago. her husband having been
one of the leading farmers in this
county She was his second wife.