Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1909-09-27
ARRESTS MADE
IN SANTA ROSA
MUROERCASE
YOUNG BUSINESS MAN
Is HELD ON SUSPICION
Evidence Thus Far Purely Cir
cumstantiaI and Formal
Complaint Has Not Been
FiIedi Developments Expect
ed Quickly

tspecial Dispatch to the Morning Journal
! Santa Rosa \. NJ, Sept. 26.-Three
| young men, all residents OF this place
We're placed under arrest this morning
| at the instance Of citizens of Los Tanos
under suspicion OF having knowledge
of the murder OF lsyear- old Sarah
Hatton who was assaulted and killed in
the hills overlooking Santa Rosa Fri
! day afternoon.
| Two of the men were released this
| afternoon, having been able to prove
satisfactory alibis The third, Robert
! Higgins, is held under suspicion and at
| 10 o'clock tonight Il. /. Hatton, ia
/ ther Of the murdered girl, sWore to a
/ formal complaint against him, chare-
ing him with the murder. He viii
be given Il preliminary hearing Tues
/ day morning. The evidence against
Higgins is thus far purely circumstan-
cial ANA the chain of circumstances
/ is not complete.
The body of the murdered girl was
taken to Los Tanos. nine miles from
! herr. this afternoon and will be bur
led there
Al the coroner's inquest held here
| today it WAS brought out that Miss
Hatton came to Santa Rosa on horse
| back Friday morning and went 10 the
where she made several purchases.
Higgins is the bookkeeper there and
frequently waits on customers. He
was friend of Miss IlattOn and had
paid her some attention Tie saw her
while she Wes in the store. At IL
o'clock Miss Hatton rode out of Santa
Rosa, crossing the railroad tracks and
going toward the hills. Bonita Mon
tano, Il Mexican woman, who lives
about half a mile out Of town told
the jury that she saw Miss Hatton
riding along the road, and that she
turned frequently at least foun times
as if looking for some one to follow
her. About three hundred yards from
the Montana Woman's house the road
enters the hills, and the woman says
Miss Hatton stopped her horse there
and looked back. Then she rode on.
The thorough search along the road
showed that when a little way up in
the canyon Miss Hatton turned into a
cross road leading 10 an arroyo which
leads up from the railroad track. |
There she got off her horse and walk |
ed ii short distance down the canyon |
At that point a mans footprints APP |
pear and these foot prints were traced |
back TO point near the railroad |
track. The ground shows further that |
two people sat down beside q large |
rock evidently, the trailcrs told the |
jury for some little time Then fol |
lowed the story Of the evidence of a |
struggle blood and parts of the young
womans garments, such as IA buckle
and small bits of woman's clothing.
The story was then told of finding the
woman's body thrown into a creYice
of the rocks. her head horribly beat
en- with stones.
That the girl stopped in the arroya
. nd waited for some nnp with ~ lOn
she had an appointment was the con-
clusion reached from the evidence; |
that the appointment was kept and
that the girl made a desperate rcsis-
tancc to improper advances; was ov-
crcome and murdered to hide the
crime.
4 curious feature of the case Is the
absence Of the girls saddle. When last
seen she carried red coat, her hat
and hand bag tied to the saddle.
These and the bride have totally dis
appeared and John Hicks and half a
dozen others of the best known trail
ors and cowmen in this section have
failed to find them after IN all day
search. There are several lakes in
the immediate vicinity, which are very
deep and it is thought possible the
saddle. bride and coat were thrown
into one of them. This may account
for their disappearance, nut TINS is en-
tircly theory.
The morning after the murder
Hogin went TO TucumcarL lie re-
turned th,, same night
Thus far the evidence against him Is
aircumstantiaL He has been able 70
account for practically all OF his time
during the day, and his friends declare
that if he is the guilty man he must
have kept an appointment and COM |
mitied the crime within "A space Of less I
than an hour. which hardly seems ! .
possible i'm view Of the distance he had
.o walk and the time evidently oCcu-
pied at Ia" meeting place. He with |
two other Young men who knew Miss
ifatton were arrested this morning on
The suggestion OF Los Tanos people. ,
Two of them were released this after |
noon. after proving complete alibis
ana Higgins was not formally arrested
under the murder charge until tonight
n 10 O'Clock. when Hattou swore to I
The complaint.
1t u not known why Higgins went j
In Tucumca1 and why. if guilty. NJ !
h,. horrible crime. he returued. His {