Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-06-18
RELATIVES ARE
SUSPICIOUS OF
FOUL PLAY ACT
DISCREDlT REPORTS OF SUI
eide MADE KNOWN
SAY BODIES BORE MARKS NOT
SELF INFLICTED
MANAGEMENT of Patton Asylum and
District Attorney Will Begin Inc
vestigation of Affairs of ln-
stitution Tomorrow
Continued from Page Onel

Continued from Page OneD
Keil. and Ralston Immediately tele-
graphed to Patton concerning the az
| fair. He states that the asylum author
| tiles refused to ship the body, stating
| that an inquest would be held.
| Mr. Ralston then ELECTED the long
withheld information that Copeland
had hanged himself
Mr.. Ralston, he says, demanded 20
know why an inquest was necessary IN
this case, as he understood that IN SIM
! liar cases none had been held.
His question in this regard, he says
was to ascertain if there were any myS-
| terious circumstances involved III tne
DEATH He was told 1t was a clear case
of suicide by hanging but the autho ,I
ties at Patton insisted on RETAINING tiie
/ body suggesting, it is claimed IhaI II
should be buried there.
The quarrel over the telephone pc
came so insistent finally that Ohuer-
! taker Ralston threatened to take tne
dispute into court, saying that as Cope
land had been committed bv court pro,
cedure he would resort to the same alu
to get possession of the body as ne Nj Nj
/ sidered it his case, inasmuch as MrS'
! Copeland, widow of the alleged sulclue'
| had given him charge of the funeral
! The undertaken says his threat
brought forth the retort that IL ne
wanted the body to come after H. ne
states he did so, but has no record OF
"the inquest" having been held. He
received a death certificate signed by
one of the asylum physicians attribut-
| ing Copeland's death to "strangulation
suicidal" He was informed by the
attendants that Copeland had hanged
himself from a window bar on the end
of a bed sheet.
Suspicious Aroused
Ralston became suspicious while pre-
pairing the body for burial and Closely
examined the corpse, calling in several
friends of the dead man to express
their opinion of the case as ROUNDED on
his discoveries All expressed the oplh-
ion that Copeland could not have met
his death in the manner alleged. Raj
ston states that around the neck, below
the epiglottis, and almost against the
cIavicle, he found mark of strangula-
tion such as would be made by a cop
per wire, or thin, strong cord tlghtly
! drawn, but nothing which would lndl-
cate strangulation by a sheet Inc
mark, he says, was about the width OF
a pencil. and extended almost around
the neck, indicating, he believes, that
the man was strangled while lying on
his side or back. Had he been strangled
even with a wire or cord, suspending
himself by the neck, declare several ex-
perts, the lines of strangulation would
! have appeared high up, under the chin,
behind and just below the ears, and
if in the back-against the base of the
brain, But If he had hanoed himself
with a sheet, as claimed at the asylum,
it is said there would have been no mar
row, definite mark, but r:erely gen.
eral discoloration.
Body Was Marked
Copeland's body when examined was
| found to contain many dark spots, such
as might have been made by rough
handling or kicking, but which, 1t IS
agreed, could have been due - the long
| DELAY of the authorities in turning over
the body to Ralston during which de-
composition was begun, or, it is said
the discoloration below the neck also
| could be due to the presence OF en-
balning fluid in the aorta. But not the
wildly lurid mark on the throat.
The body was not emblamed until
taken to San Jacinto, although It was va
| admitted the corpse was ~ot closely eX-
amined until the morning after 1t ar
rived at San Jacinto.
COPELAND is described Gj having
weighed about 1870 pounds, and is said
to have been six feet tall and strongly
built He was of a religious nature,
and had expressed a strong aversion to
/ Su1ClQb, tOlSluGl II W ~
oording to his friends.
i Never in any letter or at any time
| during his life at home had he indi-
Gated even the slightest inclination to
end his life, but showed great consid-
Grafton for the welfare and future of his
family. and repeatedly he hoped
/ soon to return and helm them with the
administration of affairs on the big
ranch.
Letters from the asylum authorities
and from Copeland to his family writ
ten few days preceding his death
stated that he was much improved.
These letters have been preserved and
are published in The Herald herewith
for the first time.
1 Dating from the day of Copelands
death. and continuing into the present
! investigation of the affairs at Patton,
i it has been common gossip at Helmet
and San Jacinto that Copeland's death
was misrepresented, and to The Her
AIDS representative yesterday opinions
! of an ugly nature were expressed by
many former friends, both of Copeland
and of Lee Woods, the youth who was
found hanged March 4.
Conflicting Stories Charged
Many conflicting stories have added
to the tensity of opinion at San ia
cinto. and feeling there seems to be
treatment of Patton's inmates. No at
tempt is made to veil the suspicion that
/ Copeland who, it is alleged, soon after
| his commitment to the asylum was
knocked down and kicked by an at
tendant met with foul play.
"Why did the asylum authorities
wait nearly two days to report to the
widow that Copeland had hanged him
self?" asked the residents of San ia
| cinto.
'Why was this fact withheld, as al
legged, until Ralston's threat to take the
matter into court?"
"If he became violently insane and
ended his life by hanging, although he
had seemed in good mental and phys
zeal health to within few hours of his
tragic death, what caused him to eX-
perience the sudden changer"
'Why was no record of the inquest
submitted to the undertaken"
These are among the questions asked
in connection with Copelands death.
Equally suspicious are the friends
and relatives of Lee Woods, the 81
year-old inmate from San Jacinto who
| is alleged to have hanged himself in
his room at Patton March 4. two
months later, by the same method.
Scout Suicide Theory
Undertaken Ralston also had charge
of Woods body, but beyond appearing
skeptical as to the boy having hanged
himself refuses to express an opinion.
He says he did not closely examine the
body and does not recall the nature of
the discolorations about the neck,
though he remembers that it appeared