The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-10-15
NOTASUICID[,
BUT MURDER, IS
POLICE THEORY
Two Crippled Beggars Under
Suspicion of Having Killed !.
John Frederick
Cleaning Up Mystery of Death
of Man Whose Body Was
Found on Sidewalk

Declared at first to be case of sui
eide. the death Of John Frederick,
whose body was found AT Fifth and
Folsom streets Monday night, with his
throat cut, is held now by the police to
he one Of cold blooded murder, the
theory being based on the assertions
If c. r. Richards and his wife, who de-
,lared that from the window of their
APARTMENTS at 3l5 Fifth street they
saw him in a fight with two men and
later observed him stagger and fall
Joseph Lane. a one armed beggar. and
Henry Boyle a one legged member of
the same calling. are under arrest on
suspicion Of having committed the
crime, and are being held in detinue,
pending q complete investigation by
the police.
Another witness to the fight was Mrs
Fouke, who also lives at SIS Fifth
street According to Richards he, ac-
companied by his wife. passed group
Of men standing outside the saloon of
NJ. & o. Sullivan. Fifth and Folsom
streets. who We're engaged in an alter
cation. OF the group one was a one
legged man and another a one armed
individual. These two were arguing
with Frederick. and two other men
stood near by.
STORY OF WITNESS
I judged the row would break into
a light" said Richards. and on enter
ing my room. which faces Folsom
street, I raised the window to watch
them Ny wife, who is an extremely
nervous woman, told me to put out the
light if l intended TO raise the blind,
and / turned TO do so. When / returned
10 the window I saw the three men
nghting The man who was killed, and
who seemed TO be a cripple also. was
lighting the other two with his cane.
There was very little light and / could
not see we'll. AS ] watched. however,
] observed the two men draw off from
the other and l saw the latter stagger
eyUard the wall Of the saloon, walk
few steps and then fall. right near the
entnRnce Of the saloon
M wife. who was watching, be-
came hysterical, and / turned to attend
ID her. A short time afterward I saw
the ambulance drive up and the crowd
gather 1 did not know how badly the
man was nAIAs UuL when ltdA Atu ldttE
that he had been killed / told the po-
lice Of what I had seen
KNEW NOTHING OF FIGHT
owen Sullivan. one of the proprietors
Of the saloon. said Boyle and Lane had
been in his place a few minutes before.
4 never heard the row at ALL, he said.
The first ] knew of II was when
Charles Dassonville. a bar tender whom
] know, came into the saloon and asked
for my police whistle, saying that a
man had been killed outside my place
] gave him the whistle and went out
side. where / saw a man lying dead
want 10 deny some published state
ments which declared that a gang of
blackmailers collected in the rear room
Of my saloon. have no rear room and
the men who come here are working
men living in the vicinity"
Mrs. FOuke. the other witness to the
affair, said that as she passed the group
they were lighting Frightened, she
ran TO her room and told her grand
mother Of the occurrence. She did not
see any weapons used and did not know
that a man had been killed until the
ambulance arrived.
SUSPECTS ROOMED TOGETHER
Lane and Boyle lived at the Lincoln
rooming house at the corner opposite
from where the body was found Both
roomed together Mrs, Julia Brasquere,
landlady of the establishment, said
that Lane went 10 his room about an
hour after the trouble in the street
below. but left il after a few mo-
ments stay there. They had been
rooming there about three months
Among their e6ects were letters ad-
dressed TO Mrs. Helen Riker and
signed by William L. Smith. el9 Sixth
avenue, East Oakland and the pre-
sumption Of the police is that one Of
the men was posing as woman and
keeping up a correspondence for some
Interior r1rTDose If his ov-r