Arizona republican., 1911-04-04
RODRIGUEZ
 4 MURDERER His Wife Dies of Wounds
 Inflicted By Him NO DYING STATEMENT
But in the Morning She Told a Coherent Story of the Shooting - Husband Admits That Crime Was Premedtated.

Francisco Rodriguez. already a mur- derer in his heart became one in law at half past two o'clock yesterday afternoon. At that hour his wife died at the Sisters Hospital of the wounds inflicted upon her by her hus- band little more than twenty hour. before
 The physicians in attendance. from the moment they saw her with two bullet holes in her back, burnt and blistered by the nearness of the mug gle of the revolver. and one frightful hole below the breast bone. had almost no hope that she would survive. An investigation of the wounds ami an operation for closing up the perforat d intestines gave them no more hope.
 Justice Johnstone telephoned the doctors early yesterday morning as to the probability of her recovery or as to the advisability of taking the woman's ante mortem statement. They replied that she would most likely not survive the day and that at that time she was not capable o. making a statement
 Later in the morning the justice visited the hospital and found that Nrs. Rodriguez had revived ana vas entirely rational She told of her movements the day before. She said that she had started mp town to an- swer an advertisement for help and met hcl husband in front of the Gold Hctel He stopped her. began taking of their troubles and asked her to live with him again. She refused and they walked to the city hall plaza and to other places about town. Rod riguez all the time pleading for a reconciliation.
 Finally he told her that he had fifteen dollars at the Star Lodging house and he would give that to Ter if she would live with him She le- piled that she would not return to him for that or any other sum A little before eleven o'clock she started to return home and went with her husband, on some pretext offered by him. by the Star Lodging house. though that was a block out Of her way
 Leaving the lodging house. they went east and when they came to the crossing of Ninth street and the rail- road track, they stopped, or rather Rodriguez stopped her and asked again if she would live with him She replied that she would not aud started away. IL was then that he shot her twice in the back She ran north on Ninth street until she came to the house of Jesus I.cyVas sixty feet north of the track. See ing the door open she ran D it and here a most pitiful thing happened. The woman fleeing from her husband who had now inflicted four weunds, one in the left hand and tho other in the left leg. in addition to the two in the back, sought refuge. As she reached the door. the inmates closed it against her. She turned again to- ward her husband and as she was sinking he fired the last shot into her breast
 But this story never got int) an ante-mortem statement for vixen he justice returned later, accompanied by District Attorney Bullarl, StenoS- rapher Schupp and Deputy Sheriff Adams. the wounded woman had sunk. into a stupor out of which she pass ed directly to death.
 Rodriguez was not informed of his wife's death until seven o'clock last night. He evidently realized that he now had a clearer view of the hang man but he talked freely and in the course Of a long conversation he ad- mitted that the crime was premcdi- tated He set up of course the idle plea of intoxication but that was cer- tainlv fabricated He was not drunk when he was arrested fifteen minutes after the shooting and his statement made on Sunday afternoon that he had drunk three bottles of beer and .om at the Star Lodging house on the morning of the shooting was prov cd to be untrue. His room had not been disturbed and there were no empty bottles there.
 But if drunkenness were a defense it was destroyed. by Rodriguez's sue ceeding statement. in which he ad- mitted that he had intended to kill his wife if she would not live with him. It was not an intention formed on Sunday but had been entertained for week If she would not live with me- he said. q made up my mind that she wouldn't live with any body else. loved her and remem- bered the happy times we had had together'
 He bought the revolver with which