Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-01-08
MURDERER AND VICTIM LIE SIDE BY S|DE

Iful view OF things and spoke OF this
,good old world" returning thanks tC
God for all the blessings he enjoyed
He spoke of the mining operations
OF Myers and prayed to God that his
lson would soon strike a ledge of rich
lore. for. he said. you have worked
long and faithfully" The letter con-
tains a loving allusion to the grand
children, Jessie and Ervine. Not a
Iword about their mother, his own
daughter.
The little girl after the tragedy. in
speaking To the reporters. explained
this silence. She said that her grand
parents had sided with the father and
had joined him in urging her to give
up Riggs. Mr. and Mrs. HAYS, by the
way. had. until lately. lived at Dos
/ Cabezas for some time.
The only other document found
about the house was a list Of goods
which Mrs. Myers had stored with
Mr.. Oil on leaving Dos CabeZas. In
a pocketbook there was $50.
An Orphans Story.
i, Here the little girls story of the
bloody happening at the house yester-
day morning which, with what Mrs.
Baber overheard, makes a completed
narrative:
Mama had just got out of bed when
someone knocked at the door and papa
answered 1T. When papa got back,
mama asked him:
Who was il at the door?'
Papa said: 1t was that fellow
Riggs. and if he ever comes back I'm
going to kill him. and if YOU ever see
him again I'm going to Kill you
Mama told him if he'd let her talk
to Riggs minute she didn't care
what he would do
d" You Won't ever talk to him again.
for L going to kill you now papa
said.
If / had my clothes on now I'd
go out and talk To him and you
couldn't stop me- mama told him:
and, anyway, it won't do you any
good TO kill me-
Papa got awful mad then, and
saw he had a gun in his hand. ] was
awful scared. but didn't run away
because they had had fights before
and nobody was hurt, and ! was used
to it. This time though, papa was
madder'n I'd ever seen him. and he
said to mama, Damn you. I'll kill you
right now!' and he aimed the big gun
at her and shot her. Mama ran out
the back door, and me and my little
brother followed her. Papa ran after
her. and caught her in front of the
house. and they had a fight and papa
shot her again, and she fell down in
the dirt all covered with blood Papa
walked back on the front porch and
and | guess I cried. too. The police
men came while papa was standing on
the porch. and papa jumped back in
side and | heard another shot Irwin
and l were both crying and yelling
then. and / guess we ran away from
the house, and l don't know anything
more about it,
The little boy is too young To I'M
derstand the nature Of his bereave-
ment and at first the little girl was
too stunned TO realize fully what had
happened. But as she recovered from
her numbness her grief was pitiful
a kind neighbor took charge of the
children who will probably be provided
for by relatives.
The murdered woman was fairly
good looking and might have been
thirty years of age. The husband was
a little older
An Earlier Tragedy.
The tragedy recalls another almost
its counterpart. though there were
several mysterious features Of the
other that haze never been removed.
Sixteen years ago a striking look
ing woman came to town and took
First and Second She was accom- |
panied by two children. a little girl |
and boy. One afternoon when she
had been here couple of weeks, a |
man came down from Goldfield on the |
stage. He went to the house and |
after remaining for a little while he |
reappeared and the woman accom-
panied him as far as the gate They |
stood there talking. not loudly nor an |
grily. for they did not especially 1
attract the atteption of those who |
passed. But at last the woman raised |
her voice in pleading tone and shot |
was fired. then another and the wo-
man fell The shot brought several
persons to the scene, among them an
officer The man ran across the
street to a vacant place where the
Doris Building now stands and kept |
the crowd off for a moment until he
could make up his mind to die He
shot himself in the head and was
carried with his wife into the house
where they lay side by side. The man
did not recover consciousness but
died in a couple of hours. The wo-
man fingered moaning until midnight.
1t was learned that Ithe name of
the murderer was David Secrist, a
miner. Why he killed his wife was
never known for the children could
tell of no quarrel. When the woman
was dressed at the undertakers there
was found tied about her neck a lit
tie bag containing two cartridges of
the same caliber as those which had
been fired into her body.
Late that night a young man of
the name of Secrist. who some months
before. had come to Phoenix and en-
gagged in business. returned from
trip in the northern part Of
the territory. He went to the under
taking room and when he saw the
corpse of the man he collapsed. He
said nothing but ii was afterwards
learned that the dead man was his
brother whom he had not seen since
he was a small boy in Ohio The ell