The Record-courier. [volume] (Gardnerville, Nev.) 1904-current, 1913-10-10
Jean Menta, Prominent Sheepman
Victim Of Foul Play Mystery
Shrouds Identity Of His
Assassin and How
Crime Was Done

Jean Menta, a well known sheep
man, was murdered in cold blood
at the old Willard-McDonald mill,
near the Mountain House, last Sat
urday afternoon and his body was
found Sunday morning at II O'Clock
by his camp tender.
Menta had arranged to separate
his lambs at the Mountain House
and the herders had been instructed
to bring both bands of sheep to that
point. The camp tender left the
Mountain House Sunday morning,
intending to meet the sheep. From
the wagon road he saw Menta S
team tied to tree at the old mill.
He road over to the team and shout
ed but received no answer. Present
ly he glanced down to the creek, 80
feet from where the wagon stood j,
and through an opening in the
brush, saw the body of Mena lying
face downward, his feet partly in
the water and his face. resting on a
rock on the bank. The camp tend
er galloped his horse with all speed
to the Mountain House and notified
Ed Donovad and others of his dis
covery. Donovan notified the coun-
ty coroner, who Immediately left
for the scene.
When the body was moved a 30
automatic revolver was found. The
dead mans face and hair was clot-
ted with blood and without examin.
ing the wounds, it looked like a
sure case of suicide, especially to
those who knew of his misfortunes
and dispondent moods. Six months
ago his wife died and for months he
has suffered continually with rheu-
matism. However, when the blood
had been washed from his head no
less than five holes were found in
his skull, any one of which would
have caused death. At first it ap-
peared that he had been killed by a
charge of buckshot but a post
mortem examination failed to locate
any lead balls in his brain. The
holes were all in the back of the
head, indicating that he had been
murdered in a most cowardly man
ner.
One of the holes in the skull diff
fers from the rest and may have
been made by bullet from a cheap
pistol, the ball ranging downward
The other holes look as though they
may have been made with a sharp
pointed instrument of some kind.
Menta wore pair of rubber over
shoes, on account of rheumatism,
and his tracks were clear and dis
tinct. After tieing his team to the
tree, he started down to the creek.
When he had gone about fifty feet
his tracks showed that he had step
ped several times in one place and
had partly turned around. Here is
where he received his first wound
as on rock just to the right of
where he had stopped was the first
blot of blood The ground showed
no signs of a struggle, indicating
that he was taken unwares. Had
he received all of his five wounds
at this place, it does not seem possi-
b lie that he could have walked twen-
ty feet before he fell.
The old mill offered good hiding
place for the man who planned and
carried out this deliberate murder.
He would have been in easy shoot
ing distance and fresh tracks by the
open window indicated that the
murderer and stood there and just
to one side dozens of tracks indi-
cate that the assassin had laid in
wait for his victim. However, this
is but theory of those who have
investigated the conditions at the
scene of the murder.
Finding Menta's gun beneath his
body, points that he was not killed
instantly and had made an endeavor
to protect himself.
Saturday afternoon Menta and