Arizona republican., 1913-03-11
Harry Ninifiki, in Drunken Frenzy, Stabs Aged Hotel Keeper to Death With Oriental Blade in Globe Hotel
THEN TRIES TO
 COMMIT HARIkARI
Coroners Jury Returns Yer dict of Willful Murder. Jap Held. We'll Known ill Phoenix. Local Japs May Help Him
Especial to The Republican,

Especial to The Republican,
 GLOBE, AriZ., March 10.-Because he was forced out of rooming house where he believed he had been living Henry Nnifiki. a Japanese, went back at 4:30 o'clock this morning. gained admittance to the chambermaids room and killed Mrs. Virginia Lee McAfee aged 62, by cutting her throat with an Oriental dagger. He turned the knife on himself and attempted to commit Kari but was pre- vented by the lodgers who were aroused by the screams of the attack ed woman
 Ninifiki was intoxicated when he entered the Van Slack rooming house at o'clock and when he created d. disturbance he was led out by Charles Christensen, one of the roomers. Two hours later, Mrs. McAfee who occu- pied the room nearest the top of the stairs was awakened by loud knock ing on her door. Without lighting a lamp Mrs McAfee opened the door and refused to rent a room. A Frightened shriek followed the con- Versation.
 Christensen who recently was dis charged from the United States navy rushed into the chambermaid's room where he heard a scuffle. In the dim light he discovered the figure of a man and grappled with him. When other rOomers hurried to the aid of Christensen they saw the lifeless body of Mrs. McAfee lying in one corner of the room. The aged Woman's throat was cut from ear to ear and she bore a deep gash over the eye and another on the back of her head. NinifilIi was bleeding from a four inch cut across the stomach. From the position of the knife when Chist- ensen pinned the JaEanese's hands to his side it is believed he was in the act of disembowelling himself when he was attacked
 The coroners jury returned a yer dict of first degree murder. Mrs McAfee formerly lived in Stafford, where her husband died three years ! ago. She has no known survivors. The information that Henry Mini , fiki had become involved in serious l trouble because of his being in- l toxicated struck the local Japanese | SuTDTlSp. 1 Ninifiki was well known in Phoenix: ! he had lived here for years. For
 more than five years he was em- 1 ployed at the Ford hotel, where he made many friends, both on account ] of his genial disposition and his strict attention to business. He is about 29 or 90 years old and was i regarded by the Japanese here as an exemplary young fellow. For a long time he roomed and boarded with J. l R. Dye at 123 West Jefferson street. | During the hours he was not en- gagged at his business he spent his
 time largely in studying English ana
 obtaining a grasp on American eco-
 homie problems.
 He left here in November or De- cember for Globe, having obtained a
 better job. But short time previ-
 ous to leaving here he was employed at the Dome saloon, having left the hotel. In all the time he was around
 these two saloons in Phoenix em :
 plOyed there he was never known to
 touch a drop of liquor, and the fact
 that he was drunk was the greatest
 sort of surprise to his friends The prominent members of the Japanese
 colony said they would make an in
 vestigation of the case and if they found the young fellow was in the wrong they could only offer him
 their sympathy but if they found that there were many mitigating cir cumstances it is quite likely they vii
 contribute money to see his interests , well protected. The news of the
 trouble reached the Japanese colony . long before the telegraph wires be gan to click the story into The Re publican office. but during the eve ming and up to late at night severa
 Japanese visited the office to obtain , details of the trouble.
 r Mrs. McAfee, the poor woman whr , was murdered. is also known il Phoenix by a number of people wh' , have either lived in Globe or visited f there.