Arizona republican., 1920-07-12

who lived alone on his 16O-acre ranch near Avondale He was known as & man of friendly disposition with few, if any, enemies On April IT, 1917, he was shot and killed on his ranch neighbor was arrested and charged with the crime, but a jury later exonerated him.
 Bitter killing his neighbor. John W. Bell, on his ranch near Chandler, J. R. Beasley came to the sheriff's office at Phoenix and gave himself up on June 9, 1917. Although there vas no eye witness to the crime, evidence gained at coroner's inquest showed that Bell had been shot twice through the back. Beasley admitted firing the shots dur ing quarrel over land interests lie was found guilty by a jury and sen fenced to life imprisonment.
 A man on whose arm was tatooed the name J w. Radcliffe but who was identified as John Williams was shot aSS3 killed in a quarrel by Fl. B. Miner on a ranch near Glendale in thei early part of August. Miner was sent to the penitentiary to serve an indeterminate sentence ef from one to ten years.
 A shot fired in the early morning hours of August 30 ended a long stand ing feud between Mrs. Dolores Ochoa and Mrs. F. Alvarez. The two women were neighbors in a colony of workers for the Arizona Securities company F. the Victine of the tragedy and Mrs. Ochoa was given a suspended sentence. as only circumstantial evidence pointed to her responsibility for the death of her enemy.
 Because his wife persisted in quarrel ing with him over pictures of women he carried in his pocket John M. Fields, Mrs. Amanda Fields on October 2S. He was found guilty of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment.
 Mexicans. negroes and Indians were playing cards on blanket spread in an irrigation ditch near Chandler when Luis Rodriguez suddenly threw down his cards and walked gloomily away from the game, a heavy loser. After breeding a short time over his losses, Rodriguez returned in an antagonistic mood. He flourished a revolver but be- fore he could use it. was shot down by Freeman Greer. Testimony showed Greer shot in self defense as Rodriguez was aiming his revolver at the defend ant. The charge of murder which had been brought against Greer was dis missed.
 With the close of the year 1917 came the murder of A. w. Peay, a rancher who was killed on his own place near Glendale on December 30 Elmer Pearson admitted he shot the rancher and offered as his only defense that he was drunk. Pearson told the court that that while in an intoxicated condition he began to shoot at chickens on the Peay ranch. When the rancher remon- strated he turned the gun upon him and fired. The shot proved fatal. Pearson was sentenced to life imprisonment. II was the twelfth murder recorded in 1917.
 The most sensational murder case of 1918 was that of Ivan McCann, who was convicted for the murder of Ken neth c. FolSton. For more than six l months the disappearance of Folston
 was a matter of serious mystery to the authorities. McCann came to the
 sheriff's office in November of 1917 and reported that Folston was missing from the hotel where he had been staying in Phoenix. McCann offered his assistance in locating Folston and was one of the leaders in a wide and intense search. The body of Folston
 was found in a lonely wash north ot Scottsdale- Near the place where the
 body was found were dirn1y outlined shoe tracks of both a man and a woman. Evidence introduced during