Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-23
HOODED MOB IS
BELIEVED CAUSE.
Of DEATH Of Z
KIDNAPPED MEN
Troops Are Sent 10 W0fe-
house Paris, Law Where
B0dieSr Bound With Rope,
Emerge From Water
C0NSPIRATORS THOUGHT
CAUSE OF EXPLOSION


Mer Rouge. La. Dec. 22.-Rcla4
tivos and friends late today par-
TALLY Identified the bodies Of two
wire-bound men cast up today by
La Fourche lake, as Watt Daniels
and Thomas Richards, missing
since kidnapped by hooded men four
months ago. it was reported here
tonight, Buckles and bits of cloth-
ing were said TO have been reoog-
nized by several who viewed the
bodies.
The bodies late today were
placed by tho coroner of More
house in the hands Of A, r, Far-
land, chief investigator of the de-
partment of justice, and brought
here tonight under military guard
to await the arrival of a patho-
logist from New Orleans, who will
determine whether the men wero
killed before being bound and
thrown into the water or whether
they were thrown in alive and
drowned.
The coroner announced an in
quiry will be held here. Fifty adj
ditional members OF the Monroe
national guard, ordered out this
morning to reinforce the troops
now here. marched into this town
tonight
Resistance Is Expected
Some resistance is expected when
the states warrants calling for ar
rest Of number of men believed
to have been the ringleaders of the
hooded men are served, it was in
dicated here. The presence OF an
additional body of state troops, it
was believed, will serve as q. pre-.
caution against the probable OUT
break.
Special Investigators of the de-
paTtment Of justice. working un-
der the direction of the governor,
are said to have p partial list OF
members of the hooded mob. Many
names were secured several months
ago when the investigators reports
ed an attempt was made during tho
night by a group of men to reach
a spot on La Fourche lake, guard
ed as the probable resting place oe
the bodies.
The opinion is advanced thar
these same men returned in the
dead hours OF the last night and
placed a charge of dynamite and
released the decapitated, wire
bound bodies from the weight that
for four months had held them
securely to the bottom of the lake.
Divers spent the afternoon seeking
TO locate the rusty wagon wheels
that were missing from the banks
of the lake simultaneously with the
disappearance of the men, the only
missing link in the chain of evil
dence the Investigators had sub
mitted to the governor as their so-
luton Of the mystery.
Decoy Gang Active
While LaFourche was being
hi2gted, what was believed to be a.
decoy of eight or ten men wero
active in Lake Cooper. twenty
miles away, drawing the fire Of the
state guards and bringing the en-
tire military company from Ner
Rouge to the banks Of tho lake.
The military captain announced
the investigators We're not respon-
sible for the blasting last night and
a search is under way to identify
those responsible.
With diving operations concen-
trated chiefly on the ferry landing
NlNlt Y d IudlI IHultdLGQ tue DOQleG
Of the missing men most likely
were hidden. it was declared tho
guilty men feared the bodies would
eventually be located and decided
to recover them an remove them
to another burial place in the iu-
terror. The dynar>'+nrs evidently
became frightened or failed to find
their quarry and ran away. the
story goes,
Government agents declared not
less than 1,O09 pounds of dynamite
was used by the mysterious visitors.
The explosion was declared to have
been terrific. and houses in tho
nearby vicinity were rocked by the
concussion. \ large part of the
bank was blown away.
The evident purpose was to cover
up the bodies at tho bottom OF tho
lake, as at that point the depth of
the lake is sixty feet, agents said.
but instead, the Jar released the
bodies from the weights to which
they We're attached and permitted
them to rise to the surface.