Imperial Valley press., 1928-12-26
INQUEST
HELD IN
Staying
COroner's Jury Names
Ray kilgore in Bartley's
Death.
ACCUSED IS SILENT
Desire to Shield His
Father and Protect
Home Inspired Act.

y coroner 5 jury at an inquest
Monday afternoon returned Il yer.
dict that Francis Allen Bartlcv, ~,
wcil-to-do dairyman, came to his
death Sunday, December %, by gun
shot wounds inflicted by Ray Xii
gore on the Bartlcy ranch north
west OF Imperial shortly after }
. clock in the morning.
Although kilgorc was present AT
the inquest, which was held in
Coroner B. +. Lemons undertaking
parlors here, his attorney, Ernest r.
ttlcr, declined TO place him ON the
witness stand.
ttlcy said the Young slayer will
not be permitted 10 testify until
his trial in superior court which is
not expected 10 take place before
February |.
kilgorp went to the inquest with
Deputy Sheriff George Young. He
WAS not handcuffcd aud was permit
ted the freedom of the parlors. He
appeared calm but declined 10 speak
moro than the usual greeting when
approached 10y some of the men who
knew him for years rs student
here.
Witnesses les.lfy
NJ the inquest the finding of
Bartlcy's dead body Sunday morn.
ing near the irrigation canal and
elump OF bushes aud other circum-
stances surrounding the tragedy
were told by Rodney Moore, Bart
ley nephew, sheriff {. l.. Gillett,
DiSQict Attorney Elmer w. llcaId
and Coroner Il. +. Lemons.
Leo iictzcl, photographer. showed
pictures of the murder scene he
took following the killing.
According TO Hcald who invcsti
r gated ,hc slaying with Deputy
sheriff George Wright. an empty
shotgun shcll was found in the
brush near the ditch bank.
The attorney also said that scv-
fral shot and gold tooth were dug
from the ground beneath where
Bartlcy's head lay when his body
was found.
The JURY returned It's verdict af
ter about l. minutes dclibcration.
The entire inquest required less
than an hour. John T. Rice was
foreman of the jury. Other mem
bcrs were G. G.. Jenkins, J. w.
Tyler, l.. l.. Duff, George Tally, J.
/. Davis, L. r. Martin, +. O. Nice,
William Mitchell, W. G. Reed and
j. T. Nuffcr.
Because he wanted to shield his
father and stop forever repeated in
vasions that threatened to wreck
his family home, Ray kiIgorc, -
year old Stanford graduate, lifted
an almost unbcarablc burden to his
voung shoulders and took the life of
Francis Allen Bartlcy, -, Imperial
dairymar, the alleged perpctrator of
the tragic marital tanglc.
According to reliable information
here, it is asserted that the south
had previous knowledge of intimate
relations between his mother and
hartley and had used every lcgiti-
mate means to halt them.
Ray did not determine upon the
drastic measure, which made muir
dcrcr of him, until last Saturday at
his home in Mar Vista when he read
u letter written by his mother to
Bartlcy, il was learned here.
The letter was returned to Mrs,
Klgorc and she had just received it
but, being without her glasses, she
Masked her son to read it to her It
'dcvclopcd that the message, which
was declared to be filled with en-
h dcaring terms and to contain a ref
/ crcncc to certain clandcstinc meet
ing between the Illicit lovers, was
returned to the writer by Mrs. Joe
1 llallawcll of Imperial.
As she wanted the message de
1ivcrcd secretly to BARLEY, Mrs. Xii
>gorc was asserted to have sent it to
Shim through Mrs. lIallawcll'S 5 huS-
band. Accompanying the fatal mis-
sivc was note to llalawcll begging
him to give it to BARLEY but not
to allow anyone TO see him do it,
il was said.
Mrs. Halawcll intercepted it and
the declaration that she and her
husband did not wish to become
parties to thd alleged secret ro-
mancc, the informant stated.
AS he read his mothers love note
to another man Rays anger was
aroused and the old fire blazcd
anew. He left that night in his
fathers automobile to kill the man
4 whose advances he says threatened
to bring about a second separation
of his parents.
Ray had known BARLEY from
childhood and believed the man to