The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 11, 1899, Page 1

Call VOLUME LX XV—NO. 42. SAN FRANCISCO, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1899. PRICE FIVE CENTS UNRAVELING OF THE GREWSOME MURDER MYSTERY OF THE SUISUN ROAD W. J. Miller Arrested as the Assassin of Daniel Wilson. Sheriff Savage of Solamo Belicves He Has Trailed the Murderous Crew That Planned and Accomplished the Crime. 11.—One of the most | in the history of | 5 o'clock this | BENICIA, Jan sensational arrests California was made at 1: Port Costa. 1hor wi tody ler was taken into cus- iff George H. Savage and iff J. A. Malone and charged with the murder of Daniel H. b; Wilson, an aged rancher who lived on the Suisun road { The murder was one of the most | cruel and cold-blooded assassinations | e history of the State. The old | )t dead at the door of his ~‘ night of October 9, 189, 'S the author trail the assa. 1. in of circumstantial d the officers t horr onceived | of has The story few v of the State. nation believe that they | a and merciless as any that | criminat | the ‘ | crew as in_ this section of who i8 now in the Suisun, is the brother- of whose murder | and mother of Miller are about half a mile | anch. The property McEwen. The house B with whom the women | will be arrested for complicity in | awiul cr of which Miller is | authorities of Solano worked in for over two years on this dread- ery of the Suisun road. When iined to u He ha believes the mystery. ence that he will r to the gallows and his al- plices to State's Prison. The v sign of guilt pointing | He spent > in locating Miiler, but him working Port and ermined that no time placing Miller behind and his family. iiscovered as a between He ghould be Ic Costa and take Miller the accused man had injured his hand and was not working. his. He was at Port Costa, and there vage and Deputy Sheriff Ma- Miller was called out and was -quietly told that he was under ar- rest for the murder of Wilson. Hand- slipped over his could make even ice he was taken | home in | e went cuffs. were quickly and befo the show of resis on: board the steamer Solano on his way to the jail at Suisun. If looks indicate cha ter, Miller is able of anything. He took his ar- rest -with viciou: sullenness. He pro- tested his Innocence and proclaimed his ability ve an alibi. To the utter surprise of captors he declared, with inces-ant interruption of pro- fanity horrif; cu that while he is guiltless of the which he is ac- nows who did murder the and can send him to the ve If he will but open his mouth. | ed Wilson,” he cried, g him.” 1 man rambled on to alibt that he hopes the rope. me of anche; 1 know who “and-1 can t Then the 2 téll the story of will. save him f: excited to the to 111-yis rirvous, furtive eyes that cannot look one in the face. He knows something of the evidence that has been accumu- Jated against him and has rehearsed a gtory that he has often told. The authorities claim that they win be able to show that Miller, Mrs. WiI- son, Mrs. Dickinson and McEwen planned and carried into execution the murder of Wilson in order that the old rancher could not deed away his prop- erty to a woman, Mrs. Virgie O'Brien, whom he had made his favorite and in- He was t degree and walked nd fro like a caged animal. He fs aged, low-browed, scowling, with | Into the darkness. | the village of Suisun. | husband or wife. tended to install in his household as its mistress. The story of the old rancher’s life and death rivals that of the Belew tragedy in dramatic interest. | THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE MUR-. DERED RANCHER. The murder of which M was one of cold blooded n, almost without parallel in the of Solano County. The assas- sin decoyed his victim out of his home his own threshold as the sh y form of the murderer made {ts way into the blackness of the night. The murdered man was Daniel H. Wil- son, an aged farmer and fruit grower who lived on his ranch five miles from After the com- mission of the crime the most thorough investigation was made, but the offi- cers did not secure evidence strong enough even to show a motive for the murder. Two arrests were made, but the State itself was forced to abandon the prosecution and permit the case to rest as one of the unsolved mysteries of blood that stained the history of the county. To understand rightly the theory and the evidence that connect Miller with the crime an outline of Wilson's friend- ships and associations must be given. The old man had little respect for the conventionalities of life. He was an ignorant, rough, uncouth old farmer who lived with his mistress in the dreary solitude of his ranch and re- sented all criticism of his manner of living as long as he was able to pay his bills. Three years before the mur- der Wilson and his wife quarrel p- arated and were divorced. a division of the community property and an agreement that one of the chil- dren, a boy, should remain with the father and the other, a girl, should go with the mother. In the division of across | the property Wiison kept the ranch for himself. His divorced wife went to live with her mother, Mrs. E. G. Dickinson, and H. W. McEwen on the latter's ranch, which was not far from that owned by Wilson. Mrs. Wilson had a brother, J. W. Miller, who, with his wife, lived at Vallejo. Miller was then employed as a laborer in a planing mill at Val- lejo. After the divorce of Wilson and his wife there was nothing to indicate that bitterness ranked in the brain of either Mrs. Wilson seemed to have forgotten her matrimonial ven- ture. Her children were frequently to- gether, notwithstanding the estrange- ment of their parents, and Mrs. Wilson occasionally went to visit her brother and his wife at Vallejo. More than once she was accompanied on these short journeys by McEwen and Mrs. Dickinson. Wilson seemed to be supremely un- Then there was a report, a flash and the rancher fell dead | There was | ous THE MYSTER] | concerned over his marital troubles and | employed “housekeeper” after “house- | keeper” to suit his convenience and his ifancy. At least two of these women | play a sinister part in the story of the | 0ld man’s death. One of them was Mrs. Virgle O'Brien, who went to the Wilson ranch shortly after the old man and his ‘ wife were divorced. The old fellow did | everything in his power to induce Mrs. O'Brien to remain, but she declined to do =0, and was succeeded by Mrs. Lucy | Owens, who was in the farm house on !lhe night of the murder and felt the falling body of the dying rancher at her very feet. During her stay at the ‘Wilson ranch Mrs. Owens kept with her | Mrs. Ada Rice, her niece. Occasionally | John Hanchard, a brother of Mrs. Ow- | ens, was seen loafing and idling about | the place. | STORY OF THE ASSASSINATION. This, in outline, was the uncouth | household and the peculiar relation- | ships of Daniel H. Wilson on the night ]nf October 9, 1896. Early on that day | Wilson had gone to Suisun to receive | his price for his almond crop, which had been gathered and shipped. The !nld man had discharged his three em- | ployes and had parted from them on the ! best of terms. There could be no mo- | tive of revenge on their part, therefore, | for the men liked the gruff old rancher and were satisfied with the terms of their service. Wilson returned to his ranch from | Suisun about 7 o'clock in the evening. | After dinner he sat down to make up | his accounts for the season. Mrs. Ow- ens and Mrs. Rice retired to their apartments and the little farm house was In silence. Suddenly something struck the door with a dull sound. Wil. son was startled and disturbed, but soon resumed his labors. A short time after the sound was repeated. Some one, concealed in the darkness of the orchard, was throwing clods of earth at | the door. An instant after the second clod was thrown Mrs. Owens, scantily clad, came from her room and started toward the | NIGHT RIDEORMILT gy ONTHE SUISUN RoA o, U MRY.0 SAW THE ASSASSINATION door. water and remarked that some m chief maker must be at his Wilson replied that if any more clods were thrown his answer would be with a shotgun. He offered to go and get the water for Mrs. Owens, but she said it was not necessary. She opened the door and disappeared in the dark- ness. A moment later Wilson followed her. Mrs. Owens swears she did not know he had left the house. Mrs. Owens was not in the best of moods that night, for she was to be su- perseded on the following day as ‘“housekeeper.” The 0ld man had been discussing a change for several days. He had never ceased in his efforts to induce Mrs. Virgie O'Brien {o return, and at last success crowned his en- deavors. He promised Mrs. O'Brien that if she would return he would deed to her his sole remaining property, his ranch. This was startling news not only to Mrs. Lucy Owens, but to Mrs. Addie Wilson, the divorced wife of the old man. Mrs. Wilson had always hoped that the ranch would go to her children and be a home for her after the death of her former husband. Her son brought her the news of his father's purpose. and witnesses will swear that a week before the murder there were She was going outstde for some | pranks. | (R s S U hdens Ul A MRS, . A DD Divorceo MER, WOMEN AND SOLVE A SOLMO" WYSTERY, FTER two years of mystery the authorities of Solano County believe they have captured the murderer of Daniel H. Wilson, an old rancher, who was assassinated on the night of October 9, 189, at his own door. have arrested J. W. Miller, the brother-in-law of Wiison, and have charged him with the crime. Three other arrests are to follow. After the most untiring efforts on the part of the newly elected officials of Solano a series of damaging facts have been collected agalnst the accused man, his sister, her mother, Mrs. A E. G. Dickinson, and H. W. McEwen. mitted to secure possession of Wilson's ranch, which he threatened to deed to The story of the assassination and of those involved In It represents one of the lowest and most revolting phases of California country one of his favorites. life. | earnest conferencs, in which Mrs. Wil- son, Mrs. Dickinson, McEwen and Miller took part. But time passed until the night be- fore Mrs. Virgie O'Brien was to be in- | stalled as ‘“housekeeper’ and was to | receive a deed to the property. It was natural, therefore, that Mrs. Owens | should be in ill humor and should de- | cline the courtesy of the old man. Mrs. Owens filled a pitcher with water, re- | turned to the house and closed the door. A moment later there was a loud rap- ping and Mrs. Owens heard Wilson say, “Don’t lock me out, Lucy.” The old man was on the outside. | Mrs. Owens opened the door, through which a shaft of light streamed upon the aged rancher. At the same instant there was a flash of light and a report out of the blackness of the night and Wilson fell dead across the threshold of his own door. He had been shot through the heart, and into the dark- ness, it i{s said, 2 man and a woman hurried away. That, in outline, is the story of the crime. THE MURDERER'S TRAIL LOST ON THE ROAD. Mrs. Owens and her niece shrieked in terror. They hastened out on to the dreary road for assistance and within an hour a few men gathered at the Wilson ranch. Nothing could be done until morning. The old rancher had never spoken after the shot entered his body. When daylight came the search- ers saw In the soft ground of the or- chard the footprints of the assassin. Step by step they were followed to a little bridge on the edge of the ranpch. The murderer had known his ground well, for in the maze of trees and in the darkness of the night he had made his way in a direct line to the brid. There he had tied a horse. bridge the horse, which w a peculiar- ly hollow-footed animal, had carried him away from the scene of his crime. The officers had very little with which to trail the murderer. They knew the size of the footprints in the orchard | and the impression of the hoofs beyond | the bridge. The size and character of the shot that entered Wilson's heart were known, but offered little hope as links in a chain of evidence. All of the relatives, friends and associates of Wil- son were summoned before the Coro- ner, but they gave no evidence that was material. Mrs. Owens and her brother, John Hanchard, were arrested on suspicion, but there s no proof of guilt to support the accusation, and they were released. Miller, McEwen, | Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Dickinson were | suspected, but the officers did not feel warranted at that time in justifying their suspicion with a formal charge. For many weeks the towns of Suisun and Vallejo were profoundly interested. Rumors were flying thick and fast on | the roads, but little came of them. Mrs. | Owens had been released and Mrs. Wil- son, if guilty, could not be caught. She testified with all solemnity before the Coroner that she bore her former hus- band no grudge and would not have sought his life for gain. Her brother, J. W. Miller, even sacrificed his em- ployment at Vallejo and spent months in what he claimed was an effort to clear away the mystery of a crime that is now laid at his door. As the energies of the officers seemed to lag, Governor Budd offered a reward of $500 and the | Sheriff of Solano $200 for the apprehen- sion of the murderer. This inspired new effort and many men entered the field on their own re- sponsibility with a hope of winning the reward. Among these men was J. F. Stranahan, who went from place to | place, where suspicion directed him. | He worked in the guise of a book agent, | ingratiating himself into the good | graces of McEwen and Mrs. Dickinson. | He could do nothing with Mrs. Wilson, | but he listened at doors, concealed | himself in wagons and journeyed miles | with the suspected men and women. He was eavesdropper, tale bearer, any- thing to learn a fact that might be per- tinent in solving the mystery of Daniel | Wilson’s death. Stranahan learned | much that was valuable, but the offi- cers had no confidence in his judgment and no respect for his opinions. Yet it is upon the discoveries of this man that the officers of Solano now base their charge against J. W. Miller. Gradually the excitement over the tragic death of Wilson died away. The | officers gave up their chase, Stranahan | moved to Pendleton, Or., where he now resides, and Miller disappeared. Many an ugly rumor was afloat, but rumors do not lead men to the gailows. The | Wilson tragedy seemed likely to re- main a mystery of crime. A MOTIVE FOR THE CRIME DIS- COVERED. About a year ago new interest was | infused into the <dismal affair. The | people of Sufsun always believed that | McEwen and his mistress, Mrs. Dick- | inson, could tell something of the mur- | der if they dared to talk. The tongues of the village gossips always wagged viciously when McEwen came in from | his ranch. One day he was surrounded THINGS THAT MAY &2 "”{ i THROYGH THE HEART, | AND FELL DEAD AT THE [ m the ANIEL H- E/lL.soN et 7 THEMURDERERS HORSE STATIONED AT THE EDGE OF THE ORCHARD | by an angry directly charged with the death of old man Wilson. McEwen had a close call for his lite that day for the excited villagers would have done him bodlly harm if he had not driven posthaste back to his ranch, which is not far from the Wilson prop- erty. Some very strange Incidents had | 1ed up to this outburst of public feeling. The finger of suspicion had always pointed toward McEwen and the mis- erable household of which he was the | head. Mrs. Wilson and her mother and daughter lived with him, and even without the conviction of direct evi- dence the greed of Mrs. Wilson to pos- _ dsess the property of her former hus- The officials The murder is claimed to have been com-