The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 9, 1904, Page 11

FRANCISCO CALL WEDNESDAY . MARCH 9, 1904 CORONER LELAND BEGINS THE INQUEST INTO THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF JOSEPH BUTTGENBACH AND NEW WITNESS TESTIFIES THAT HE HEARD THE FATAL SHOT, FOLLOWED BY VICTIM'S GROAN —_— Two Suspects Held by Police Reassert Their Innocence. —_— into the murder of Jo- nbach, shot on Saturday & office the Pacific Pack- begun yesterday be- er Le "-v'fl The day’s work evident that the po- in their effort to dis- ce that would lead to the 1 of the murderer or even in argumentative color that it was commit- Buttgenbach, the vie- was , the ne- | his bitter | , further dis- | admitting | n whether the in- | in Albert's hands | shooting was a re- | nkey-wrench. This Brune, were without | t | bookkeeper, \ Buttgenbach himself | nd retold of the 1 Efforts | stories mony fail | fons of the heuring) ny of Stepk Slavich, | who declared that, | sidewalk in front of ng-h , he heard | assassin’s re- s Immediately | n, the noise of | nd of a scuf- | H ¥, who were expected | saw a man run out t shortly after the shot Thursday that w the believ t was the iry spend the morn- house at Fourth where the Under the guid- L. Ryan spe assigned to case the plac men- witnesses’ statements preliminary tes- rnoon hearing was GREENE'S ACCOUNT. over the entire ing-house and | the proprietor shot when preparing shment f the [ r land th ‘bl"n‘ eene, who related | shortly after t Fourth and way to report | and running crowd 's sa- ng- homas some ERGEANT night a shot discov- breaking enba h jon that sep- - meathouse he rrest partiti under been emptied uggle with an fell. The front office into the | 4 the glass in | iges the HOW THE SHOT WAS FIRED. | sergeant explained f the murderer when meat packer through | ndow of the office. “He | eld his revolver at an the window pane,” ause if it had been at the window the hole i have been smaller.” | both Albert Buttgen- | Zrune had declared from the footpads | back in the engine- of glass falling from | e dgor, but had not | shot, a test was made | de mine whether this was possi- Ryan sent the jurors | rway where the two | ke the partition, and | ane of glass fall on | ce door. The noise | 1 all over the engine- | leged failure to hear of the peculiar things men now under ar- the | ards the glass the test | atement | on session the first ness examined was Louis E. Brune, | the bookkeeper, who is now held un- | er suspicion of guilty knowledge of | the crime. He told his story in a | straightforward way and showed no | signs of nervousfiess, answering many | ADVERTISEMENTS. 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Trau | | boy Slavich | mur- | | r v of the rear | him. | can ng outside in |} |as soon as 1 | room Albert called to me there in | door, | that he | the desk we did not | lice A3 —_— it Hbe Coroner's inquest in the Buttgenbach murder case was opened yesterday. Among the witnesses were Albert Buttgenbach and Louis Brune, now under arrest on suspiclon. MaSOH U ncerlain Whether i They hold to their former stories of the tragedy, declaring that the meat packer was attacked by footpads. Mason, the colored witness, failed to adhere to his statement that he had seen young Bettgenbach with a revolver shortly befgre the shooting. NoO new testimony of hmportance was developed. Captain Martin of the detective force and He Saw wrench or Autopsy Surgeon Bacigalupi declare their belief that the fatal shot was not fired' during a scuffie between Buttgenbach and his assailants. The contrary has been the contendon of | young Buttgenbach and Brune and has found some adherents among the detectives. Dr. Bacigalupi asserts that the gunshot wound which caused Buttgenbach's death indicated that it Revolver | was inflicted while the victim was at rest. g > : el - Sl - + | — - “I believe,” said Captain Martin, that Joseph Buttgenbach was n shot during a struggle, but while er j tirely oblivious of his danger and at work over the desk in the front of- | fice. The location of the hole in | hat, the wound on the gght side of { | the head and the course taken by the | bullet seem to bear out that theory. | It is true that we have not been able | up to the present time to secure evi- | { dence that insures a conviction of any- | | body, yet Detective Ryan is out look- ing for a couple of witnesses that may | be able to throw some light on the laffair. It is evident that the perso | that held the pistol rested his har | against the iron column which for | part of the scale, so as to steady h laim, and then pulled the trigger. T bullet struck Buttgenbach on tk | right side of the head, near the toy | It does not appear probable that the | shot was fired during a struggle, as | would be inferred from the testimony | given before the Coroner, but by some | one bent upon murder and aiming |an object and that object Buttgen- | bach’s head.” | NOT SHOT IN STRUGGLE. {| Autopsy Surgeon Louis D. Baciga- lupi, who has wide experience as an ex- { | pert in gunshot wounds, declares em- | phatically that Buttgenbach was not ish'vl during a struggle. He also sup | plies an important piece of testimony | against Albert Buttgenbach | “In my opinion Joseph Buttgénbach | was not shot during a struggle,” says | | Dr. Bacigalupi. “I think that theory | | highly improbable from the wound and { | course taken by the bullet. A man standing at the corner of the scale and | | shooting at an oblique angle would hit | Buttgenbach about where the bullet { I'struck, if the last named was at w | | at his desk. It is not clear to me ho Buttgenbach could have been shot du | ing a struggle, as the hole in th | shows the bullet did not go through | { In a straight line but on an acute angle | | In order to shoot in that manner it be | | comes necessary to place the gun | | against one of the iron colt | | scale. a position that would not | | adopted by a thug shooting on the sy < _— | of the moment I examined Albert ST i 5 | Buttgenbach in the prison and was un jur, nanner that made s | able to find any evidence of a blow or pr He said: the head, such as he claims to have oo 3 ceived. At that time he toid me that BRUNE S OF HOLD-UP. | he did not have his hat on when h Buttgenbach and I were counting th THE CORONERS < J URY. stopped by the thugs at the door. S Thiowth b= Lo “echiii | In view of the fact that the younger e Albert ran ot | Buttgenbach's hat was found on the . i R - | scale immediately after the shootin b 2 PO TION AT wonlg bt Toade, < o | directly under the bullet hole, and tha SRR A R Y ARk, i TS T jeeor s B8 did moc et | pérunit ATuert Butlgstibaei fo be tak- | Sirecy, Ster (N0 RO N SN “in the back office, where an Buttgenbach, 1 al before w ont office ;do SAW NO ASSAILANT. “Did you see any one scuffling with seph Buttgenbach?"” asked Leland. No, but I heard the noise of the scuffling and of the falling glass. Just got out in the engine- the dark and told me to shout for help. 1 ran over to the stairway, because at | first it occurred to me that T might go | upstairs and hide. My suggestion that Albert break the partition was due to my familiarity with the knew the boards were thin. I afraid to go out by the Shipley street the footpads.” ‘Did Albert have a hat on when he ran through the office alarm?” “I do not recall what he wore, was in his street clothes, “Was any one following him?"’ “I am almost positive that I heard the sound of footsteps behind him, but 1 did not stay to get a look at his pur- suer. No, I did not hear the scuffle he says took place at the Shipley street | door. T was so busy making up the cash that the noise would have had to be very loud for me to notice it. There was a single gas jet lit in the store out- side the office, but as we were back at see any figures passing before the window."” Brune's testimony closed with the as- sertion that he knew of no serious trou- ble between the Buttgenbachs, father and son, and that in all the years he had known Albert he had never known him to own or carry a revolver. ALBERT'S EXPLANATION. Albert L. Buttgenbach, whom the po- believe killed his father, except the took the stand. Evidently the two days in the City Prison had worn on him. He was scared, weak-voiced and very un- comfortable under the ordeal of the Coroner’s examination. But the story he told the police Saturday night when he was first arrested was repeated without material variance. Suspicious as his explanat)on is, the young fellow's steadiness under fire gréw as he became familiar with his inquisitors, and he battled for his own version of the trag- edy with a stubbornness that at least won him credit for nerve. His story follows: 1 am an engineer and for two years past have been employed by my father, recelvine $18 a week Last week 1 drew $6 in ad- vance, so there was only $12 due me when Brune paid off the men. I never had anything but kindly feelings toward my father. No trouble occurred between us, ‘After Brune gave me the money Saturday night 1 went out to Alpers & Heide's saloon and got a drink of whisky, then came back to the boller-room and looked at the fires and changed my clothes. Shortly before 10 o'clock I got things about the engine in order and tried to because I didn’t want to run Into | showed | marks of nervous strain when he | 10 o'clock. Al- | r 1 gave him this ntfl he came into As soon as he dropp By BUTTFGENBACH ACCORDING 70 THE THEORY ENTERTHNED 8Y CAPTHRIY STARTIN AND AUTOPSY SURGEON BACIGHLYPY?. 7 one of e a light rap on " had white handkerchiefs | of th S u I back through liing father Brune there was a_hold-up and going on int the engine-room. 1 do not remember whether the tw nocked off my hat at the door | or not recall whether they followed me ver 1 was out in the engin r of the shattered t when they were taking police station. No, 1 do not t was on my head when I start- | €4 first to leave the shop building. 1| was | | | sioners last This man S8am Mason, who is quoted as say- ing he saw me with a revolver on Saturday night, is the fellow I had discharged for drunk- enness and neglecc of work. He turned down a valve on the condenser did it maliciously to hurt me. t get on well with him." As o his statement, 1 want to say t I never had a revolver in my life, and had none v night. Y saw none except those of the two men at the door. Neither father nor I nor Brune ever had a revolver at the factory. Father had one at the house, which he kept locked up. for a year When I came back from the saloon I saw no Shipley street. 1 know nothing what- I have not seen it e - e e g INQUISITORS IN THE BUTTGENBACH CA$E. MURDERED MAN'S SON IFYI AND SCENE TLLI RATID THE TRAGEDY 'ORDING THE THEORY OF THE POLICE. | s S T T on the murder. pistol and fired no had no shot that WHY HE ‘RAN “Did you make any resistance the men that attacked you at door?” was asked by the Coroner. | “No; I just tried to get away quickly as possible.” “Why did you' not remain and pro- tect your father?” said a juror. “Because he had said he never would oppose a hold-up. He always told me it was dangerous business resisting footpads. I ran back into the enmne ltmm, thinking he would ‘lollnw me.” Daniel Mason, more R“n(’lfll]v called ‘Sam,” the negro workman, that was formerly employed at the packing- | house, began his testimony by fully | airing his grievances against' Albert Buttgenbach. He said: Mr. Al had me thrown out. He treated me | like a dog. I did all kinds of work, but he al- | ways abused me, and once he tried to break | my head with a hammer, but father came 1 stayed there just Finally the boss came and AWAY. to the as between us and saved me. 1o please the boss. POLICE COMMISSIONERS THANK REPORTER O'BRIEN glving the | Commend His Courageous Conduct in Risking His Life to Assist in Capture of Burglars. At a meeting of the Police Commis- evening a resolution was adopted commending John D. O'Brien, a Call reporter, for his cool and cour- ageous conduct several nights ago, { when he risked his own life and was wounded in assisting Policemen D. J. Keohane<and J. B. O'Connor in the capture of two burglars. Antonio Blanco appeared before the board with an application for a re- newal of his license for the Poodle Dog restaurant. Action ig the mat- ter was ‘deferred until next week's meeting. Commissioner Hutton de- nounced the manner in which the Poodle Dog is conducted. He said that the place is a disgrace to San | Francisco and he gave notice that he purposed to not only vote against the renewal of that restaurant’s license, but all other French restaurants that are conducted in a similar manner. —_——— Railroads Coming to This City Over- | crowded With Passengers. Rallroads coming from Portland, Se- attle, Washington, Los Angeles, Fresno, | Stockton, Sacramento and from all over the country are rather overcrowded, most of the passengers going direct to Pattosicn’s furniture retiring sale, cor- ner Sixteenth and Mission streets. = ———— Prisoner Dies at Sea. Captain Bolger of the.Curtin Detec- tive Agency yesterday received a tele- gram from Chile stating that Jose Her- rera, who was recently extradited by that country from this city on a charge of forgery, had died at sea while on his way to South America. The pris- oner, who was a young man of wealthy parents, left here in charge of a Curtin agency man about two weeks ago. ——— Helen Russell has created quite a sen- sation at Fischer's. During your spare time you should learn to cook on a gas range from San Francisco Gas and Eigc- tric Co., 416 Post street. o CONSIDERS COLLECTION OF INHERITANCE TAXES Finance Averse to Expending $5000 Pre- liminary to Litigation. The Supervisors' Finance Commit- tee met yesterday for the purpose of i devising a plan for the collection of collateral inheritance taxes on estates. Supervisors’ Committee The sum of more than $200,000 re- mains due and unpaid, and it is planned to have this money turned into the State treasury. County Clerk Greif stated that he | would co-operate with the City Treas- urer in keeping up the quarterly re- ports of probable amounts due in taxes from estates of decedents. Greif stated that it would cost at least $5000 to take off the names of estates owing inheritance taxes. Then it would be necessary to bring many | suits against the executors and heirs and this might be futile in cases where the estates had already been distributed. The members of the committee, Su- pervisors D'Ancona and Payot, did not feel justified in recommending that the city expend the money for something | which benefits the State alone. Payot thought the State should stand the expense, but D’Ancona informed him that the duty of collecting the taxes devolved on the County Clerk. Fur- ther consideration of the matter was postponed. —— Makes Break for Liberty. B Frank West, alias Frank Smith, made a dash from Judge Lawler's court last night when he was ordered into cus- tody by the magistrate for perjury. West was a witness for nhis wife, who was being tried for assault to commit grand larceny. When the jury brought in a verdict against the woman Judge Lawlor, who was not satisfled with | West’s testimony, ordered him placed under arrest. West, who was sitting with the spectators, made a bolt for the door, but was caught in the cor- ridor by Deputy Sheriff F. J. Coyle and Ilnnded in jail, Late Saturday' night 1 was standing ont on the sidewalk in front of Helde's saloon, when Mr. Al went in there and got a drink. I watched him from the door, which was open. When he came out and went back to Shipley street, just as he was turning the corner I saw him take something out of his right front pocket and pass it around to his back left pocket. Tt shone in the light from the street lamp, but I cannot say whether it was a re- volver or a wrench MASON'S CONTRADICTION This statement was from what the witnes | ing the nolice him on his in a nd the Coroner istency. pr “Did you not tell the detectives that you knew it was a rev@lv he asked. No,” said the color to evade the question the truth now, and pos | say that it was a revolver.” This was all the Coroner could get out of him. Stephen Slavich, a boy of 16, told a clear and effective story of the trag- edy as seen and heard from the side- walk in front of the packing-house. He said: d n, trying I am telling I was going up Fourth street when I heard a shot fired and séme glass falling. Immedi- ately there was a loud groan, of some one saying “'Oh-h-h!" Then I people trampling on broken glass and of a gcuffle. I ran up the street to a store just above Shipley street and told a man standing there that some one wa I came back then to Hefde's saloon, a ecrowd was collecting. 1 am sure the glass fell just after the shot was fired and not before. athered. If there was any one there I think might have scen him, but am not sure. This ended the testimony for the day and the inquest was adjourned until Thursday morning, in order to | backdown | had been teil- | ssed itively I cannot | 1 saw no | one in Shipley street until the police and erowd | under police guard to attend the | of his father to-day. The ex-convicts, Edward Gonzales | and John Riley, who were arrested | Sunday on suspicion, were discharged | | last evening, the police having failed | |en funeral |to aiscover any evidence to conneet | | them with the murder of Buttgen- | | bach. | RS e WAS NOT SHOT IN Captain Martin and Dr. Bacigalupi H Expound New Theorles. | | After four investigation by half a dozen detectives and at the completion of the first day of the in- quest, Captain of Detectives Martin still believes that Joseph Buttgenbach came to his death from a bullet fired from a revolver in the hands of Albert | Juttgenbach, son of the murdered man. The police, although not in pes- | session of direct evidence to estab- h their theer: timate that at least two witnésses will be found to| strengthen the web they are attempt- ing to weave around Albert Buttgen- | bach. RS To a representative of The Cali last | I night “Captain Martin, for the first | jume since the mysterious murder, consented to expound his theory of | the crime. Although his statement in several instances is at variance with | the testimony given at the Coroner's inquest yesterday, he does not hesi-[ tate to say that whoever fired the fatal shot did so with malice and de- liberateness. TRUGGLE. days’ that he wore his hat when stopped at the door, the statement of Dr. Baciga- lupi is of importance. SAW MAN RUNNING. What was regarded as evidence that would clear Albert Buttgenbach of all suspicion was reported to the police vesterday by Hugo P. Trau and F. B. Connolly, grocers at 318 Fourth street. developments, however | demonstrated their testimony to be little value. Trau and Comnolly s that they were standing at the south- east corner of Fourth and Folsom streets and were startled by a shot. Subsequent | They then saw a man run from Ship- After sprint- retraced his ley street toward Folsom ing a short distance he steps and vanished in the darkne: They describe the fellow as being of slight build and wearing a fedora hat and dark clothes. At the Coroner’s inquest Stephen Sla- vich, a 18-year-old youth, testified that he was in front of Buttgenbach’s store and ran up Fourth street a short dis tance upon hearing the shot. He then hastened back tc the scene of the shoot- ing. Both Connolly and Trau saw Sla- vich at the inquest and after talking with him decided that he corresponded in size and dress to the fellow they had seen running. Connolly, said evening that he was convinced that it was Slavich and not a thug he had seen after the shot was fired. Tra of the same opinion and thinks testimony of himseif and partner of no the | importance. 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