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A at*Bg« Star? of * Murdf! rerN DWnppear-•dc« la California.“Eloped, September 25, I** I ** says the Ban Fienclf o Ca!l. is thetiDgalaremry that appears on the records of the fetock|un Asylum for tbs Insane opposite the name of Thomas I). Xeice, who was committed to that institution from this city on the 20:hot February. 1-CT3, by R. I Morrison, then Judge 01 the Fourth District Court,On the night of the Oth of October, 1 T7. X’eice, who had been a night watchman in the United States Mint, went to a hou e on Fifth street, between Jessie and Mission, carrying in his band a large white banquet, which be c:T»rid to Jennie O'Neil, a nine-it eu year old girl, one of the inmate* of theheme, who was alto known as Knimi Meehan, bhe refund it, whereupon he drear a revolver and lirea four shots at her, wounding her m several places. After h ■ had cessed firing he approached the wounded woman, laying: Kiss me, for I mast go, ui 1 will swing for thie. ' As hi was leaving the house he was arrested by Otlieer M. Murphy. As soon as he was in casieiy he said to the otlieer: “Take your revolver ;ind kill me, for I have an old mother and do not want to disgrace her. ' The prisoner, who wrs then twenty-one years of age, and was the son of Adelaide Murdo h a then well-known lecturers, and nephew of Janies E, Murdoch, the tragedian, came to this city from Washington, J). C,, in February preceding the shooting, and soon alter his arrival obtained u position in the min L He formed the acquaintance of the woman he shot, who was a native of Suuta Cruz, and married to a n an named Meehan, but who Dad separated from her husband. After leaving her bdsband she went into a house on Bscraojento street, where she wes shot at by her husband. This shooting affected her mind, and she was sent to the a^vlam at Btcckton, from which piece ahe had been dia* chained ss cared but a short time whea NViee became acquainted with her. Oa the 20th of October the woman died from the ef-ft-i U oi the wouods initiated by Nice, and just before dying she declared that X'eico had shot her hecans** she refused to support him. In February, isTS, Neic^ was brought up in Judge Morris' Court for trial for murder, and during the tr'nt a jurv wav sworn to try his mental condition. The jury declared that he wu* insane, and. as a person of unsound mi ml can not be tried f r crime, he was sent to the asylum.On the 21th of May, I), L. Smoot, then District Attorney, moved to dismiss the indictment against Neicr, stating that it was the imentinn to send X'eice to hts mother in Philadelphia. In anpnort of tbe motion there was read r. Utter from Ir. ShurttstT, Superintendent of the Asylum at Stockton, in which the writer said: “Although X'eice ii; still Of weak mind and in poor bodily health, he is authcientiy recovered to go at large and I would therefore advise his removal.” Judge Fcrrai, then presiding in Department 'of the Mnperior Court, before when the motion was mace, sa d: “I have a tolerab clear -ecolleotion ut ibis cu^. The i: ordered wemau was a poj*. wretched ontce,»». while the young man had a gocd position, and aniM.t^J to he surrounded by intiueattal friends. It is a matter or great surprise t** find trie .Snperintemlenr -I tbe asylum edriMrg that Xeice bouid per* untied to go at large. The man is dec ared to have a htmucidai mania, vet it is deliberately proposed to send biaj to I*hil«aelphia to his motl *■ *, who is ra«d to be veiling on inssnil. Under there circumstances I can not and will not dismiss the indictment. If what has beer, stated is true, Xeice could kill any one iu the community and be wholly irreeponslMc. 1 dare not a«sume the responsibility of discharging such a man,”Recently itcame to the knowledge of a reporter for the Call that Xeice was no longer an id mam of the asylum, and as he had not been discharged by any order of the Court a visit was paid to the rsyicm, and the emry which li*:isJs this arlic e was discovered. The authorities at the asylum say they know nothing ot X’eice'r present whereabouts.HON. It L I US* MAUF.K.A Itemlulscrnre of His Earlr Career
Newspaper Details
Indianapolis Sentinel
Indianapolis, Indiana, US
Tue, Apr 07, 1885
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Los A.
CA, USA 21 Mar 2024
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