Honolulu Republican, Volume IV, Number 503, 22 January 1902 — UNKNOWN BODY SUGGESTS MAY BE SOME CRIME. [ARTICLE]
UNKNOWN BODY SUGGESTS MAY BE SOME CRIME.
5 Uaidentififid Remains of Mao Sopposed lo be Sailor 1 at Moanalna. MONET ON PERSON UNTOUCHED Rerolyer Partially Loaded is Found Not Far From thf Corpse. Coroner’s Inquest is Held and Jury Returns Verdict cf Suicide of John Doe. "True Name to This Jury Being Unknown. But Identity Known”—An Irish Opinion. Is another murder mystery to be added to the already extended list in Honolulu? Do the almost decomposed re mains of what was believed to be a white sailor, found at Kahauikl yesterday. bear silent witness to a conflict with an unknown and mysterious assailant, or was the grewsome find the direct result of a despondent mind bent upon self destruction? These questions confronted th * police department, and six men lected to act as a coroner’s jury «f. ter they had viewed the remains of an unknown man. found dead, and rendered almost unrecognizable by, exposure to the elements. The body lay in the trench of a sorghum R- i. and between rows of cane It was found within one hundred and fifty yards of the premises of Mrs. Gra •» at Moanaiua.
Body Found in the Cane. While a man nara d Taylor wa> crossing the fields yesterday aft-r noon to resume his labors in the ri. miil. his attention was arrested by the presence of a very pronounced odor. As he neared, the spot where laid the corpse, the stench became almost unbearable. Taylor's curiosi ty was arou.-ed. however, and invest! gation soon resulted in his coming upon the body of a man stretched out in the closely growing cane. The man immediately hastened to the n- arest telephone and notlfl- i the police. Officer Mumpher wa; dls patched to the sc-ne. H>- reached the spot and awaited the arrival of Coroner Chllhngworth and a jurv. The party reached the place shortly after 3 o'clock, A Jury consisting of J. L. Ahlo. B--n Vickers. Henry dies. Fr°d Weed and H M Ayres took a rather long range inspection of the body owing to the odors permeating the district for a considerable distance. Body Almost Unrecognizable. The remains bore th« appearance of having been exposed for a week or perhaps ten days The face was almost featureless, and was blackened and rendered tinrecognizab’e from d*»cay. The body bore every res®m b'ance to being that of a white man. The clothes worn by the dead man were evidently those belonging to a sailor. There was absolutely nothing upon the person to identify th“ deceased. But a few feet from where the bodv Jay, was picked up a Johnson revolver of 32 calibre. There were several undischarged cartridges in the weanon Th“ closest examination pos-i ble failed to reveal where the man had been shot. No Means of Identification. The man was dressed in dark trousers. woolen shirt, felt hat, and sh -s of common manufacture. He also wore a leather belt such as la universally worn by sailors. In the pockets of the df. a d man wre $ll in d ver coin. A laundry memorandum was also found bat It contained no name, hence offered no clew After viewing the remains the Jury retired a shirt distance away and two witnesses. Messrs. Gumpher and Taylor, were examined. They aad but little evidence to offer save for th“ finding of the remains and the revolv- r. Neither had ever seen the man before. \< ordinal y a verdict of death, cans*; by a self-inflicted wound, was rendered. In the coroner's verdict the dead man was designated as John Do*, "the true name to this Jury being unknown. but Identity known died on about the 12th day of January, from a gua-shol wound self inflicted.”