Clark County NV Archives Obituaries.....DOUGLAS, Maude J. January 21 1919 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nv/nvfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Gerry Perry missgerry@cox.net June 1, 2004, 1:19 am Las Vegas Age - 1/25/1919 Las Vegas Age 1/25/1919 MYSTERIOUS MURDER IN ELDORADO CANYON WOMAN KILLED WITH SHOTGUN WHEN AWAKENED BY NOISE IN THE KITCHEN On the night of Tuesday January 21st, Mrs. Maude J. DOUGLAS, wife of Arvin J. DOUGLAS, was shot and killed in her home at the Techatticup mine in the Eldorado Canyon, by a mysterious assassin. Mr. and Mrs. DOUGLAS came recently from Yuma, Arizona, with their four children, the oldest a boy of 14. Mr. DOUGLAS got work at the Techatticup mine and the family occupied a three room tent house there. After the death of Mrs. KENNEDY several weeks ago, Mrs. DOUGLAS took charge of the two Kennedy children. On the night of the murder, Mr. and Mrs. DOUGLAS and the six children retired early in their little home. Mr. DOUGLAS and the eldest boy occupying the room on the opposite end of the tent from the kitchen. Mrs. DOUGLAS and the other children occupied the middle, or dining room. In the dead of night, Mr. DOUGLAS was awakened by the sound of the latch on the door between the dining room and the kitchen being raised. Almost instantly there followed the report of a gun in the darkness. Mr. DOUGLAS rushed from his room into the dining room and near the kitchen door-found his wife lying on the floor mortally wounded. Nearby lay the lamp, which, it appears, had not been lighted. Pausing only to place his wife in an easy position, Mr. DOUGLAS hurried to the mine for assistance. Upon his return with help the woman was found to be beyond the need of mortal aid. The wound which caused the death of Mrs. DOUGLAS was made by a charge of shot from a shot gun, fired from an elevation on a level with the woman's breast and at a distance of five or six feet. Several scattering shot had penetrated the left arm. On the morning following, tracks were found leading from the scene of the crime down the trail toward the Colorado river. Ike ALCOCK organized a posse and began the search for the murderer. In the meantime an inquest was held and the facts found to be as above related. District Attorney STEBENNE and Undersheriff Frank WAIT and deputy Ernest LAKE left Las Vegas early in the morning of the 22nd and upon arriving on the scene investigated the circumstances as completely as possible. Frank WAIT took charge of the man hunt. No motive for the crime has been revealed. The fact that a sack of cornmeal which had been on the shelf was found on the floor near the kitchen door and other provender had been taken and placed on the kitchen table as if preparatory for packing away indicates that the murderer was in need of food. That he should fire, without first making an attempt to escape, indicates that he was desperate. Two theories are advanced by those most familiar with the circumstances. First is that the murder was committed by the mysterious QUEHO, an Indian who is supposed to have killed several people in that portion of the country six or eight yers ago and in whose chase considerable money was spent by the county and in which the State Police also took part, but without result. QUEHO was reported by the Indians several years ago to be dead. Now, the Indian railers,assisting in the man chase express the belief that they are on the trail of QUEHO, owing to the tracks indicating that the fugitive has a limp which fits the ghostly evanescent QUEHO. The other theory is that the man ROBERTS, who left El Centro in the Imperial Valley, with his wife and child about January 5th, may be the murderer. About a week ago the body of a woman was found in a desolate spot in the brush in the Imperial Valley. The woman's throat had been cut and then the body was partially destroyed by burning with coal oil. However, enough of the shoes was left to make identification of the remains as those of Mrs. ROBERTS certain. The California authorities are making a wide search for ROBERTS and the child, no trace of either of them having yet been discovered. There has been ample time for ROBERTS to dispose of the horse and buggy which he was driving and to abandon or murder the child, and work his way alone through the desolated reaches of the country bordering the Colorado river as far north as Eldorado Canyon. In support of this theory, it is pointed out that a fugitive murderer suffering from privations and in a starving condition would be apt to act as the murderer of Mrs. DOUGLAS did. It is pointed out also that a hungry Indian would watch the camp until the occupants had gone before robbing it, and would be very unlikely to enter a house filled with people in the night. There is also another possibility. It is that the mysterious disappearance of two prospectors from a camp near the old Pittsburg mine not far from the Colorado river below St. Thomas may in some way be connected with the matter. Possibly the tracks being followed by the posse and which are found to wind about over the broken country in an aimless way, were made by one of those men and do not relate to the murderer of Mrs. DOUGLAS. Possibly one of them may have become deranged in mind as a result of his wanderings and have committed the murder while in that condition. The country along the Colorado river is probably as difficult as any in the United States and the result of the long chase is always in doubt when one consideres {sic} the innumerable hiding places. However, Frank WAIT, Ike ALCOCK, Ernest LAKE, Clark M. ALVORD, Pete MESHER, with two expert Indian trailers, BABOON and Indian KEARNEY, are making superhuman efforts to capture the criminal and there is a good prospect of their being successful. This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/nvfiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb