MURDERED BY MISTAKE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2355, 12 May 1892, Page 4

MURDERED BY MISTAKE.

A correspondent of the Daily Telegraph at San Antonio, in Texas, sends the following account of an extraordinary tragedy, which, he says, has just taken place at Lagarta, a small isolated village in Live Oak Country. It was one in which a man, who had deliberately made up his mind to murder a rival, was the victim of a cunning scheme, by which he killed his most intimate friend. The assassin is Antonio Vera, a handsome and popular young ranchero, who was engaged to Chiquita Flores, a pretty Mexican girl. It was agreed that they should marry when the cattle season "ended in the autumn, and with this understanding Vera went to Mexico with a herd of cattle, being absent for several months. He returned last week to find that the girl in the meantime had transferred her affections to another young man named Torres. Yera remonstrated with his lady love, but in vain. She was infatuated with Torres. The latter came from Mexico, had plenty of money, and had bought and stocked a large ranche near Lagarta preparatory to his marriage. Vera said nothing to Torres concerning their rivalry, but kept ou friendly terras with him. He finally invited Torres, with others, to pay him a visit. Torres accepted, but said he could not- reach Vera’s ranche before ten o’clock at night. Suspecting a plot, he induced Mermaso Yentro to go to Yera’s in his place. Yentro went there early, but, as Vera did not return, he went to bed about seven o’clock. Vera was calling on the girl Flores, and after the call spent a couple of hours at a public house, and became intoxicated. He rode home, and upon arriving there went directly to the room in which he supposed Torres to be sleeping. Without any preliminaries, he crept to the bedside of the slumbering man, placed a Winchester rifle to the latter’s head and blew his brains out. He then coolly lighted a lamp, and was horrorstricken to find that he had not killed Torres, but his intimate friend, Torres has disappeared, aud Vera is under arrest, having surrendered himself to justice.