The Marysville Valentine's Day Stiletto Murder

April 08, 2017

The Marysville Valentine's Day Stiletto Murder

Valentines Day, 1913

It was in the early hours of Valentines Day, on First street in Marysville, that Ed Anderson made a ghastly discovery. It was the body of 27 year old T.H. Carneges (strangely through my research, the victim took on many aliases, and was buried as Aristide Karnezes, and other papers refer to him as Aristidis Karnegis). The body had a large gaping hole in the left side of his neck, later realized to have been created by a stilleto knife.

Ed, a newspaper deliveryman, came across the body while making his way to Oak and First streets. This corridor of Marysville was, at times, known for its debauchery and the drunkards that came from it's many dives and saloons. Assuming the body he discovered was nothing more than another drunk sleeping off his "jag", Anderson went on his way through his route to the Western Hotel. This is where he discovered blood on the wheel of his bicycle.

An overwhelming feeling of panic overwhelmed the deliveryman and he hastily made his way back to the body he was near the alley way. There lie the man, unmoved from his previous state. Without hesitation Anderson made his way to seek out an officer. He made his way to Oak and Second where he found Officer Burroughs who was just making his way into Empire Restaurant. According to an article about the murder, the two rushed to the scene accompanied by a Japanese man, Wy Haya, only to find that the man had doubled over covering what was a large pool of blood.

From the "Marysville Appeal- February 15th, 1913:

"It was just six o'clock

One the first things officer Burrows did after reaching the scene of the crime was to take out his watch this is a habit. The habit that has grown from long years in the Police Service. It was just six o'clock. The officer replaced his watch and gave his attention to the lifeless form at his feet.
Burroughs found Carnege's body lying on the left side. On turning it over to make identification complete he was shocked to see the ghastly wound that had been inflicted on the left side of the neck. Blood was oozing from it and the body was still warm. This evidence that the crime had been put recently committed. At first the body seems so warm that the officer thought possibly Carnage's might not be dead.

However, he immediately notified Coroner Kelly of the discovery and that official had the body removed to the morgue on D Street. Dr. Everett Gray, County physician. was called in and he made an examination of the wound he found that the jugular vein had been severed. it was his opinion that the wound was made with a stiletto as it would have been out of the question for such a deep and firm incision to have been made with a razor."

The Corner of Oak and First Streets in Marysville.

From The Marysville Appeal- February 16th 1913

"Assassin still evades officers police
Unable to find clew (Clue, bad spelling in original document) to identify of Greek's murderer
Funeral of Victime will be held this afternoon from Kelly Bros.

The funeral of T.H. Carnege's, the Greel who was foully assassinated at an early hour Friday morning, at the corner of 1st and Oak streets will be held this afternoon at 2 o'clock from the undertaking parlors of Kelly Brothers. The services will be conducted by a Greek priest from San Francisco.

No clew (sp.) to the identity of the assassin of Carneges has been established by the police, although Chief McCoy and his men have worked hard on the case and have run down many rumors in the hope that some light might be thrown on the mysterious murder. The only thing officer seem to be satisfied about his the deed that was prompted by a jealousy over a woman. Further than this, little has been accomplished
The women inmates of the Oak Street Resort were Carnage's had visited previous to being killed, have been questioned thoroughly by officers, but not one of them admits knowing anything about the man or his movements more than he passed in front of the crib sometime after 2 o'clock on the morning of the murder. The perpetrator of the dastardly crime seems to have covered his tracks well and he has dropped completely out of sight. Not one thing was left by the Assassin by which his identity could not be established. The officers have been unable to find anyone who saw Carneges lifeless body on the sidewalk prior to the time it was found by Ed Anderson, a newspaper carrier. A report reached the police yesterday, however, that a certain party had seen the body before Anderson found it, but the officers have not succeeded in locating the person. The report is only a rumor, and may result as others have-- without any foundation"From Find a Grave:

"Aristide Karnezes' final resting place is at the South-West Section of the cemetery in the grassy field; Pauper's / Potter's Field. Marker Number 608.
(Note: Information for marker number was obtained from "Book One, Record of Burials City of Marysville 1870-1939", on page 118)

Name: Karnezis, Aristictis
Date Interred: February 16, 1913
Age: 27 years
Sex: Male
Color/Race: White
Single/Married: Single
Nativity: Greece
Place of Death: Marysville 2/14/13
Cause of Death: Homicide
Physician/Coroner: J. K. Kelly, Coroner
Number of Grave: 608
Location of Grave: City Cemetery"