San Francisco Call, 9 March 1912
Coroner’s Jury at Lone Pine Brings In Unique Verdict
BAKERSFIELD. March 8. — A coroner’s jury at Lone Pine, on the Mojave desert, has returned a unique verdict at an inquest. The dead man was a native of Greece. He and an American had an altercation, winding up in a fight, in which both rolled under a wagon loaded with gravel. The mule team started, and the Greek, who was on top of his opponent, was crushed.
At the inquest the district attorney asked a witness if he had seen “the dead man wrestling with the live man,” and the witness answered, “Yes.”‘
It was shown to the satisfaction of the jury that the dead man saw the wheels coming, and tried to get up, but his opponent held him on top so that the wagon killed him.
The jury commended the survivor on his ability to hold his adversary just right and decided that the mules were responsible for the death.