Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
June 18, 1907
Los Angeles
The victim: A collie named Baby
The plaintiff: Hazel G. (or Ella M.) Schurger, 1156 S. Flower.
The suspect: J.J. Brady of the Immigration Bureau, a next-door neighbor.
Baby’s agonizing death scandalized residents of the fashionable homes around 12th Street and South Flower, because everyone—except for J.J. Brady—loved the dog.
In May, Schurger found Baby in convulsions on the front lawn. Analysis determined that it was given strychnine. She suspected Brady because he had threatened the dog and thrown rocks at it. Schurger said that shortly before the death, she saw Brady throw some meat to Baby over the back fence. Schurger said: “I will not let the man who killed my pet go free if I can help it.”
Brady said: “I had a grudge against the dog because she barked at me, but I didn’t poison her.”
Brady was freed after a chemist testified that Baby had been given strychnine, but in such a small dose that it would have taken hours for the dog to die, not immediately, as Schurger said.
