MARTINEZ, Dec 28 (U.P.) -- Julian C. Whitman, San Francisco financier was shot twice through the left temple, authorities said late today at the beginning of the autopsy.
One bullet pierced Whitman's hat, but the second did not. It entered his skull several inches below the first wound autopsy surgeons said.
---------
MARTINEZ, Dec 28 (U.P.) -- Julian C. Whitman, prominent in financial circles of San Francisco many years and a leader in matters pertaining to irrigation was discovered today shot to death on Jersey Island under circumstances which caused authorities to believe he was "placed on the spot."
Whitman's body was found in a field near an isolated road. He had been shot through the temple. The death gun, a .38-calibre automatic and a powder-stained hand-kerchief were found nearby. Numbers had been filed from the gun. The handkerchief bore no identification marks according to authorities.
Officers learned Whitman telephoned his wife from a pay station in the Antioch Hotel, although he did not stop at the hotel. When the body was found Whitman had $20 in his pockets and wore his wrist watch. Authorities said this indicated robbery was not the motive.
A leading theory was that Whitman, secretary of the California Irrigation District Bond Holders Association, was "taken for a ride in his own car."
The sheriff's office at Martinez broadcast an appeal to all areas to be on the lookout for a 'blue Chevrolet sedan, license number 60E805 which Whitman was driving when he left his Palo Alto home yesterday.
It was the belief of officials that the slayer took Whitman to notorious Jersey Island, killed him, and then fled in the victim's machine.
Deputy Sheriffs A. D. Joslin and Gene Burger, assigned to the case, reported they were unable to develop a theory as to the motive of the killing. They said the nature of the wound precluded suicide.
CLOTHING BLOODY
Blood on the victim's trousers above the knees indicated he was shot in an automobile taken to the isolated road and shoved from the Car, the deputies said.
The body apparently staggered and rolled 20 feet before it came to rest at the spot where it was disvovered by two Filipino laborers.
A check of Whitman's affairs Showed he was in no financial difficulties, Joslin said. His wife said Whitman telephoned her last night from Antioch and told her he had completed successfully a business deal. He was to have appeared at the Brentwood offices of the East Contra Costa irrigation district for a conference this morning, according to Joslin.
George Keyston of Lieb, Keyston and company San Francisco brokerage where Whitman formerly was a partner, said the victim was a mild-mannered man and had no enemies. He advanced the theory that Whitman was murdered by a hitch-hiker.
Keystone announced he was taking charge of an immediate investigation of the death.
Joslin said he could find no footprints near the body. He also was unable to locate automobile treads which might aid in solution of the case as a number of cars apparently had traversed the road recently.
KILLED LAST NIGHT
Condition of the body indicated that Whitman was killed sometime Wednesday night. When he talked to Mrs. Whitman by telephone he said he planned to go to Tracy. Joslin was endeavoring to learn where he stayed in Antioch and if he reached Tracy.
Jersey Island In the San Joaquin river, 30 miles from here and midway between Martinez and Stockton, frequently is referred to as "Murderer's Island."
The most recent case to gain notoriety was that of Mrs. Celine Novarro, 26, Filipino, said to have been buried alive with weird Filipino rites because she was unfaithful to her invalid husband.
Mrs Novarro's body was discovered last April. Eight Filipinos, said to have been members of the cult which passed death sentence on the woman were arrested, tried, and acquitted after a long and sensational trial.
Whitman formerly resided in San Mateo. He served as secretary of the San Francisco stock exchange from 1922 to 1928 when he joined Leib, Keyston and Company.
He left the brokerage firm in 1931 to organize a bondholders' association for the irrigation company with which he was connected at the time of his death.
MRS. WHITMAN PROMINENT
Mrs. Whitman is prominent in educational and political circles of California. She is a former president of the State League of Women Voters and a former member of Governor C. C .Young's educational commission. Four children including it son in the University Of California, also survive. Whitman was graduated from California in 1907.
There were no houses within some distance of the place where the body was found.
Deputy Sheriff Joslin said he found no footprints around the body. Efforts to locate treads of automobile tires nearby were handicapped by the fact that the roadway was heavily traveled.
Joslin said he was convinced the case was murder. He said blood On Whitman's trousers above the knee indicated he was shot in an automobile and then shoved from the car to go staggering to the spot where the body was found.
FAILED TO KEEP APPOINTMENT
Telephone calls were checked to learn where Whitman last was seen alive. He was said to have called his wife last night saying he had completed a successful business transaction in Antioch and was going to the offices of the East Contra Costa Irrigation District. Joslin questioned officials of the district and learned that Whitman never arrived.
Whitman told his wife during the telephone conversation that he had been to Benicia and also intended to go to Tracy according to the deputy sheriff.
The handkerchief was not wrapped around the revolver, but was found a short distance away, Joslin said.
He checked both for possible identification of ownership.
Jersey Island is 30 miles northeast of here, midway between Martinez and Stockton.
ISLAND NOTORIOUS
Last April it gained notoriety when the body of Mrs. Celine Novarro, 26, Filipino was discovered there in a shallow grave.
The woman had been buried with mysterious Filipino rites because she was accused of infidelity to her husband, according to authorities. Officers accused Leon Kantinello, 40, foreman of an island labor camp, of passing death sentence on Mrs. Novarro.
Kantinello was quoted by officers as saying that Mrs. Novarro on two occasions confessed to a Filipino cult that she was unfaithful to her sick husband.
She was supposed to have been blindfolded and led screaming to the spot where she was flogged and then buried alive. Seven Filipinos in addition to Kantinello, were arrested. After a long trial, the accused were acquitted.
Officials of Leib, Keyston and Company, San Francisco, said a Julian C. Whitman was a partner In their firm until a year ago when he left to organize a bondholders' protective association. They said they later heard he was connected with some irrigation work.
Prior to joining Leib, Keyston and Company, Whitman was secretary of the San Francisco Stock Exchange from 1923 to 1928.
Whitman formerly resided In San Mateo. He was graduated from the University of California in 1907 and was employed by the state for several years prior to joining the Stock Exchange.
Surviving are a widow, Mrs. Frances Whitman, prominent in educational and political circles, a former president of the state league of women voters and a member of Governor C. C. Young's educational commission, and four children.
