Marin County Deaths

Transcribed by Betty Wilson

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HOMICIDE OF JOHN MESSINA
	John Messina, an Italian fisherman, living 
on Tomales bay, near Marshall, but in Bolinas township, gave a birthday party on 
June 24, 1875, to which he invited a number of friends.  The festivities were 
prolonged far into the morning of the 25th, and the friends had a merry time of 
it, but the occasion had a sad and tragic ending and it was the last earthly 
jubilee for John Messina.  Just as the gray dawn began to appear in the eastern 
sky, a dispute arose between a man named Lothario Mesado and one Joseph 
Cargatch, which culminated in Mesado drawing a murderous knife on Cargatch, who 
started to run, Mesado giving chase.  Cargatch drew a pistol and discharged it 
in the air to intimidate his foe, but as it had no effect, he fired behind him, 
and the ball struck Messina in the heart, killing him instantly.  The presiding 
Justice of the Peace decided that the killing was accidental.

History of Marin County, California; Including Its Geography, Geology, 
Topography and Climatology; by J. P. Munro-Fraser, Historian; Alley, 
Bowen & Co., Publishers, San Francisco, California, 1880