BAKERSFIELD
November 21, 1929: "TURN TO SCIENCE FOR SOLUTION IN STRANGE KILLING AT GAS STATION. Oil Interests Retain National Detective Agency to Aid Authorities. Abandoned auto only clue at hand. Search for fingerprints on automobile without avail; will analyze blood.
With virtually nothing to work upon except an abandoned automobile, found near the scene of the crime, Sheriff Cas Walser and Chief of Police C.M. Richardson today looked to science, successor to the bloodhound in modern day man hunting, for the eventual solution of the murder and robbery at the new Richfield Beacon service station that last week cost the life of young Thomas Lynch, Jr.
John Pyles, head of the Pyles National Detective Agency, of Los Angeles, representing oil company interests, arrived here today to assist the sheriff and police chief in bringing about capture to the slayers.
Confronted with an apparent blank wall, the sheriff and police departments are sparing no effort in the hunt for tangible clues that might bring about a capture.
All admit that it is an almost impossible task--almost.
The young service station attendant was alone when he was slugged over the head with an instrument that crushed the side of his skull to bits.
No one saw the act. No one saw the car drive to the service station or leave it.
There is only that abandoned automobile, stolen earlier in the evening from K. Reynolds, Bakersfield man, and found near the the Beardsley schoolhouse, half a mile from the service station.
That car, however, has been nearly dissected in the search for fingerprints or other clues. Blood stains found on the cushion of the rumble seat, glass windshield wings, a door, the very dirt that was scraped from the shoes of the men when they got in and out of the stolen machine will be analyzed in Los Angeles.
Nothing that might have the slightest bearing in the case is being overlooked by Sheriff Walser, Chief Richardson and Detective Pyles.
Everything that science can do to solve the so-called 'perfect crime' is being done. In the meantime funeral services were held today for the murdered youth in his former home town, Willows, Calif. Young Lynch is survived by his widow and a 4-year-old child.
The crime, largely because of the brutality with which it was committed, has aroused Kern citizens more than any other in recent months." (The Bakersfield Californian)
With virtually nothing to work upon except an abandoned automobile, found near the scene of the crime, Sheriff Cas Walser and Chief of Police C.M. Richardson today looked to science, successor to the bloodhound in modern day man hunting, for the eventual solution of the murder and robbery at the new Richfield Beacon service station that last week cost the life of young Thomas Lynch, Jr.
John Pyles, head of the Pyles National Detective Agency, of Los Angeles, representing oil company interests, arrived here today to assist the sheriff and police chief in bringing about capture to the slayers.
Confronted with an apparent blank wall, the sheriff and police departments are sparing no effort in the hunt for tangible clues that might bring about a capture.
All admit that it is an almost impossible task--almost.
The young service station attendant was alone when he was slugged over the head with an instrument that crushed the side of his skull to bits.
No one saw the act. No one saw the car drive to the service station or leave it.
There is only that abandoned automobile, stolen earlier in the evening from K. Reynolds, Bakersfield man, and found near the the Beardsley schoolhouse, half a mile from the service station.
That car, however, has been nearly dissected in the search for fingerprints or other clues. Blood stains found on the cushion of the rumble seat, glass windshield wings, a door, the very dirt that was scraped from the shoes of the men when they got in and out of the stolen machine will be analyzed in Los Angeles.
Nothing that might have the slightest bearing in the case is being overlooked by Sheriff Walser, Chief Richardson and Detective Pyles.
Everything that science can do to solve the so-called 'perfect crime' is being done. In the meantime funeral services were held today for the murdered youth in his former home town, Willows, Calif. Young Lynch is survived by his widow and a 4-year-old child.
The crime, largely because of the brutality with which it was committed, has aroused Kern citizens more than any other in recent months." (The Bakersfield Californian)
June 13, 1930: "Bandits visited the Richfield beacon filling station on the highway north of Bakersfield, about 4 o'clock Sunday morning, secured over $50 from the attendant, Herman Agee, and then took him ;for a ride.' Agee was let out of the car unharmed several miles north of the station. The robbers have not been apprehended.
This station was the scene of the holdup and murder last fall of the attendant, Thomas Lynch. No definite clue has yet been discovered as to the perpetrators of this brutal crime." (Shafter Progress)
July 15, 1930: Under: beacon lights discontinued: "Bakersfield, Calif. -- Light formerly operated by Richfield Oil Co., located 3 miles northwest of Bakersfield" (Air Commerce Bulletin)
September 1, 1930: "Bakersfield's place on one map is assured. That is the airway map through western United States from the Canadian to the Mexican borders, and on which Bakersfield is marked by a great 8,000,000 candlepower beacon--one of 32 established by the Richfield Oil Company on its 'great white way,' as the coastal airway has been named." (The Bakersfield Californian)
June 29, 1932: "Rumors that the Richfield Oil Company's Beacon service station on Golden State highway north of Bakersfield had been held up again last night are groundless, officials of the company said today. The rumors, circulated widely throughout Bakersfield, are believed to have originated from reports of the murder of George W. Barr, 86, at his Union avenue service station last night. The oil company's Beacon station has been held up several times in the past three years. During one holdup the attendant was slain." (The Bakersfield Californian)
November 3, 1933: "Kern sheriff's office today sought an unmasked Mexican who last night held up and robbed the Richfield Beacon service station north of Bakersfield, getting away with $35 in cash after taking the attendant, H.G. Howard, for the well-known 'ride.' Forced into the bandit's automobile at the point of a gun, Howard was taken several miles into the country, then released, unharmed." (Bakersfield Californian)