Salinas Valley Police Department Investigation Report
Date: 2-21-1937
Time: 6:45pm
Location:Soledad, Salinas Valley, CA
Reporting Officer: Lt. J. Fernandez
Victim:
Small
Lennie
Date of birth:
5-7-1904
Race:
caucasian
Height:
6’4
Address: (street, city, state, zip code)
74 Hamilton Ave, Salinas Valley, California 93901
Hair:
Light brown
Weight:
240 LBs
Occupation: Ranch Worker
Family contacted: N/A
Suspect:
Milton
George
Date of birth:
8-8-1903
Race:
Caucasian
Height:
5’7
Address: (street, city, state, zip code)
74 Hamilton Ave, Salinas Valley, California 93901
Hair:
Dark brown
Weight:
170 LBs
Occupation:
Ranch Worker
Last seen:
the Tyler Ranch, 2:00pm 6-15-1937
Incident Description:
Our team drove up from the police station on account of a call coming from the ranch. We took two cars; 4 officers in all. Crew included were a Lieutenant (myself), a photographer, a detective, and another police officer. We arrived at 3:06pm on 6-15-1937.
When we arrived, we were taken to the crime scene by Curley Tyler. The alleged murder supposedly happened a few miles away from the ranch, near a small clearing surrounded by bush. A man (Lennie Small) was lying unconscious near a small river in the clearing. He was bleeding profusely out of a wound in his head, which was about the size of a quarter. We quickly identified this as a gunshot wound. We also found evidence of footprints in the sand surrounding the bank of the river.
We took a photo of Small.
Shortly after that, we drove to the Tyler Ranch and split up. Two of my colleagues went to Milton’s living quarters to take him in and investigate the area. We spoke with the boss and owner of the ranch, John Tyler, who directed us to the barn. Inside, a woman (the wife of Curley Tyler) lay dead. There were no wounds on her body, but on closer inspection, we discovered her neck had been broken. Tyler then informed us that many workers at the ranch suspected that Lennie Small had murdered Mrs. Tyler. We further investigated the barn and found a dead puppy, a mutt of sorts.
We took a photo of Mrs. Tyler and the puppy.
We rejoined our colleagues to investigate Milton’s living quarters and discuss our findings. All the while, Milton sat shiftily in the corner conversing with an older man. We then proceeded to take Milton in for questioning. We brought back photos of the victim’s bodies. Their bodies are to be delivered for an autopsy in 3 days.
We left the ranch at 5:30pm.
We arrived back to the police station with Milton at 6:30pm.