Person Page - 307

     Corrine Marie Egan was born on 1 December 1955 in San Francisco, CA, USA.

     John J. Egan was born on 23 November 1958 in San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Diane Rivera married James Victor Muscat Sr, son of Charles Muscat and Marie Elaise Boudreaux. Diane Rivera and James Victor Muscat Sr were divorced in May 1967 at San Francisco, CA, USA.
     Her married name was Muscat.

     James Victor Muscat was born on 21 June 1958 in San Francisco, CA, USA. He married Cynthia E. Garcia on 28 August 1982 at San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Fermand Nollevaux was born in 1883.

     Teresa Bartine was born in 1908 in Siicily. She married Peter John Muscat, son of John Muscat and Mary (?). Teresa Bartine and Peter John Muscat were divorced in January 1971 at San Mateo Co., CA, USA. Teresa Bartine died on 11 January 1973. She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, San Mateo Co., CA, USA.
     Her married name was Muscat.

     John Muscat was born in Malta. He married Mary (?)
     John Muscat was a a real estate agent.

     Emmanuel Muscat was born circa 1916 in Mosta, Malta. He married Carmen Vella, daughter of (?) Vella. Emmanuel Muscat died on 25 December 1993 at Burlingame, CA, USA.
     Emmanuel Muscat was also known as Manuel Muscat. He was a Schlage Lock Co. He and Peter John Muscat were listed in the 1950 US Census age 44, Guam enterprises warehouseman in San Francisco, CA, USA. Emmanuel Muscat was living in 1973 in Millbrae, CA, USA.
Obituary: on 27 December 1993: MUSCAT, Emanuel — In Burlingame after an illness on December 25th, 1993. Emanuel Muscat, late of Millbrae. Beloved husband of Carmen of Millbrae; loving father of Charles of Millbrae and dear brother of Dolores Muscat, also of Millbrae; adored grandfather of Marie, Yvette. Shani and Charlotte, all of San Mateo Co.: also the great-grandfather of Natalie, Mario and Robert, also of San Mateo, Co. He was a longtime member of the Maltese American Social Club of San Francisco and a member of the CMTA Machinist Union. A native of Mosta, Malta. Aged 77 years.

     Natine Vella was born in Malta. She married (?) Fenech.
     Her married name was Fenech. Natine Vella was living in 1973 in San Bruno, CA, USA.

     (?) Fenech married Natine Vella, daughter of (?) Vella.

     (?) Yongue married Salvina Muscat, daughter of Carlo S. Muscat and Agata Gaetana Tonna.

     Mary Ann Yongue was born on 4 October 1950 in San Francisco, CA, USA.

     David Carl Yongue was born on 4 March 1953 in San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Carla Sue Yongue was born on 26 January 1955 in San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Daniel J. Yongue was born on 4 November 1957 in San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Patricia Lee Yongue was born on 17 December 1946 in San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Michael Dee Yongue was born on 17 July 1948 in San Francisco, CA, USA. He died on 9 June 1949 at Alameda Co., CA, USA.

     Joseph Eddie Muscat was born on 13 August 1931 in Malta; CA per 1950 census. He married Rose Ann Debono, daughter of Antonio Debono and Mary Xuereb, on 4 September 1954 at San Francisco, CA, USA.
     Joseph Eddie Muscat was listed on a passenger list with Carmela G. Fenech on 25 July 1947 at New York, NY, USA; age 34, Joseph Fenech in Mosta; Destination San Francisco, to Anthony Muscat. Joseph Eddie Muscat was listed in the 1940 US Census of Anthony Muscat and Carmela G. Fenech in 1950 at San Francisco, CA, USA; age 46, lock co. buffer. Joseph Eddie Muscat was living in 2021 in Moraga, CA, USA.

     Mario Filipas married Sylvia Debono, daughter of Antonio Debono and Mary Xuereb, on 23 April 1960 at San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Joseph Filipas was born on 9 February 1961 in San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Lynette Filipas was born on 11 May 1963 in San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Joseph Debono was born in Mellieha, Malta. He died after 1965.

     Sister Mary Anne Debono was born.

     Jennifer Garris was born.

     Lori Garris was born circa 1973. She married (?) Cardoza.
     Her married name was Cardoza. Lori Garris was living in 2024 in Pleasanton, CA, USA.

     Denise Berube was born circa 1976.
     She was educated circa 1994 at UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA. She was living in 2024 in Walnut Creek, CA, USA.

     Julian Portelli was born in March 1842 in Malta; age 58, date given in 1900 CA census.
     First Maltese in America (?) was among the first Maltese in San Francisco, CA born in 1842 in 1883. Julian Portelli emigrated from Malta in 1883 to CA, USA. Julian Portelli was in the Legal System for Murder; famous SF murder trial in 1888. in 1888.

Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 12 April 1888: Murdered
A San Francisco Poultry dealer found dead in his Room.
San Francisco, Cal., April 11.—John Mefstutt, a poultry dealer, was found murdered this morning in his room on Clay street.
There are a number of knife wounds in his head and on his body, from four of which a great quantity of blood had flown. The room was in a very dirty and disorderly condition, and presented a horrible appearance when the man was found. Suspicion pointed to his partner, Julian Portelli, the perpetuator of the crime, and he was immediately arrested.

Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 13 April 1888: THE MALTESE MURDER -- Julian Portelli Thought to Bo Guilty. -- FOUND OUT IN FALSEHOOD.
Antonio Santi Prepared to Provo an Alibi at the Inquest.
“That man is the prinoe of liars.” said Dotective Bob Hogan last evening to a Chronicle reporter. The detective referred to Portelli, the Maltese. who is accused of murdering his partner, John Mifsult on Tuesday night. Hogan has been detailed to work on the case in conjunction with Patrolman Manning, who arrested Portelli.
" Every single statement which he has made," continued the deteollve, “he has contradicted or else it has boen proved false. There is no doubt in my mind that he committed the crime and he is now clumsily trying to lie out of it. Even if he is innocent, the mess of lies which he has told about the case would convict him. Wherever he has failed to contradict himself we can prove his statement false.
Hogan is convlnced that Antonio Santi, the man arrested under the name of Franchi had nothlng to do with the crime, and is positive Portelli aloue dld the fearful job. He learned yesterday that the day following tho quarrel on Saturday night Portelli and Mefsutt renewed hostilities, and beat each other with stunt sticks? until bystanders interrfered. That same night Portelli met Santi at the Bottle Koening saloon on Montgomery avenue, and in the presence of several persons spoke of his quarrel with Mefsutt. In the statement after arrest he said he had seen Santi last on Saturday. Several witnesses can be procured to prove that Portelli's room was open late on Tuesday night, and the other inmates of the lodglng-house where the crlme was committed are certain it took place before 9 o’clock on Tuesday nlght. Some of them were in thelr rooms before that hour, and it was impossible for tho terrific struggle to have taken place after that without attracting their attention.
The web of evidence accumulating about Portelli is very strong. He knew too much about the crime before the police ordered the room and with many of the particulars only the actual criminal himself could be acquainted, His statement about how the murderer got into Mefsutt's room by breaking a pane of glass in the window is proved to be wrong. At the inquest which will be held tomorrow morning it will be aliowed that the window was broken last week. It will also be shown that Portelli's window was open until a late hour on Tuesday night, notwithstanding his statement that the murderer got into the apartment that way and showed the chipa on the wlndow ledge as evidence.
Antonio Franohi, whose real name turna out to bo Santi is prepared to prove a complete alibi at the inquestl. Each of the accused men made statements yesterday which they swore to. Portelli stuck to the statement made the day before aud Santl gave an account of his whereabouts on the fatal night, He sald he had been on a apree since Moudayafternoon with two men named Beano and Barti, which was continued all through the night and into the next day. He was with tbese men until in the morning and then fell into the company of several others. When he started out he had $210 in money, and when arrested but $48 were fouud in hie pockets. Santi thinks he was robbed of a portion of his money by the two men with whom he waa spreeing. He says in his statement that he knew the deceased well and first met him in Malta before they came to this country. He then knew the murdered man in New Orleans. In that state he was employed in a fruit house and saw a countryman kill another. The murderer escaped and was never arrested, and since Santi had lived here he had been accused of committing the crime himself. This was not true, he claims. The only time he was ever arrested was in this city, when he wae charged with battery for assaulting a man who had cut his horse with a knlfe. The man he assaulted never appeared against him, and the case was dismissed. The police are inclined to believe Santi's story. He and Maltese In the News were mentioned in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle on 24 April 1888 Portelli in Court
Preliminary Examination Yesterday.
The Prosecution Proving That Antonio Santo Is Not Implicated In the Marder.
Judge Hornblower was occupied all yesterday afternoon and last evening hearing evidence in the preliminary examination of Julian Portelli, accused of the murder of his partner, John Mefsutt, in his room on the corner of Clay and Davis streets. The courtroom corridors were thronged with long-haired, dusky compatriots of the defendant, who talked volubly among themselves in reference to the mysterious and peculiar circumstances surrounding the tragedy, though they seemed unable to follow the testimony adduced.
Officer Manning was the first witness called by J. H. Long, who conducted the prosecution. He related how the defendant came up to him at 6:30 o'clock on the morning of the 11th last, and stated that he thought his partner had been killed, as he found blood all along the building. The witness accompanied him and described the ghastly scene in the room when he entered in terms the same as has already appeared in the press.
Detective Hogan then took the stand and graphically related to the Court the arrest of Portelli, the various conversations which be had with him and the conflicting statements his prisoner made on every occasion that the witness spoke to him. The witness read a long statement made by Portelli immediately after the arrest, in which be denied all knowledge of the murder. The only thing that he knew of that several people had threatened his partner and himself and that he was still afraid. The officer was cross-examined at great
length by Attorneys Campbell and Stevens, with a view that he had threatened Portelli and badgered him in the Chief's office in order that he might make a statement implicating himself, and that he was refused an interpreter. These statements were separately and collectively repudiated by the officer, and his Honor remarked that if Mr. Campbell has not more careful in selecting his questions the city would be bankrupted by the shorthand writer‘s bill. Henry Wager, an old man who lives in the room adjoining the one occupied by the two Maltese, said that on the night before the discovery of Mefstutt’s body, he heard a noise in their room. It was between 11 and 12 o’clock and he was in bed. He jumped up and the noise ceased at once. He saw the defendant soon after 6 o'clock the next morning knocking he heard
at the door. He said he wanted his basket. Fred Meyer, a saloon keeper, was called and stated that the defendant Portelli used to keep his money with the witness. At the time of his arrest Portelli had $80 with the witness.
“Was the money discolored? asked Mr. Long. ‘I object.“ said Attorney Campbell. “The money will be the best evidence. Let it be produced.“ “Yes I thought so. That’s what the attorney has been after all day. There will be $10 for each,“ retorted Mr. Long, but the money was not produce. Louis Vampool, the son of the landlady, in whose lodging house on Battery Street Antonio Santo lived, was placed on the stand. Attorney Long stated to the Court that he would endeavor to prove by this witness and those who would be called afterward, that Antonio Santo was drunk on the night before the murder, and was also not near the house on Clay at the time that the murder.
The witness stated that Antonio came home drunk between 11 and 12 o’clock on Tuesday night and that he partly undressed and put him to bed. The witness slept in the same bed with him that night and knew that Antonio did not leave the room until 7:30 o'clock the next morning. The defense made many futile efforts to have the witness prove himself drunk and not capable of knowing what took place.
Antonio Santa, the man arrested on the suspicion of being the murderer and then released, was then placed on the stand. He stated that he had been on a spree from Sunday until the time of his arrest. On the Sunday prior to the murder he was in a saloon with the accused Portelli about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. He, at that time, asked Portelli whether he wanted to buy the horse, to which the accused replied that he had no use for it now, as he had split Johnny, meaning the deceased. The examination will be continued tomorrow in Judge Hornblower’s court. .
Julian Portelli May 9, 1888 indictment on 9 May 1888.

Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 17 May 1888: PORTELLI'S CASE
MEFSUTT's Murder Will Be Avenged
Tbe Assassin's Shirt, Stained With Blood Is Found After a Very Long Search
A disccovery in the Mefsutt/Portelli murder case, that is likely to prove important as affecting the guilt or innocense of the personss charged with the crime, was made yesterday. A whlte shirt that Jullan Portelli wore on the night before the murder was committed, and which had mysteriously disappeared with some other article of the chicken peddler’s wardrobe, has been found. Tho. circumstances under which the linen was discovered appear to tho police suspicious. The condition of the shirt is also regarded as likely to have some bearing on the case. There is blood on it in several places; examination proved it to be human blood.
A few days ago Larzolere and Wtham, agents of the property on Davis aud Clay streets in which Mefsutt, the Maltese chicken peddler, was murdered, received from Giovanni Parpetto, a saloon-keeper at 1228 Dupont street, the following letter:
County Jail— Please give to the bearer all my things-trunk, clotnes and whatever may be in my rooms. I want him to take care of them for me until this thing is all over. He will take good care of them until they will be out of your way, anyway.
Julian Portelli
Portelli -- In jail awaiting trial for tho murder of his partner. The crlme was an atrocious one, rivaling in horror any that have shocked this city in late years. Mefsutt was hacked to pieces. Portelli was suspected, and there appeared good grounds for his arrest. No evldemce that made the case agalnst him any stronger than it was the day he was put in prison was discovered until the order on Larzolere and Witham was found. Every effort was made to find the clothes the suspected man wore shortly before the murder was committed,
but they provod fruitless.
His rooms, the houses of his frlends and the place where he kept his stock were ransacked, but with no other result than the suggestion that Portelll had burned the garments.
0fficer James Smith heard of the order, and that Parpetto had received Portelli's trunk, he went to the saloon and demanded that all of the prisoner's clothes be turned over to him immediately. After a short dlsousslon he received the chest. In it was fouud the shirt. It had been handled by reporters and police officers shortly after tho discovery of tbo rnurdor, but its filthy condition entailed a degree of herolsm on the part of the investigators that few possessed. Smith, however, in looking through the box again saw fit to inspect the garment, and was rewarded by finding the blood stains on it. The pollce say there is no doubt this is the shirt worn by Portcelli at tho time Mefsutt was murdered. As the whereabouts of the clothing of tbo prlsoner was considered a most important point in the case, and one llkely to prove troublesomo to tbe State, the discovery of tho bloody garment is timely.

Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 11 October 1888: THE Portelli Trial -- The Accused Becoming Nervous as it Progresses
The hearing of testlmony in the Portelli murder trial was resumed in Judge
Tochy's court yesterday morning. The first witnesses introduced were police officers, who swore to the finding of Mefsutt's dead body and the queer conduct of Portelli before it was known that a murder had been committed. The prisoner delayed the progress of the trial by confusing the identity of the witnesses and cross esamining them at great length about things of which they knew nothing. Notwithstanding the claim of his attorneys that he was unable to speak or understand English, Portelli sat behind them and coached them in very good Anglo-Saxon all through the day. The defendant was in a very excited
mood, and as the evidence tending to show his connection with the crime was brought out link by link he grew noticeably nervous. But little new or interesting testimony is expected in the case until Detective Robert Hogan taken the stand tomorrow. The prosecutlon expects the testimony to clear up the mystery and show Portelli's guilt completely. Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 12 October 1888: Portelli’s Trial.
Damaging Testimony Heard Yesterday. Evidence Connecting Him With the Murder of John Mefstutt Gradually Accumulating.
Julian Portelli, the Maltese murderer. now being tried for the murder of John Mefstutt, was until yesterday a merry man.. His mood since his arrest last April has been jocular and impudent. When placed on trial he was even saucy, And at the time preliminary testimony was introduced on the first day of the trial which is now in progress he laughed at the witnesses and their testimony. Yesterday his mood changed. He has lost his confidence and impudence, and aa the cumulative circumstantial evidence against him is brought out by the prosecution his soberness increases. The testimony that had the most to do with his change in the manner of the accused, and creating also a deep effect on the jury, was that of W. W. Finnis a porter for the commission firm of Larzaller and Witham, whose place of business is one of the storerooms on the ground floor of the building where the tragedy occurred.
Finnis testified that on the Saturday before Mefstutt’s murder he heard a noise in the room above, as though a struggle was going on, and soon after Mefstutt and Portelli came down the stairs together. Mefstutt was covered with blood, and when he and Portelli came into his presence Mefstutt immediately complained to him of Portelli’s abuse.
“He has thrown me down stairs and whips me all the time. Look at me!" cried Mefstuut. "He not only whips me, but robs me. Isn’t he a ___ ______ -___?"
Finnis said that Portelli laughed and repealed the offensive epithet that Mefstutt applied to him, and said that he was a ___ ___. Mefstutt accused Portelli of having thrown him down stairs, and Portelli admitted it.
Fred Meyers, who keeps a saloon directly across the street, corroborated the witness Finnis as to the quarrel between the men. He heard the noise of the disturbance. and saw them quarreling on the stairs. Later on that night Portelli came to him and left $80 for safe keeping. The money was in $20 gold pieces, and they Appeared to be mildewed, as though they had been laid away for some time. Meyers said that at another time the accused had given him money to keep, on this occasion leaving $110.
Just before this money was left with Meyers, the dead man, Mefstutt, had been robbed of the identical amount, $110. Robbery is one of the motives the State is attempting to show for the crime, and the prosecution will try to prove that Portelli was systematically robbing the murdered man. Private Watchman John Walls, the man who saw Portelli on the awning leading from his room to that of the victim on the night of the murder, about l:30 o'clock in the morning, took the stand and swore to that fact. He positively identified Portelli, and his testimony was unshaken by the defense in the cross-examination. The prosecution then proceeded to the dispose the suspicion attached to Antone Santo, the man accused by Portelli of having committed the crime, and succeeded by introducing the testimony of a number of witnesses accounting for the actions and whereabouts of Santo, and proving conclusively that he had no knowledge of the murder. Santo himself was put on the stand, and swore to Portelli telling him in Bottle Koenig’s saloon that he and Mefstutt had had a fight, ana were no longer friends nor partners. That was the Sunday before the murder. Several witnesses were then introduced to prove that Alfred Woods, the nineteen year-old boy, likewise accused by Portelli of the murder, had nothing to do with the crime. Woods is now on the high seas, having shipped last August in a vassal bound for Liverpool. His mother was present and testified to that fact. Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 2 November 1888: PORTELLI'S TRIAL. THE DEFENDANT HIMSELF ON THE STAND.

Kaiser, the Police Court stenographer, Appears as a friend of Stevens, the Attorney.
The trial of Julian Portelli for the murder of his partner, John Mefstu [Mifsud], which has been in progress in Judge Toohy's Court for a month past, is rapidly drawing to a close, and will doubtless be finished in a few days. Yesterday morning the defense called to the witness stand Fred W. Kaiser, the shorthand reporter in Judge Hornblower’s court. Kaiser testified to going to the scene of the murder at the instance of Martin Stevens, one of the defendant’s attorneys, and making some measurements and examinations, which did not agree with those made by Detective Robert Hogan. He said he saw the blood on the floor when the door was opened four inches. After he had related all he discovered in the murdered man’s room, be stated that he had known Mr. Stevens for over fifteen years, and that he had succeeded Stevens as Police Court stenographer, He had gone to school with Stevens, and they were close friends, and it was on this account that ho had gone with him to Mifsutt's room.
After severe cross examination, he swore that the visit was made on the afternoon of April 24th between 2 and 3 o'clock, and the day was very bright and sunny. "You approached me on one occasion about this case, did you not?". asked Assistant District Attorney Dunne. . Yes, sir,” answered the witness." "State what you said to me about hanging this man and about your friendship with Mr. Stevens.. The defense objected, but the question was allowed. "I asked if you were going to convict and hang Portelli and you replied "What about it". I said to you that Stevens, Portelli's attorney, was a particular friend of mine and I should like to see him win the case and I hoped that he would not hang the fellow. You replied we wouldn't if we could get over Bob Hogan's testimony against the accused.
"What else did you say? "I said that while I believed Portelli guilty, I hoped you wouldn't hang him." The Assistant District Attorney explained that this matter was brought out to show that the mind of the witness was "prejudiced in favor of the defendant, solely on account of his friendship for Martin Stevens, his attorney.
Martin Stevens requested permission to take the stand and did so. He explained that his purpose in going to the room was to learn if Portelli had told the truth about seeing the blood through the door. The witness found that he could see the blood himself when the door wee sprung four inches at the bottom. Mr. Sevens contradicted Kaiser about the time of the visit to Mefstutt’s room, which he said was in the afternoon of April 25th, and not on the 24th, as Kaiser swore.
J. A. Campbell, the leading counsel for the defendant also look the witness stand. He said he had made investigation similar to those made by Kaiser and Stevens, and for the same purpose—to learn if Portent had told the truth about seeing the blood. Campbell said be had seen the blood when the door was sprung four inches. His visit was made near noonday, on a bright and sunny day.
A Juror asked him if the reason he had given was an honest one, why he had not made his investigations at the same hour Portelli said he had seen the blood, at 6:30 o'clock the morning the murder was discovered. Campbell answered that he was not in the habit of getting up at that lime. A recess was then taken until 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
When the court reassembled Portelli himself took the stand, He told of his acquaintance with the deceased in Malta, where they both were born, and how they both came to this country, and how he had first met Mefstutt in this city. Several points connected with the lives of the two here, touching their partnership and other relations, were testified to by the accused and he finally told the quarrel that took place between them on the Saturday night before the tragedy. He said that they both had been drinking heavily, and were in Mefstutt's room together. Mefstutt wanted to go out, to which Portelli objected, and as Mefstutt insisted, defendant pushed him. He fell, striking against a faucet cock that was lying on the floor, cutting his head and causing the blood to flow. They then left, and went to Herman’s saloon on Davis street, and then to Meyer's saloon, at the corner of Davis and Clay streets, where Portelli gave the bartender $80 to keep for him. At this point the court adjourned until this afternoon at 1 o’clock.

Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 22 November 1888: GHOSTS -- They Invade the County Jail. Portilli grows excited --
Results of imprisonment of Harry Wild the materializing medium
Tho prisoners of the County Jail have a new and strange subject of interest to break the monotony of life in that bastile. Ghistss are making nightly visits to tho affrightened inmates, for the^; first time In the history of that institution. Disembodied spiritsi hold revels in its darkest recesses, laughing at thick wills and massive bolts and bars as a strong men might at the impediment of thin air. They float about the corridors, create strange, unearthly noises which are mainly for tho sensitive ears of the superstitious and appear as weird apporitions in the dark and dismal cells, in whose dim light and lonely confines sheeted ghosts and goblins might be supposed to- find congenial surroundings. A number of the women and some of the male prisoners in cells at the farther end of the main corridor, where so many murderers have been sent into eternity, deciare that a few nights ago there was a strange dlsuirbance there in the middle of the nighti which admits of no ratlonal explanation.
Portelli, the chicken dealer who is charged with murdering his partner some time ago, is greatly excited over certain communications from the spirit world, including some from his alleged victim, and has a firmly rooted idea his head that the jury which is trying hlm will contain one juryman who will hold out to the last conviction. Goldenson is just now making the county jail, a favorite stamping ground, and others who have explained crimes on the gallows there are returning.to the place of their former terrible vigils.

The sudden Hegira from ghostland is the natural consequence of the confinement there of Harry Wild, the well-known materialising medium, who is charged with complicity in the schemes of the Enterprise gang, Since his incarceration his nightly seances 'have brought spirits of high and low degree about him in swarms. He is confined in cell B with Bartman and Trottor, who are getting along nicely with their ghostly companions and the medium is regarded by the other prisoners with wonder, curiosity, fear and awe. They hear the strains of hymns coming from his cell in the night and rumors of the strange visitations there, and they hardly know what manner of man he is, while the imaginations of tho more superstitious easily conjure up all sorts of unearthly souude and visions. They never miss an opportunity when let out to pace the oorrldor for a short time of stopping at the wlcket of Wild's cell to get a Job lot of Information about themselves, their cases and their future, which the big and smillng Harry is happy to give them for one round dollar a piece. During tho two weeks of Wild's incarceration, nearly twenty women, who have been his regular customers have called on him during visiting hours, and received through him and through the wlcket of his cell door an immense amount of consolatlon and advise from the spirit world.
Until a few days ago Wild, Bartman and Trotter were in cell 10, next to that occupied by Portelli, and communication was more easy than at present. The presence of the medium gave a number of departed spirits a long-wanted opportunity of communicating with Portelli, and he was. soon given the exciting information that tbere was a "medium' in the cell who could talk with spirits, and that some of the spooks wanted to talk to him. Portelli did not quite understand, but his eyes bulged out in amazement, Bartman was doing the talking from cell 19, and informed Portelli that the medlum was in a trance and would answer any questions he might ask the spirits.
^,r What Spirit is there?" asked the excited ocoupant of cell 10. "Your partner John,” came the reply. After Bartman had consulted the medium. "John? My partner? gasped Portelli. "My partner? "What's his odea name.”
^uMestuft." "What he say?" "He say I killed him?" inquired Portelli, breathlessly.
"He won't say but he says he hopes you'll get out all rlght." "What else he say?" "He's gone now, but he'll come back again. Some, of the other spirits say they’re working for you and they're going to try to help you out".
⁴¹ How theo devil they help me out?" asked Portelli in half doubting tone, '
"Well they're going to try to fix the Jury for you. You. see, they will try to enter their hearts and got them to vote to acquit you."
Portelli was speechless, "They say they've had one trial up there and one of the jury stuck for oonvictlon. The jury down there is liable to go the same way, but the ’re going to have another trial, and we will let you know what they do."
The guying went on until. Portelli expressed the opinlon that the splrlts were trying to fool him, and then his attorney is sald to have glven him a pointer that there might be a scheme to get a oonfession out of him. and since then he has been very oareful of what he says. He is nearly terrlfied at tlmes and is oonstantly expeoting a visit from the ghostly beings which he has heard inhabit the medium's cell.
On the second night of his oonflnement Wild fixed up a cabinet out of the scant furnishing of the cell, the principal element appearing to be a blanket stretched across one corner of the cell, and the seances have been going on ever since, principally for the entertainmont of himself aud his companions. While the usual accesories have been lacking, the materialising seances, though somewhat crude, have been similar to those presented elsewhere in this city constantly, and the visits from the borderland of death fully as numerous.
An interveiw with real spirits in a narrow, dark and haunted cell is not an everyday occurence. and with the permission of Mr Wild and the proper authorities a Chronicle reporter entered cell 8 in tho County Jail last evening
ready to face tho apparltlona which were said to invade the dismal plaoe when
night gives lioens3 to the dead.
When the heavy door of iron was slammed behind him. and the ponderous
bolt slid into its socket there came to the reporter for the first time a realizing sense of what a prison was. The narrow space seemed but little larger than a grave, and the heavy walls and bars appeared to be mainly to crush hope from an inmate's breast. When the hospitable hosts had made ready for the seanoe the corridor’s light, which struggled through the little wicket to mingle with the feeble rays of a tallow candle on a shelf, was shut out and the oandle snuffed. The sudden gloom was slowly mellowed by a few rays of the corridor’s gaslight which crept through a narrow ventilating slit and filtered through papered over the wlcket, giving an indescribable weirdness to the dlm scene. A medium seemed unnecessary to call forth, all the gnomes and goblins with which mythology has peopled the earth.
The two whom the visitor found inside felt no influencss to repress jokes at the expense of the situation. The reporter seatod himself on an upturned soap box. Bartman and Troter, who have become pretty good materializing mediums themselves, took fresh chews of tobacco and seated themselves on upturned pails, and Wild went into the Holy of Holiess behind his blanket.
"Now, please sing something to get the medium enu rapport with the spirits," came from behind the horse blanket. Bartman and Trotter qulokly squirted out some tobaoco juice and raised two melodious voices in "Nearer, My God, to Thee," the old familiar strains, floating out to mingle with felons gibes.
The voices died away and the sceance went on as nearly like those to which spiritualists in this city weekly flock, as the circumstances would permit. The melody referred to had worked like a oharm, and Peggy the spirit of aa old Alabama colored woman, who is familiar to many in this city, and who is Harry Wild's chief "control,” announced herself in a falsetto key through the entranoed medium's vocal organs, "What, would the auditors have?''
" Aleck Goldenson, Mamie Kelly’s murderer, who has been enjoying the bliss of spirit land since September 14th, had not reported since the evening before, and inquires were made as to hls whereabouts. '*Yes, Golenson is here,” said Peggy, speaking from the whereness of the whense through Harry’s gentle voice,
"and I think he’ll be able to appear after a while." "How's Aleck getting along now?” inquireded the reporter from his box in the opposite corner of the cell. ^,rHe is happy here with Mamie,” was the reply. After a little further discussion of
Aleck’s good fortune, hls oomoing as a materialized body was announced.
A white form, dim and ghostly in the faint, weird llght, whloh had to push
aside the curtain to make an appearance before it, suddenly apeared, with invisible features and with one arm extended. In accordance with the time
honored ghost custom. The reporter was not engaged in making an expose of spIrltualism and did not test the quality of the palpable form before him, rather training hls imagination to make the apparition an ethereal vision for the moment. "Yes, I am Aîeck Goldenson,” replied the questioned visitor. "Oh, yes, l am very happy, 1 am with Mamie now. Sbe met me within two hours after I crossed over and we are wedded forever. She has forgiven me wholly, for spirits know no resentment or revenge. She belougs to a higher sphere than I do, and will take me there with her as I am more developed in spirit life.’'
The materialized spirit, was quite fee with his information, in the style that splrits usually are.
*' When I was walking to the gallows," he continued, "I saw a bright light ahead of me aud heard faint music and that was what made me calm. I suffered terribly when I first left the body, but alter wanderlng around I saw a bright light ahead of me, and on approaching it I dlsoovered my darling Mamie draped in shlnlng robes of spotleea white. 8he beokoued me to follow her and led me into a land full of sunshine, rnusic and flowers. "I have tried to manifest myself to to several of my frlends here in the jail, but oould not I propose in the future to devote myself to doing good to criminals. I hope Bowers and Dimming will get through all right. Does Portelli get enough to eat now?"
"My brains? Oh, they needn't bother themselves about them." "I have got a better set of brains now than anybody in the world. Well, I ain't ready to say anything about that polson yet. I am felling rather weak and will go now. Goodby.”
The spirits of the other world were standing in line waiting for Peggy to give them a chance to call on the Chronicle reporter, and most of them appeared in the spirits of the other world were standing in line waiting for Peggy to give them a chance to call on the Chronicle reporter, and most of them appeared in that same shadowy outline, some only talked through the medium Wheeler, the strangler, who preceeded Golden, some years ago, told of his sufferings, and "Jimmy. the Newsboy", who has so often appeared to San Francisco audiences, under a friendly oall. Carrie Miller, the noted departed spiritualist, forsook the San Francisco female medium whom she usually attends, to oomfort persecuted Harry Wild, while the Empress of Saturn, another spirit well known in San Francisco, told something of life on the planets and then hastened away to India to see Madame Blayatsky, the great theosophist. All told the usual stories and departed. .
The spirits diaappeared, the seance ended, the sordid present broke in on the ghostly revel and the medium awoke from hie trance to down a cup of Spring Valley water.

Maltese In the News was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 9 September 1889: Sentenced to 30 years imprisonment.

Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 12 September 1889: HIS SECOND TRIAL.

Portelli Is Again before a Jury for Murder.
Julian Portelli, the peddler, who, in April, 1888, was arrested for the murder of John Mefstutt, a companion, which is alleged to have occurred during a quarrel over some vegetables, was placed on trial for the second time yesterday before a jury in Judge Van Reynegom's court. Portelli was tried in October last, and the trial lasted seven weeks. The evidence against Portelli is mainly of circumstantial character, and the first jury which tried him could not agree upon his probable guilt The whole of yesterday afternoon was devoted to securing a jury. He was mentioned in a newspaper article: on 24 Sep 1889 at San Francisco Chronicle The Trial of Portelli,
Ex-City Physician Carpenter, with the skull of murdered John Mefstut in his hand, described to a jury in Judge Van Reynegotn’s court yesterday, the twenty-nine wounds which Julian Portelli is charged with having inflicted, and for which he is now on trial. The evidence of the day was mainly of a professional character necessary to the introduction of the people's testimony. A new juror had to be secured to take the place of the other who was taken sick. The first trial of Portelli consumed seven weeks. The present one will take a month.

Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 24 September 1889: The Trial of Portelli,

Ex-City Physician Carpenter, with the skull of murdered John Mefstut in his hand, described to a jury in Judge Van Reynegotn’s court yesterday, the twenty-nine wounds which Julian Portelli is charged with having inflicted, and for which he is now on trial. The evidence of the day was mainly of a professional character necessary to the introduction of the people's testimony. A new juror had to be secured to take the place of the other who was taken sick. The first trial of Portelli consumed seven weeks. The present one will take a month.

Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 24 October 1889: Stenographer's Fees.
The Portelli Trial Proving' a Mint to Riley
Judge Van Reynogom ordered Treasurer Reis yesterday to pay Stenographer Riley of his court $270 for transcribing the evidence in the Portelli oase. Thus far this month $871 has been paid for this purpose, and the end is not yet, Treasurer Reis considers the law upon which those orders are based as unjust to taxpayers, and it is his intention to bring the matter to the attention of the Grand Jury, with a vow of ultimately having the law amended by the Legislature. .


Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 26 October 1889: Portelli’s Fate

It rests in the hands of the jury.
After being out for 10 hours they return for instructions and are locked up. Julian Portelli, who has been on trial in Judge Van Reynogorn’s court for seven weeks for the murder of his partner. John Mefstutt in April, 1887, still remains in ignorance of his fate. The jurors were charged by the Judge yesterday morning, and at 10:30 a.m. retired to consult upon a verdict. Nothing was heard from them until 4 o’clock in the afternoon, when they reported through the bailiff that they were unable to agree and that there appeared to be no probability of their doing so. At 8:30 o'clock last evening the jurymen came into court and asked for further instructions.
The defendant at the time was sleeping on the floor in the prisoner’s dock, but arose with much eagerness and anxiety in his face as the bailiff aroused him by a touch on the shoulder. At the request of the foreman of the jury the shorthand reporter read from the transcript of testimony the statement made by Portelli to the police at the time of his arrest. Information was then requested as to whether a verdict of murder in the second degree could be returned, to which the Judge by rereading that portion of his charge referring to the form of the verdict. The Jurors then again retired and were locked up for the night, taking with them the for examination the door of Mefsutt’s room, on which so much stress was laid by the prosecution during both trials of the case. It is understood that the jurors stand five for acquittal, with the remaining seven divided as to murder in the first or the second degree.

Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 27 October 1889: THE MEFSTUTT MURDER. Found Guility in the Second Degree.
The case of Julian Portelli_; charged with the murder of John Mefstutt, was given to the jury on Friday after three days of argument by Deputy District Attorney Southard and two days and a half by Attorney J. A. Campbell, who represented the defendant. The Jury was taken into court yesterday at their request and informed Judge Van Revuegom that they saw no prospect of agreeing. In reply, the Court said that the trial had lasted nearly six weeks, at great expense to the county, and he was reluctant to let the jury separate without an opportunity to thoroughly examine the case, and if possible reach a conclusion in accordance with justice. He therefore sent them back for further consultation. At 9 o’clock last night the jury brought in a verdict of murder in the second degree.

Julian Portelli was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle on 10 November 1889: Sentence Day
Portelli to serve thirty years in prison. He creates a scene in court by accusing a witness of perjury.
Julian Portelli, the chicken peddler, convicted of murder in the second degree for killing John Mefstutt his partner, on the 10th of April, 1887, was sentenced by Judge Van Reynegom yesterday to thirty years imprisonment at hard labor at San Quentin Prison. The prisoner, when asked by the Court if he had anything to say why sentence should not be pronounced, created a scene by arising in the dock and saying: “I have been convicted on the perjured testimony of that man.” at the same time pointing at the witness, J. F. Malley, who was sitting on the other side of the courtroom. “I am innocent of the murder of which I have been convicted, and I have only Mr. Malley to thank for the fact that I am not a free man to-day." The prisoner then thanked the Judge and jury for the fair trial they had given him, and calmly received his sentence. J. C. Campbell, attorney for Portelli, subsequently informed a reporter that he would in all probability carry the case to the Supreme Court, as he was satisfied that the verdict rendered by the jury was contrary to the evidence.
Julian Portelli 30 year sentence for 2nd degree murder; age 47, a gardener; height 5' 2"; transfered to Folsom Prison on 3/1/1890 on 10 November 1889 at San Quentin Prison, Marin Co., CA, USA.
Julian Portelli Julian Portelli, 2nd degree murder; released while on parole, Jan 10, 1908 on 1 March 1890 at Folsom Prison, Sacramento Co., CA, USA. He was listed in the 1900 US Census age 58, prisoner in Folsom Prison, Granite, Sacramento Co., CA, USA. He appeared on the census of 1900 at Folsom State Prison, Granite, CA, USA; age 58, single, 1883 immigration, he and parents born in Malta; cannot read or write; speaks English; not naturalized.
Julian Portelli Released from prison at age 65 on 10 January 1908. Research. Research: An Antonio Santo mentioned in Portelli's trial.

     John Mifsud was born in Malta. He was murdered on 10 April 1887 at San Francisco, CA, USA.
     He witnessed the Newspaper of Julian Portelli and Maltese In the News on 24 April 1888 at San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, CA, USA; Portelli in Court
Preliminary Examination Yesterday.
The Prosecution Proving That Antonio Santo Is Not Implicated In the Marder.
Judge Hornblower was occupied all yesterday afternoon and last evening hearing evidence in the preliminary examination of Julian Portelli, accused of the murder of his partner, John Mefsutt, in his room on the corner of Clay and Davis streets. The courtroom corridors were thronged with long-haired, dusky compatriots of the defendant, who talked volubly among themselves in reference to the mysterious and peculiar circumstances surrounding the tragedy, though they seemed unable to follow the testimony adduced.
Officer Manning was the first witness called by J. H. Long, who conducted the prosecution. He related how the defendant came up to him at 6:30 o'clock on the morning of the 11th last, and stated that he thought his partner had been killed, as he found blood all along the building. The witness accompanied him and described the ghastly scene in the room when he entered in terms the same as has already appeared in the press.
Detective Hogan then took the stand and graphically related to the Court the arrest of Portelli, the various conversations which be had with him and the conflicting statements his prisoner made on every occasion that the witness spoke to him. The witness read a long statement made by Portelli immediately after the arrest, in which be denied all knowledge of the murder. The only thing that he knew of that several people had threatened his partner and himself and that he was still afraid. The officer was cross-examined at great
length by Attorneys Campbell and Stevens, with a view that he had threatened Portelli and badgered him in the Chief's office in order that he might make a statement implicating himself, and that he was refused an interpreter. These statements were separately and collectively repudiated by the officer, and his Honor remarked that if Mr. Campbell has not more careful in selecting his questions the city would be bankrupted by the shorthand writer‘s bill. Henry Wager, an old man who lives in the room adjoining the one occupied by the two Maltese, said that on the night before the discovery of Mefstutt’s body, he heard a noise in their room. It was between 11 and 12 o’clock and he was in bed. He jumped up and the noise ceased at once. He saw the defendant soon after 6 o'clock the next morning knocking he heard
at the door. He said he wanted his basket. Fred Meyer, a saloon keeper, was called and stated that the defendant Portelli used to keep his money with the witness. At the time of his arrest Portelli had $80 with the witness.
“Was the money discolored? asked Mr. Long. ‘I object.“ said Attorney Campbell. “The money will be the best evidence. Let it be produced.“ “Yes I thought so. That’s what the attorney has been after all day. There will be $10 for each,“ retorted Mr. Long, but the money was not produce. Louis Vampool, the son of the landlady, in whose lodging house on Battery Street Antonio Santo lived, was placed on the stand. Attorney Long stated to the Court that he would endeavor to prove by this witness and those who would be called afterward, that Antonio Santo was drunk on the night before the murder, and was also not near the house on Clay at the time that the murder.
The witness stated that Antonio came home drunk between 11 and 12 o’clock on Tuesday night and that he partly undressed and put him to bed. The witness slept in the same bed with him that night and knew that Antonio did not leave the room until 7:30 o'clock the next morning. The defense made many futile efforts to have the witness prove himself drunk and not capable of knowing what took place.
Antonio Santa, the man arrested on the suspicion of being the murderer and then released, was then placed on the stand. He stated that he had been on a spree from Sunday until the time of his arrest. On the Sunday prior to the murder he was in a saloon with the accused Portelli about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. He, at that time, asked Portelli whether he wanted to buy the horse, to which the accused replied that he had no use for it now, as he had split Johnny, meaning the deceased. The examination will be continued tomorrow in Judge Hornblower’s court. . John Mifsud witnessed the Newspaper of Julian Portelli and Maltese In the News on 12 October 1888 at San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, CA, USA; Portelli’s Trial.
Damaging Testimony Heard Yesterday. Evidence Connecting Him With the Murder of John Mefstutt Gradually Accumulating.
Julian Portelli, the Maltese murderer. now being tried for the murder of John Mefstutt, was until yesterday a merry man.. His mood since his arrest last April has been jocular and impudent. When placed on trial he was even saucy, And at the time preliminary testimony was introduced on the first day of the trial which is now in progress he laughed at the witnesses and their testimony. Yesterday his mood changed. He has lost his confidence and impudence, and aa the cumulative circumstantial evidence against him is brought out by the prosecution his soberness increases. The testimony that had the most to do with his change in the manner of the accused, and creating also a deep effect on the jury, was that of W. W. Finnis a porter for the commission firm of Larzaller and Witham, whose place of business is one of the storerooms on the ground floor of the building where the tragedy occurred.
Finnis testified that on the Saturday before Mefstutt’s murder he heard a noise in the room above, as though a struggle was going on, and soon after Mefstutt and Portelli came down the stairs together. Mefstutt was covered with blood, and when he and Portelli came into his presence Mefstutt immediately complained to him of Portelli’s abuse.
“He has thrown me down stairs and whips me all the time. Look at me!" cried Mefstuut. "He not only whips me, but robs me. Isn’t he a ___ ______ -___?"
Finnis said that Portelli laughed and repealed the offensive epithet that Mefstutt applied to him, and said that he was a ___ ___. Mefstutt accused Portelli of having thrown him down stairs, and Portelli admitted it.
Fred Meyers, who keeps a saloon directly across the street, corroborated the witness Finnis as to the quarrel between the men. He heard the noise of the disturbance. and saw them quarreling on the stairs. Later on that night Portelli came to him and left $80 for safe keeping. The money was in $20 gold pieces, and they Appeared to be mildewed, as though they had been laid away for some time. Meyers said that at another time the accused had given him money to keep, on this occasion leaving $110.
Just before this money was left with Meyers, the dead man, Mefstutt, had been robbed of the identical amount, $110. Robbery is one of the motives the State is attempting to show for the crime, and the prosecution will try to prove that Portelli was systematically robbing the murdered man. Private Watchman John Walls, the man who saw Portelli on the awning leading from his room to that of the victim on the night of the murder, about l:30 o'clock in the morning, took the stand and swore to that fact. He positively identified Portelli, and his testimony was unshaken by the defense in the cross-examination. The prosecution then proceeded to the dispose the suspicion attached to Antone Santo, the man accused by Portelli of having committed the crime, and succeeded by introducing the testimony of a number of witnesses accounting for the actions and whereabouts of Santo, and proving conclusively that he had no knowledge of the murder. Santo himself was put on the stand, and swore to Portelli telling him in Bottle Koenig’s saloon that he and Mefstutt had had a fight, ana were no longer friends nor partners. That was the Sunday before the murder. Several witnesses were then introduced to prove that Alfred Woods, the nineteen year-old boy, likewise accused by Portelli of the murder, had nothing to do with the crime. Woods is now on the high seas, having shipped last August in a vassal bound for Liverpool. His mother was present and testified to that fact. John Mifsud witnessed the Newspaper of Julian Portelli and Maltese In the News on 2 November 1888 at San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, CA, USA; PORTELLI'S TRIAL. THE DEFENDANT HIMSELF ON THE STAND.

Kaiser, the Police Court stenographer, Appears as a friend of Stevens, the Attorney.
The trial of Julian Portelli for the murder of his partner, John Mefstu [Mifsud], which has been in progress in Judge Toohy's Court for a month past, is rapidly drawing to a close, and will doubtless be finished in a few days. Yesterday morning the defense called to the witness stand Fred W. Kaiser, the shorthand reporter in Judge Hornblower’s court. Kaiser testified to going to the scene of the murder at the instance of Martin Stevens, one of the defendant’s attorneys, and making some measurements and examinations, which did not agree with those made by Detective Robert Hogan. He said he saw the blood on the floor when the door was opened four inches. After he had related all he discovered in the murdered man’s room, be stated that he had known Mr. Stevens for over fifteen years, and that he had succeeded Stevens as Police Court stenographer, He had gone to school with Stevens, and they were close friends, and it was on this account that ho had gone with him to Mifsutt's room.
After severe cross examination, he swore that the visit was made on the afternoon of April 24th between 2 and 3 o'clock, and the day was very bright and sunny. "You approached me on one occasion about this case, did you not?". asked Assistant District Attorney Dunne. . Yes, sir,” answered the witness." "State what you said to me about hanging this man and about your friendship with Mr. Stevens.. The defense objected, but the question was allowed. "I asked if you were going to convict and hang Portelli and you replied "What about it". I said to you that Stevens, Portelli's attorney, was a particular friend of mine and I should like to see him win the case and I hoped that he would not hang the fellow. You replied we wouldn't if we could get over Bob Hogan's testimony against the accused.
"What else did you say? "I said that while I believed Portelli guilty, I hoped you wouldn't hang him." The Assistant District Attorney explained that this matter was brought out to show that the mind of the witness was "prejudiced in favor of the defendant, solely on account of his friendship for Martin Stevens, his attorney.
Martin Stevens requested permission to take the stand and did so. He explained that his purpose in going to the room was to learn if Portelli had told the truth about seeing the blood through the door. The witness found that he could see the blood himself when the door wee sprung four inches at the bottom. Mr. Sevens contradicted Kaiser about the time of the visit to Mefstutt’s room, which he said was in the afternoon of April 25th, and not on the 24th, as Kaiser swore.
J. A. Campbell, the leading counsel for the defendant also look the witness stand. He said he had made investigation similar to those made by Kaiser and Stevens, and for the same purpose—to learn if Portent had told the truth about seeing the blood. Campbell said be had seen the blood when the door was sprung four inches. His visit was made near noonday, on a bright and sunny day.
A Juror asked him if the reason he had given was an honest one, why he had not made his investigations at the same hour Portelli said he had seen the blood, at 6:30 o'clock the morning the murder was discovered. Campbell answered that he was not in the habit of getting up at that lime. A recess was then taken until 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
When the court reassembled Portelli himself took the stand, He told of his acquaintance with the deceased in Malta, where they both were born, and how they both came to this country, and how he had first met Mefstutt in this city. Several points connected with the lives of the two here, touching their partnership and other relations, were testified to by the accused and he finally told the quarrel that took place between them on the Saturday night before the tragedy. He said that they both had been drinking heavily, and were in Mefstutt's room together. Mefstutt wanted to go out, to which Portelli objected, and as Mefstutt insisted, defendant pushed him. He fell, striking against a faucet cock that was lying on the floor, cutting his head and causing the blood to flow. They then left, and went to Herman’s saloon on Davis street, and then to Meyer's saloon, at the corner of Davis and Clay streets, where Portelli gave the bartender $80 to keep for him. At this point the court adjourned until this afternoon at 1 o’clock.

     Julian Portelli was born circa 1850 in Valletta, Malta. He died in April 1927.
     He began military service in 1898 Spanish American War.
Obituary: on 17 April 1927: SOUTHLAND OLD-TIMER SUCCUMBS Julian Portelli, Member of "Times" Force, Dies in Seventy-seventh Year Julian Portelii, 77 years of age. member of The Times mechanical force for the last nine years, died yesterday at the French Hospital from a stroke of paralysis following an illness of ten days. Born at Valletta, Malta, In October. 1850, Mr. Portelli came to the United Slates at an early age. He had been a resident of California more than forty years, half of which he spent in Los Angeles. Requiem high, mass will be said for the deceased Wednesday at 10 am. at the Italian Church of St. Peter, followed by Interment at Calvary Catholic Cemetery under direction of Godcau & Martinoni, funeral directors. The deceased resided at 644 New High street for a number of years, He leaves one adopted son, Dr. Mario T. David, with offices in the Law Building. Mr. Portelli at one time possessed one of the outstanding collections of old coins in the West. He was a veteran of the Spanish-American War.
The Los Angeles Times page 82
17 Apr 1927, Sun. Research.