Description

On April 26, 1953 an unconscious man was found on the second floor of the Capitol Hotel. He was rushed to the Salt Lake County General Hospital but died while in route. The decedent's two travel companions were booked into the county Jail for questioning. All three men had just arrived from Portland, Oregon when they checked into their hotel, drank and went to bed. According to one account, money went missing and one of the men accused John Doe of stealing it. John Doe then grabbed the decedent in a "serious" gesture which caused the man to stab him once in the chest. The decedent checked into his hotel under the name Johnny Thompson, but his companion knew him as Johnny Beaukins. Some paper in possession gave the name John F Hansen of Portland, Oregon. Police had then contacted authorities in Portland who said a man matching that description spent time in a Washington State Prison in Walla Walla. Salt Lake Police obtained John Hansen's next of kin's information. Family viewed the body at the Desert Mortuary in Salt Lake City and said the body was not their son. The victim was never positively identified. On May 5, 1953 the body was sent to the University of Utah for disposal.