A Bitter Slice: A Double Murder With Unanswered Questions…
The Enterprise and the South San Francisco Journal reported that around 3:30 p.m. Monday afternoon, a certain Todor Kiprof found two men – Peter Giorgi and Spiro Gioref – at the German and French Bakery on Grand Avenue near Linden Avenue shot and mortally wounded May 1908.
As is all too common, the cause of the crime, in this case a double homicide, was money.
The bakery had been there for a while but was sold to Giorgi at the beginning of April. Much of the money to open the bakery came from Kiprof, although there had been other investors. Kiprof was frustrated that no money was coming back to him and demanded a full settlement from Giorgi. Giorgi basically told him to walk away, probably because he’s only owned the bakery for a very short time. Kiprof then threatened in front of Gioref (the driver of the bakery’s delivery truck) to kill Giorgi. According to The Enterprise, Giorgi and Gioref “laughed at Kiprof and told him that the company lost money since (Giorgi) took it over”.
Kiprof got angry, pulled out an automatic pistol and started shooting at the two men.
The shots, amid a peaceful spring afternoon, quickly drew a crowd, and they found Giorgi still alive but “writhing on the ground.” The quickest route to a hospital was via the van owned by Charles Young, a plumber. Giorgi died in hospital later that night.
Gioref only appeared wounded when he was able to escape from the bakery and run down the street, calling for the police. He made it to a nearby post office before collapsing. He was taken to the same hospital and was lucid enough to testify to District Attorney JJ Bullock, who had been subpoenaed by the coroner. After issuing a full statement detailing the shooting, Gioref also died. Kiprof had walked down Grand Avenue, surrendered his gun, and quickly surrendered.
With eyewitness testimony very soon after the event and Gioref’s detailed testimony, I was surprised to find only a brief continuation in the September 12, 1908 Enterprise, which states: “The trial of Todor Kiprof, who is charged with the Murder of Spiro Giorgi in this city last May 11th is scheduled for next Tuesday in Redwood City. Kiprof was recently charged and acquitted in the murder of Peter Giorgi.”
Why Kiprof was acquitted in what appeared to be a fairly open case involving the murder of Giorgi is beyond me. And I could not find any information about the outcome of the Gioref trial. If one or more readers have more details on the outcome of this case and the fate of Kiprof, please leave them in the comments below!
There was an interesting side note to the whole story, however, and The Enterprise reported on a possibly unrelated murder: Stoyan Steff, one of the eyewitnesses to the aftermath of the shooting (and perhaps also an investor in the bakery), was stabbed to death in July 1908 . He should take a stand in Kiprof’s first trial. But Steff issued a deathbed statement saying he did not recognize his attacker.
