Notes:

Jack and Anna May Peiterson, of Calavo Gardens; private services were held in the Paris Mortuary, El Cajon, followed by burial in Glen Abbey Memorial Park, Chula Vista.

San Diego Union March 24, 1953

ELDERLY MAN KILLS WIFE, THEN HIMSELF
Calls Police Before Taking Own Life in Calavo Gardens

EL CAJON - An 80-year old Calavo Gardens Resident shot his wife yesterday morning, called police and then turned the gun om himself in a murder-suicide pact for which authorities could find no clar motive.

John William Peiterson called police from his home on Creatland Rd. at 6:30 a.m. and announced he had killed his wife, Anna May Peiterson. He told Patrolman A.E. Benson he intended to kill himself, and added: "Come out and get us."

MONEY RULED OUT
Benson pressed him for an explanation, and Peiterson replied "Financial trouble." Then he hung up on the partroman's attempt to keep him on the telephone and avert the suicide.

The coroner's office ruled out money as the cause for the murder-suicide, however, after discovering the couple had two sizeable bank accounts and owned considerable property in El Cajun, Lemon Grove, Mission Beach and other parts of the San Diego area.

Deputy Coroner Jess Canale frankly admitted he was at a loss to explain the murder-suicide.

The bodies of Peiterson and his 73-year old wife lay side by side in a bed in the cluttered house. Peiterson still clutched the .38 caliber pistol he had used to fire one bullet through his wife's head and another through his own.

PATIENT AT PATTON
Deputy Sherrifs, F.J. Lee and T.E. Johnson, dispatched on Benson's phone call to the sherriff's office, found the bodies of the elderly couple at 6:39 a.m.

Canale discovered Mrs. Peiterson had been a patient at the State Mental Hospital at Patton from Aug. 28, 1951, to Sept. 9, 1952.

In her purse he found two statements written to no one in particular and signed by her husband. One dated in 1950, said the couple had been married 48 years and that Peiterson had found her "a helpful housewife and a good business manager"

EXAMANATION TOLD
The other, dated Aug. 12, 1951, said Peiterson was having his wife examined in the psychopathic ward at County Hospital on orders of an El Cajan physician. The examination, Peiterson wrote, was to be a physical checkup only because she was seeking a divorce. He added that "at no time" had his wife been insane or mentally incompetent.

The couple had lived in the Mt. Helix area for more than 30 years. Peiterson was a member of the El Cajor Elks Lodge and his wife had been a member of the El Cajon Woman's Club, and both had been members of an Eastern Star Chapter.

The bodies were take to Paris Mortuary in El Cajun.

San Diego Union March 19, 1953

Annie married John William PIETERSON on 25 Dec 1903 in Spokane, Spokane, Washington. John was born on 15 Feb 1873 in Oshkosh, Winnebago, Wisconsin; died on 18 Mar 1953 in El Cajun, San Diego County, California; was buried on 23 Mar 1953 in Glen Abbey Memorial Park, Chula Vista, San Diego County, California. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]