Col. Griffith shoots wife in eye

Sept. 3, 1903: Col. Griffith Jenkins Griffith, who gave Los Angeles more than 3,000 acres of land to create the park that bears his name, shot his wife, Christina, in the head.

The shooting occurred at the Hotel Arcadia in Santa Monica, where the Griffiths and their 15-year-old son were spending the summer, The Times reported two days later.

“Mrs. Griffith was in the room packing the trunk preparatory to coming home to Los Angeles, when Griffith entered the room and pulled his revolver,” the newspaper said, citing a relative who had heard the story from Mrs. Griffith “in moments of consciousness” at the hospital.

“He pointed it at Mrs. Griffith, and said: ‘Get your prayer book and kneel down, and cover your eyes. I’m going to shoot you, and going to kill you.’ ”

The bullet went through Mrs. Griffith’s left eye, but she managed to escape by jumping out the window. She landed on a porch roof, fracturing her shoulder, The Times reported.

Griffith was convicted of attempted murder and spent more than a year at San Quentin. His wife divorced him.