Cemetery Tales: Estranged husband and a robber

October 29, 2024

Damos Massonabe, left, and Thomas Halyley were buried at San Quentin and Folsom prison cemeteries in 1904.

In this month’s fifth installment of Cemetery Tales, we examine the stories of an estranged husband and a robber who were buried in 1904.

Editor’s note: Every October, Unlocking History looks into the stories of the people buried in the state prison cemeteries.

Estranged husband shoots wife over real estate

Age 61, 18935, Damos Massonabe, Assault to Murder, San Francisco, 3 1/2 years, native of France.

An argument ended with a wounded wife and her estranged husband facing attempted murder charges.

It began when Damos Massonabe called on his wife Anna to discuss selling some jointly owned property.

Since the couple had been separated for five years, she would hear none of it. She sent her 14-year-old son Joseph on an errand to get him away from the scene.

While outside, the boy heard shouting followed by a gunshot. Looking through the window, he saw his stepfather shooting at his mother as she ran toward the back of the building. The boy quickly ran in, pushing his stepfather’s arm into the air, causing the next shot to go through the ceiling.

Son saves his mom from shooter

He described the incident to the San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 27, 1901.

A grainy newspaper photo of 14-year-old Joseph Courreges who saved his mother from his stepfather during a shooting. — Joseph Courreges, 14

“I rushed in and grabbed him and tried to make him stop shooting,” said Joseph Courreges, the shooter’s stepson. “I punched him and kicked him and then he threatened to shoot me. While I was holding him, my mother ran out into the dining room and locked herself in. (Then) he turned to me and shot at me.”

The shot narrowly missed as the bullet ripped his pants, nearly striking his leg. “My stepfather then ran into the kitchen and took some more cartridges out of a paper bag he had in his pocket and reloaded his pistol.”

Neighbors came to their aid, eventually overpowering Massonabe.

Anna suffered two gunshot wounds, one to her arm and another to her back, but neither were life-threatening. She credited her son with saving her life.

The 61-year-old Massonabe pleaded guilty to a charge of “assault to murder” and given a sentence of three years and six months in San Quentin. The judge said he took the man’s age into consideration at the time of sentencing, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, March 24, 1901.

“Massonabe was at one time wealthy but through misfortune and drink, he squandered most of his money.”
San Francisco Chronicle, March 24, 1901

When he was received at San Quentin, he was given the number 18935. The prison register lists him as standing just over 5-feet 1-inch tall with gray hair and “maroon” colored eyes.

“Massonabe was at one time wealthy but through misfortune and drink, he squandered most of his money,” the newspaper reported.

He passed away in 1904 and buried in the San Quentin cemetery.

Robbery lands man in Folsom for 10 years

Cemetery tales of robber Thomas Halyley with the number 5074 at Folsom State Prison in 1902. — Thomas Halyley, 5074, in 1902

Folsom State Prison grave marker with 5074 etched into stone. — Thomas Halyley, 5074, in 1902

Thomas Halyley knocked down a man in Oxnard and robbed him of $8 in December 1901. While it may not seem like much, it is the equivalent of $296 in today’s money.

While there isn’t a lot of information available on Halyley, the Ventura Free Press let it be known the 10-year sentence was well earned.

“Ten years confinement … behind the wall of Folsom prison is a severe sentence and yet none too severe for Thomas Halyley. Previous terms in the penitentiary, the result of other crimes, have failed in their purpose,” reported the Ventura Free Press, Jan. 10, 1902. “Halyley attacked a (man) in the rear of an Oxnard saloon building. After striking him to the ground, (he) robbed him of all his money.”

Halyley was assigned number 5074 when he was received at Folsom State Prison Jan. 12, 1902. The prison registry lists the New York native as 25 years old and employed as a cook.

He’s also listed as being 5-feet 3-inches tall with blue eyes and sandy blond hair. One final note indicates he died in the prison hospital June 29, 1904. Halyley was buried in the Folsom Prison cemetery.

His grave is marked with a granite slab engraved with only the number 5074.

The photo of the grave marker was taken by the El Dorado Hills Genealogical Society who spent months cataloging the graves at Folsom State Prison.

By Don Chaddock, Inside CDCR editor

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