Constable William Stewart Mettler

William Stewart Mettler

Constable William Mettler was shot and killed while attempting to serve an arrest warrant near Tehachapi.

The man who killed him was a member of a gang of desperados whose leader was Tiburcio Vasquez, one of California's most notorious bandits. A member of the gang shot and killed Constable William H. Hardmount of the Monteray Constable's Office on September 2, 1854. The gang roamed Southern California, robbing and killing from 1854 until 1874 when Vasquez was captured. Vasquez, who blamed all the murders on members of his gang, was hanged in 1875.