Tom Modugno: Dr. Winchester's Secret

A report dated July 10, 1892 described heightened federal surveillance of Dr. Robert Winchester after he returned from a mysterious trip to Vancouver. According to the Los Angeles newspaper, officers monitored Winchester and Captain Van Bremen as they were picked up at Stearns Wharf by buggy and taken along the beach toward a foggy, anchored vessel opposite the Santa Barbara Cemetery. Customs officials suspected the ship, identified as the Eliza Edwards, which had sailed from Vancouver, made an unscheduled stop in Victoria, where it met another craft and appeared to take on cargo. The ship was later seized in San Diego and searched after Winchester reportedly left for the East Coast but checked into a hotel under an alias.