The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-12-15
THE SOHOEPPE CASE.

In the ordinary course of justice, after man
arraigned for murder is tried, convicted, and
sentenced; after the Supreme Court has re-
fused to review any point in the proceedings;
and after the Governor concludes protracted
examination of alleged grounds for the inter
position of Executive clemency by issuing
death-warrant in which the day of execution is
fixed, there is nothing left but TO enforce the
dread mandate of the law. But to this gene
raj rule the case of DR.. Schoeppe, who now
lies under sentence of death in the Carlisle
Jail, has proved striking exception. After
being baffled, apparently, at every point, and
after every rational hope of averting
his impending doom seemed to have
been rudely dispelled, the Supreme
Court has, by the consent of the At
torney- General, issued a writ of certi0raTi,
which has already led to an indefinite post
ponement of the time of Sohoeppe's execu-
ton; and as it will necessarily ensure judi
cial rehearing of some of the points at issue,
his fate is once more involved in doubt. The
causes which have led to this new turn in
the tide of his affairs are manifold, and
when viewed in connection with the character
of his imputed offense, they render his trial,
as whole, the most remarkable that has ever
occurred in this State. Personally he is we'll
calculated to inspire a deep interest in sympa-
thetic minds. He is endowed with great
personal beauty and brilliant intellectual
powers, SO that if he is q murderer he
belongs to the Eugene Aram and DR..
Webster school rather than to the
dull and brutal class who furnish the usual
subjects for the gallows. His alleged crime
is in oonsonance with his character. DIR.
Webster endeavored to destroy the body of
his victim so thoroughly that not a single
trace sufficient for identification would be
left, while DR.. Schoeppe, if he
administered poison to Miss STEM
necke, concocted the fatal dose SO cunningly
that his present advocates, who include many
learned physicians, stoutly contend that the
evidences of his guilt presented during the
trial were totally insufficient to justify con-
viction. Then, while it is alleged that his
German birth generated undue prejudice
against him among the jury, it is
certain he has gained host of power
full friends since his conviction by
the simple fact that he was born and reared |
in the Fatherland of many of our worthy cti-
zens; and they have zealously rushed to his
rescue. But all that the doctors have accom-
plished on the one hand, and the Germans on
the other, would have proved Intellectual, if
powerful partisan element had not been
invoked The last and turning point in the
controversy grew out of the intense desire in
certain quarters to throw discredit upon the
opinion given by Attorney F. Carroll
Brewster, declaring that there was no legiti-
mate cause for the interposition of Executive
clemency. AS he had Just obtained that
Office, under circumstances which ex-
cited great interest among the politicians of
the State, no pains were spared to
create the impression at the outset of his new
career that he was not an infallible legal
adviser; and the clamor proceeding from this
cause, when united with the powerful agita-
tions which had previously been fomented,
have temporarily turned the scales in Dr.
Sohoeppe's favor. 1t remains to be seen,
however, whether the prisoner has, after ALL
gained anything more than reprieve; but in
view of the new complication, and the indi- |
cations that he is to be turning point of |
political as well as scientific battles the public |
interest in his case will be still further height
ened before it is finally decided.