Los Angeles daily herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1884-1890, 1889-10-07
HELD TO ANSWER.



mrs. Sample viii be Tried for
Forgery.
Justice Savage was occupied nearly the
whole of Saturday in the preliminary
examination into the charge of forgery
preferred against Mrs. L. E. Sample, the
colored medium and Voodoo high
priestess. The defendant was charged
by Public Administrator D. w. Field
with having, on the 25th day Of January
last, forged a document purporting to be
the last will and document of O. L..
Susand, deceased, with intent to defraud
his heirs. The story Of her alleged
crime. which appeared in the columns
OF the HERALD at the time of her former
arrest, is as follows: O. l.. Susand, q
barber doing business on Main street, in
this city, was taken sick in June last, and
was nursed until his death, which &C.
cured after an illness of some three
weeks, by Mrs. Sample. During his
sickness Mrs. Sample wrote number of
notes, asking for money with which to
pay for medicine, to Frank Ey, the man
who assumed control of Susand's bust
ness in his absence. These notes were
delivered in every instance by the wo.
mans daughter, girl named Ida, and
1t WAS in great measure owing to them
that the forgery was traced to Mrs.
Sample. At Susand's death, Public AID.
ministrator Field called at the womar's
house and learned from Mrs. Sample
herself that the barber, who had accum-
ulated considerable property, died with.
out leaving will. He at once made the
necessary preparations for the applica-
ton for letters Of administration for the
estate, but on the day prior to his filing
Of the documents Mrs. Sample, through
an attorney named Robert Hardie, filed
the following document for probate:
Los ANGELES, Cal, June rs, 1889.
:. 1, o. L. Susand, being of sound mind and in
fear of my life, do make this wish: That all |
of my personal and real estate, in case of my |
death. bequest all to my personal friend, Frank
Ely; that he provide for my mother, now in
Michigan, until her death; that all my papers |
now in my safe and business transactions be in |
his care 70 dispose OK as he m az see At after nv
given to my friend, Mrs. Laura E. Sample. |
This is my will. 0. l.. SUsAND.
R. E. FLoURNoy, attorney.
FRITZ HINGMAKER, attorney.
This action on the part of the Sample |
woman, in the face of the statements
previously made by her, raised suspicion
in the mind of the Public Administrator,
and he at once employed Detective Law
son to make Investigations. AS the re-
sult OF his enquiries, the forgery was
traced to Mrs. Sample and she WAS ar
habeas corpus. She then disappeared
was discovered by the detectives, and
ho v,lon in tndu
Another attempt was made to obtain her
release as before, but it was Intellectual
this time.
The first witness called yesterday
morning was Robert Hardie, an attorney.
He testified that Mrs. Sample brought a
document purporting to be the last will
and testament of o. L. SusanG, deceased,
to him at his Office in the Temple Block,
and that acting under her instructions
and in good faith, he went ahead with
the necessary preliminary steps towards
its admission to probate.
Public Administrator Field followed
with an account of his action in
the matter of the administration
of the estate, and detailed his
conversations with Mrs. Sample, in which
she positively stated that Susand had
not left any paper whatever at the time
of his death.
Deputy County Clerk Frank B. Fan
ming was examined az an expert on
handwriting, and copies of the will and
the notes sent by Mrs. Sample to Frank
Ely, photographed from the originals,
were compared by him, and shown to be
remarkably similar in almost every par
ticular.
Frank Ely and Ida Scott testified as to
the identity of the notes in question, and
proved Internationally that they we're
written by Mrs. Sample. B. W. Lee and
F. E. Guthrie, two members of the law
firm of Wells, Guthrie & Lee, who had
done business for Susand, were exam
ine,d, and both showed conclusively that
the signature to the forged will was not
that of the dead barber. o. E. Tyler,
the photographer, swore to having taken
the photograph filed in evidence FROM
the original document; and the testi-
mony for the prosecution closed with
that of w. A. Susand, brother Of the
deceased.
For the defense, the only witness
placed on the stand WAS W. w. Free
man, former employee Of the Lawson
Detective Agency, from whom the de-
fendant's attorney attempted to find out
some of the workings of that Office. An
effort was then made for continuance
until Monday, on the ground that ma
terial witness for the defense, E. F.
Spence was absent. As, however, the
defendants attorney refused to file an
affidavit or to allow the defendant to be
examined in support of the motion, it
was denied by the Court, and Mrs. Sam
pie was held to answer to the charge in
the Superior Court under bonds in the
sum of $500.
A DVERTISE your wants in the HER
"A AID classified columns; sure re.
turns.