The morning call., 1890-05-02
BAFFLED BY DEATH,
Officers ThWarted in an Arrest by
a Suicide.
Z. B. swarzkopf Sends Bullet Through His
Brain to Avoid the Consequences Of
His Forgeries.

Lying on blood-soaked pillows, with a
gaping wound on the right side Of his head
and pistol clutched in his hand, young
man yesterday afternoon. about 80 o'clock,
was the center OF dramatic scene in the
Baldwin Hotel
A slight foam was oozing from between
his discolored lips and his heavy breathing
denoted the rapid approach of dissolution.
Gathered at the bedside of the dying man,
whose end was voluntarily brought about
to avoid the disgrace following his trans
gressions, were Chief Of Police Crowley,
Captain Lees. ex-Coroner Taylor and
number of attaches of the house.
The suicide was r. B. Swarzkopf, life
insurance agent who three months ago
came to the Pacific Coast with the Jack Nc
Auliffe pugilistic combination, and who has
since been regarded as one of the sports"
of the town, he seemingly having plenty of
money, which he spent with lavish hand.
! Although representing himself to be an ad-
| juster for the New York Mutual Life In
| surance Company, he never appeared to be
! Overburdened with business and spent his
| days like a man of leisure.
FORGED CHECKS.
| He possessed a valuable collection of dia-
monds until about six weeks ago, when it
was noticed that he appeared without the
| gems and it was whispered that the pawn
broker and SwarZkopf had been doing busi-
ness together. The insurance man ran
| short of ready cash and then had recourse
to obtaining money on checks on the Ma
tiOnal Bank of Deposits of New York.
| His financial standing was not questioned,
as his reputation was considered above re-
proach and his alleged connection with the
Eastern company guarantee Tor the pay
| ment of the drafts.
The checks were issued dur ing the latter
| part of March and a number were drawn
during this month. About week ago a
| few Of them came back to the senderS with
the information that Swarzkopf did not
| have any money in the bank to his credit
| When this fact was made known to Swarz-
| kopf he feigned to be surprised and became
| indignant and said there must be some mis-
| take. The matter would be rectifed imme-
| diately he stated and he made known his
| Intention of telegraphing to the banking
house.
Last week q few parties from whom he
had borrowed money on the strength of the
drafts became pressing in their demands
Tor payment on learning of the rejection of
the checks, but Swarzkopf said every
thing would turn out all right.
A BOGUS DISPATCH.
Monday he exhibited what purported to
be dispatch to those who had loaned him
money. 1t was as follows:
NEW YORK, April ZS, 1880.
To r. B. StCdrEkOpf, San francisco: VIII
honor your drafts for $4,000. Last draft re-
turned before advice reached US.
| Cashier National Bank of Deposits OF New York
This paper has since been proved, to the
| satisfaction of the police. to be bogus, and
is supposed to have been written by
Swarzkopf himself ON telegraph blank.
| The handwriting is not in the style usually
seen in kilograms, being cramped and la
bored like schoOl-boy's. The insurance
man during his stay here has occupied a
suite of rooms on the third floor in the
| southwest corner of the hotel. and when
| his purse became depleted SwarZkopf OBJ
| tanned S140O at various times from one of
| the hotel clerks on worthless drafts. The
| money was paid out of the hotel safe, and
the guest in addition ran up a board bill of
] about $500. One of his creditors was S. NJ.
| Curtis. the actor, better known as Sam'I
| of Posen, who gave, it sis said, $3.50 to
| Swarzkopf, accepting in return the usual
| draft.
FOUND TO BE A FRAUD.
When the hotel people became uneasy
about their guest they instituted inquiries
| and came ito the conclusion that Swarz-
| kopf was fraud. Yesterday afternoon, at
80 o'clock, III. A. Unruh, Mr.. Baldwin's
business manager, called at Police Court 1,
and laid the facts before Prosecuting At
! torney Joseph Dunno. The latter drew up
| warrant charging SchwarZkopf with
forgery. and Judge Rix fixed the bail at
| 5000.
The document was handed to CAPTAIN
Lees. who, with Chief Crowley and Mr..
Dunno, concluded to effect the arrest. The
| officials called at the hotel and were in
| formed that the object of their search had
| just left the place in company with we'll
| known sporting character, and that the
| pair would probably be found on Kearny
street. Captain Lees left the Chief at the
hotel and was walking downtown when
messenger overlook him, saying Swarz-
| kopf had returned. He had merely gone to
neighboring saloon with his friend and
| then went up to his rooms.
The officers upon going to the mans
| apartments knocked loudly on the doors,
but did not receive an answer. Pass-keys
were secured, but they failed to work, and
| finally step-ladder was secured aud Cap
| tain Lees opened a transom over one of the
doors. He listened intently for few
| seconds, and then excitedly exclaimed:
" He's breathing very heavily; he has
was assigned the task Of climbing through
the transom, and he opened the door from
| the inside.
| CHASTITY SIGHT.
| The officers quickly crowded into the bed
| room adjoining the parlor, and were startled
at the sight meeting their gaze. On the bed
lay Swarzkopf with bullet in his brain.
| The bed-clothes were crimsoned with the
blood that was still trickling from the
| wound near his right temple. A pretty
|
| yolver was grasped in his left hand. He
| was still alive, but unconscious, and DR..
| Taylor, who was summoned, upon making
cursory examination of the wound de-
clared the self-inticted shot to be fatal.
| SwarZk0pf died at o'clock.
| The suicide had evidently taken his life
with some deliberation. He removed his
coat, hung it in closet. laid his glasses on
the bureau, folded up linen duster, placed
it on the pillows and then stretched him.
self on the bed for the final act. he never
| stirred after the shot, as the body was
found in natural, easy position. A curious
feature is that no one heard the report of
the pistol. The suicide uid not leave a note
or letter in explanation of the deed.
| Deceased was about % years of age and is
thought to have been either Russian OF q
native of Poland. Among his effects were
found a number of life Insurance policies
In which mention is made of wife. The
body was removed to an undertaking estab-
lishment, according to the wishes of a
friend, with the consent of the Coroner.
ANTICIPATED ARREST.
The police were for a time mystified over
the sudden determination Of Swarzkopf
to end his life. The warrant was issued at
4:30 O'Clock, and before an hour had elapsed