The herald., 1897-01-09
TIE TINES GREAT FAKE
Woodbury. and Wright at
Liberty
LURID TILE OF MURDER FALLS FLAT
Thrilling Adventures While Out
After Desperadoes
NO EVIDENCE AGAINST THEM
A Clever Move Which Secured Valuable
Free Advertising
Private Detectives and BIoodihrsty Scribe
on the Warpnth
A Clever Move Which Secured Valuable
Free Advertising
Private Detectives and BIoodihlrsty Scribe
on the Warpath
The Men characterized as Murderers
Are Released on Their Own state
ments-A Good Story If True,
but 1t Was Not.

| but 1t Was Not.
After being imprisoned in the county
| jai. at San Bernardino for twenty-nine
| days upon a charge of murder. Eugene
| Woodbury. was yesterday released from
custody by Superior Judge Oster upon
| hateas corpus proceedings Instituted
by his attorney, Frank Il. Davis of this
city, it being shown that there was not
! the faintest shred of evidence upon
which he could be held. Woodbury's
alleged companion in crime, AL Wright,
was released several days ago by the
grand jury, before whom he appeared
| and made a statement. BY his own
showing and that of the complaining
witness, Martin Sherry, 1t was at once
| seen that the complaint was based on
| a very nimsy foundation and would not
| hold for minute in court Accordingly
! Wright was set free. and the same
procedure would undoubtedly have fol-
lowed in Woodburys case had not the
habeas corpus proceedings forestalled
| action.
With the discharge OF these two men
| falls to the ground one of the most
barefaced fake stories ever perpetrated
on the public of this section by a news
paper. To the hair-raising accounts of
the thrilling dash of a squad of private
| detectives and reporter after the men
| into the wilds of the Arizona desert, the
| Times for three days devoted a good
| snare of it's first page columns in dOu-
| ble-leaded type and embellished with
| cuts of the Operatives" and the blood
| thirsty reporter. who wanted especially
| to go on the trip because there was
every proba bility that there would be
some shooting.
Woodbury. had been lyirg CT Chino
and had had fight with ore Martin
| Sherry whom he was alleged to have
beaten half to death, for the reason
as stated by Sherry, that he had knowl-
| edge that in 1893 Woodbury. had been
| implicated in the murder of Ed Holman.
| Il miner who was one morning found
dead near the railroad depot, having
| been killed during the night A short
| time after the assault upon Sherry both
Woodbury. and Wright departed for the
! mines, going into Southern Arizona.
| A few days after they left Sherry swore
to complaint against them charging
| murder.and the private detectives start
! ed on the trail.
In order to give due publicity to the
feats of daring about to be performed
| Times reporter was taken into the
secret and invited to come along and
| chronicle the doings of the posse. AS
| the men they were hunting down were
! supposed to be desperate characters,
| the hawkshawa w,re armed to the teeth
with revolvers. Wi chesters. ETC.. ready
! for all sorts of trouble. The railroad was
taken to a small station called Ogilvie
| There horses We're procured. and find
hnx- !, nt ti1n ro t1,a %
/ set out after Woodbury.. who was driv-
| ing to the mines in his wagon
| He was overtaken in due time and
| the vehicle approac ched with the eau
! tion necessary to be taken with such
Il desperate man. but. surprising to say.
| Woodbury. behaved himself admirably
! While handing his canteen over To one
! of the party in responee to a request
| for drink. the warrant was read TO
| him and he was placed under arrest.
| No hostile Gemo-stratiorS were mace.
! and the priscrer: accompanied His cap
tors back to Yuma where he was locked
| up The posse then started off again
after Wright. who had been located
| some sixty miles distant UP in the
| mountains.
| Here again the expected bloody bat
tie failed to materialze, Wright sub
| mitting to arrest calmly, protesting his
| innocence and avowing a willingness to
! go with his captors and submit to a
| full investigation. He was also taken to
Yuma, where Woodbury. was picked up.
| ard both men lanGed in the San Ber-
| naidino jeil on December 9th. All these
! transactions were. as stated. duly chron-
| icled in the Times with portraits of the
prisoners, the chief of the detective
| agency and even of the scribe. As it now
| appears the lurid articles were valua-
| BILE not as news matter. but merely as
| I,.n, tte,o,, f.,, 10 ,otr l.
reau and it's chief who, by a shrcwd
move. had obtained what would have
| cost hundreds of dollars if inserted at
| space rates He had served the war
| rants. safely Jailed his men and brought
his business prominently before the pub
| lic-what more could he desire? AT the
time of publication of the articles the
! editor of the paper was in the east and
cid rot perhaps fully appreciate the
| "exclusiveness" of the matter
| When Sherry was called before the
grand jury and asked for the evidence
In his possession, he lamentably fell
down" He utterly failed to show any
foundation for the charge of murder,
and said that he had been i'll and hardly
responsible for his actions at the time
of swearing to the complaints. When
Wright made his statement to the jury
he was Immediately aXonerated and re-
leased, it being conclusively shown that
there never was enough evidence under
any circumstances to warrant the issu-
ing of the complaints.
Attorney Davis argued the matter be-
fore the magistrate yesterday his re-
marks being replied to by Deputy Dis
trict Attorney Sprecher who made prac-
tically no opposition to the discharge
of Woodbury.. Immediately upon his
release Woodbury. went to the home of
his mother, Mrs. Hatch, at Chino, where
he now is.
Thus ends the peculiar story of how the
Times was pulled in and did job OF
free advertising of the exploits of the
daredevil posse who braved the sand
storms and dangers of the desert and
thereby secured undying fame, though
but little else.
L A 4