The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-08-09

Officers Question Their Ac-
counts of the Madrone
Tragedy.
Peculiar Features Which the Evil
dence Found at the Farm
Seems to Disprove.

SAN JOSE. CAL, Aug. S.-The stories
told by the witnesses examined at the in
Quest over the body of George w. Schofield
failed to satisfy the District Attorney and
the Sheriff office, and accordingly John
Doe com paint for murder was sworn to in
Justice Pinard's court at Madrone to-day.
This action was followed by the arrest of
Mrs. Sarah Schofield, her eldest son, Irv-
ing Mann, and Dan butcher, the boy of
all work.
Before 10 O'Clock this morning four Of
ficials had reached the scene of the trag-
edy, to find all the members OF the house
hold at home.
The arrests were not m ade until O'Clock,
the afternoon being spent IN search for
clews Nothing OF i'm portance was discov-
cred, though several suspicious circum-
stances were made note OF.
When the shot was fired through the
door opening from tile porch into the
dining-room the jamb of the door was
powder-marked.
For the purpose of testing the ability OF
both Irving Mann, whose age is IL, and
Dan butcher, WHO claims to be 10, the I'M
loaded rifle found in the house after the
tragedy was given first to one and
then to the other, with in
structions to stand where the murderer
was supposed to have stood and aimed at
the point by the north window OF the din
ing-room where Schoield's head must
have been when the bullet sped on its
murderous mission.
Judging by young Mann's aim an ex-
p1osion would have left powder marks on
the door paint three inches below the
marks made on Friday night. butchers
way OF pointi the rife, however, would
have caused the powder marks to exactly
correspond with those made by the ex-
plosion OF the gun of the murderer.
Irving Mann was next taken in hand and
asked to go over the ground traverssd by
him after be lett the house on the morning
when the fatal shot was fred.
He leo the way across the road to the
creek and into the brush, whittier he had
gone to feed the cattle, and pointed out
the spot where he had first seen the man
with the scraggIy whiskers and the slouch
hat. There was no hesitancy at any
part OF the journey and he answered all
questions readily and cheerfully.
Then followed a search for the place
where the murderer's horse was picketed.
1t could not be found, nor were any hooi
prints discovered in the brush along the
creek or on the side OF the hill.
One circumstance that failed OF salts
factory explanation is the position in
which Schofeld's gun was found after the
murder had been committed. The body
Law with the feet toward the door of the
Acha cd nd ho hoe in ho ~
the house.
The gun rested two or three feet from
the murdered mans feet, with the muzzle
turned away from the body. This is re-
garded as an unnatural position.
No discriminating evidence was found
in the house, and conversations with Mrs
Schofieli ond the boys failed to materl-
ally shake the evidence they had given at
the Coroner's inquest.
When the Sheriff announced that he
had warrant for her arrest, Mrs. Scho-
field calmly replied that she had been
expecting such turn to the affair on
account of the peculiar circumstances in
which she and other inmates OF her house
were placed, and the mystery that en-
shrouded both the act and Identification
of the person who committed 1t. She as.
serted her innocence and seemed to have
no fear as to the outcome.
On the way 10 the jail Under Sheriff
Benson remarked that her son Irving was
bright fellow for his age, 10 which she
made the singular reply:
Eyes; he's coed boy, but he is weak
in one respect-he talks too much"
The Jail was reached at 8:45 O'Clock A
half hour later District Attorney Herring
ton and Deputy Sheriff Tenant arrived
with butcher. interviews with Mann and
butcher in their cells a the Jail failed to
elicit any discriminating information.