The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-12-27

BOLD BURCL ARIES
Trial Of the Sheppard
Gang Brings Out Some
Amazing Facts.
WILSON STATES EVIDENCE
Mahaney Seems to Be the
Leader Mr.. Van Wrinkles
Opening.

| The General Sessions Court room was
crowded this morning in anticipation of
] the trial of John Nahaney alias Jack
4 Sheppard Ernest Edwards alias McIn-
tyre. and Charles Wilson for burglary.
This is the gang which is alleged to have
done a wholesale burgling business The
gang worked IN this city Hoboken, New
ark, New York and Brooklyn, and puzzled
| the police by the very boldness of their
operations Clothing stores, tailoring es-
Establishments and shoe stores were their
favorite game, and when they got through
/ with a job there was nothing left in the
store but the fixtures
| Some of their victims were put out of
business. One of these was Charles Kel-
ley. who was in business for himself in
| Grove street and doing we'll The bur-
| glars visited his place one night and the
next morning Kelley found only the fix
| lures there. AS he had no capital to
| lay in new stock he was obliged to
| go to work for another tailor. 1t is said
that the plunder they secured before they
were captured amounted in value to forty
or fifty thousand dollars. The gang were
! finally run down by Chief Murphy and
Detectives Larkins and Prescott.
The particular case on which they are
being tried today is the robbery of Louis
\ Muscone,s tailoring establishment at No.
| $50 Washington street. Hoboken, on last
Easter Sunday morning. The place was
entered and completely cleaned out. Ey
| erything was taken. cloth, Innings, trim
mings and some made-up clothing and
! clothing in the process of making. AS
| sstant Prosecutor Van Winkle represents
the State and Lawyer Norman L. Rowe
and c. H. Benson appear for the defend
| ants
| At the opening Of the case Mr.. Van
Wrinkle asked for a severance of the de-
! PENDANTS. He desired to try Mahaney and
Edwards and use Wilson as witness
for the State. Judge Blair so ordered.
Mahaney who is credited with being the
leader of the gang, is an elderly man of
quite respectable appearance. He has
mixed grey hair. a black nloustache and
wears gold trimmed eye glasses. At the
beginning of the trial he produced a pen
Gil and some paper and made notes of the
testimony Toward the close Of Wilson's
direct testimony when the witness was
asked to identify an discriminating letter
written by Mahaney, that gentleman has
/! tily tore up his notes into scraps and
N
Threw them into the cuspidor.
Mr. Van Wrinkle gave a very detailed
story of the burglary in his opening He
said that he moved the case with reluc-
tance in the absence of Chief of Police
Murphy, who is i'll. The Chief, Mr. Van
Winkle said. had worked up the case
against the defendants and would have
been very valuable witness, but as the
case has been delayed for some time he
thought it best to dispose of it.
At the time the burglary was committed
Mr.. Van Winlzle said, Wilson was living
in fat at No. 925 Washington street,
Hoboken, with his wife, or rather with
woman who should have been his wife.
Mahaney was also living there under the
name of Mills.
Nelson first met Mahaney of Jacob
Sheppard, at the Empire Loan office,
Eighth avenue and. Twenty-eight street,
New York. Wilson had gone there to
pawn watch The men were introduced
by a man named Levy, one of the pro-
prietors Mahaney in conversation with
Wilson told him how easy it was
to make money by burglary. Mahaney
said that Wilson would be just the man
he wanted to help him as he was car
penter and if they should happen to be
arrested at any time their tools would
pass for carpenter tools.
Mahaney called to see Wilson who lived
at that time in Montgomery street, adj
joining Phil Muldoon's cigar store. Ma
haney suggested that they rob the cigar
store, but Wilson refused. saying that
Muldoon was his landlord and had been
friendly to him. Afterward Mahaney To-
Gated Muscone's store in Hoboken and
said 1t would be easy to rob, as the tailor
kept no light burning at night. Wilson
moved to the fiat in Hoboken- The bur-
glary was postponed for a time BECAUSE
Edwards was serving term in the peni-
tentiary on Blackwell's Island, and Ma
haney wanted him to take part in the job.
Edwards was released in the latter part
Of March and he too, went TO live with
Wilson.
The burglary was then planned. MA
haney went to look at a vacant house in
the rear Of the shop The back room Of
the shop could be seen from the rear win
dows of the vacant house. The agent of
the house went with Mahaney and Wilson
to look at it. Mahaney was very par
ticular about papering and repairing 1t,
and finally said that he would send the
women to look at it.
The next move was made by Mahaney
alone He went to the tailor shop and
ordered a suit of clothes. BY that means
he got view of the back room. He went
there a second time and ordered another
suit. He then procured a duplicate key
of the vacant house.
Wilson hired horse and wagon at the
Blue Front stables in Henderson street
and said he wanted to use them at five
o'clock on Monday morning. On Satur-
day night two large trunks and three
telescope trunks were taken from VIII
sons nat to the basement of the vacant
house They were filed with bags.
shortly after midnight the burglary was
committed. The plunder was taken to
the vacant house. Wilson took the wag
on from this city about five A. NJ. The
goods were loaded on the wagon and
brought into Mrs afrolis house in
wayne, near Barrow street, where Ed
wards had. hired furnished rooms. VIII
son took some made up clothing over
to the Empire Loan Companys office and
sold ii for so. Rosenbaum and Levy
sent wagon over for the other stun
and took it away.
Wilson. who was the first witness, COR
ronorated every statement that Mr.. Van I
Wrinkle rnade The case IS still on:
~ j