Arizona republican., 1899-12-23
PICTURESQUE CRIMINAL
Warrant of Extradition Yesterday
 for St. Claire.

l.. P. Sieker of Austin, Tex, captain
 yesterday morning with a requisitioI
 from Governor Savers of Texas for tn, I extradition of w. J. St. Claire, alias w | J. Dent, who is now confined in jail a ! Tucson. He was arrested there for al attempt to defraud the Consolidated National bank and was subsequently identified by Captain Sieker as a banI swindler for whom he had been hunting for two months. The acquisition wa: hOnored and Captain Sieker returned to Tucson last night. He will start to-
 night for Austin with his prisoner. Captain Sieker describes St. Claire as
 a most dangerous criminal. He is only
 32 years of age, but within the last ter
 years has done time in the peniten-
 tiaries of Missouri, Colorado and Texas
 His speciality is forgery, and so far as
 Captain Sieker knows. he has been i'm
 plicated in no other kind of crime. He
 impresses one as an experienced and
 successful business man and possesses
 a personal magnetism by which he
 draws dollars from the most suspicious.
 His operations have generally been di-
 rected against banks and he has never
 played for small stakes. He is wanted
 in Texas for three forgeries, but the
 crime for which he is now being re-
 turned is the defrauding of a bank at
 Fort Worth of $45O. He had estab-
 lished a credit with the bank by the
 deposit of a forged New York draft for hNr an accident, but before he could be ar
 rested he dropped out of sight.
 He was next heard of at Carrollton, Mo. Captain Sielxer followed him there, thence to Milwaukee and several places in the north and northwest, and finally to Denver, where trace of him was tenn porariIy lost. He was then known as Dent, John T. Murphy and J. w. Brown. He was known to the Fort Worth bank as Brown.
 About a month ago w. J. St. Claire appeared in Tucson, rep resenting himself to be presi- dent of the St. Claire Cattle company, whose ranges were in Johnson county, Montana, and having headquarters in Denver. He was accompanied by a man named Meadows, the general manager of the cattle company. St. Claire had a great variety of eastern drafts ranging from $5,00O to $25,O00, which were deposited in the Consoli- dated National bank. He also had plenty of cash, so that he was not com pelled at once to draw against his deposit. St. Claire cut a great deal of ice in Tucson. He was a princely entertainer. He drank noth- ing but champagne, and criticized the best brand of cigars the old pueblo had in stock. Business men and cattlemen swore by him, and those who had not been brought into contact with him beSieged their more fortunate neigh bors for an introduction. St. Claire's downfall had it's origin in his con- vitality. Sometimes when drinking he made contradictory statements, thus creating a shadow of suspicion, so that when he made his attack on the bank the officers of that institution looked at a forged draft on which he was trying to realize, with greater scrutiny than they otherwise would have done. He was arrested with his manager, but Meadows was discharged later. It was not precisely a forgery St. Claire com mitted at Tucson. He presented a draft signed with d name purposely spelled wrong, and intended to be mistaken by the bank for another, so that in case of failure he might escape prosecution for forgery. That showed d weakness which was further manifest when Cap tain Sieker came on and identified him. He had fit of nervous prostration -l,; ,r- hn captain declined to disclose the char acter of the clue which attracted him to Tucson.
 The most picturesque crime St. Claire ever committed was the release of a life man from the Texas penitentiary in 1889. The prisoner was a notorious named Isaacs. Some years before Isaacs ran into an express office in Kansas City and deposited a box which, he said, contained 1000 billed to some point in Texas. He paid the charges and went away. He planned the robbery of the train on which the box was sent. but failed and the box was found to be filled with waste pa per. Isaacs was hunted down, but be- fore he was captured he shot and killed a sheriff. It was for this killing that he was sentenced for life. About the time he was received at the peniten- tiaTy St. Claire was serving a term for forgery. St. Claire had wealthy and relatives in the east, among them Judge Howell Jackson of Ten nessee. The influence of some one, it is sold of the governor of West Virginia, was eXerted in St. Claire's favor and a pardon was granted him. There was an irregularity in the dispo- sition of the document. At any rate,