Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-06-30
ACQUITS SCHNELL'
Jury, Instructed by the Court, Re.
turns Verdict of not
Guilty.
FAMOUS CONSPIRACY SUIT OVER
OF Drost Proved the I'M
IdOing OF the Prosecutions
Case.

Matthias Schnell, the remaining de-
PENDANT in the noted conspiracy case,
was this morning declared not guilty
by the jury acting on the instruction
of the court. Thus is ended the final
chapter in one of the most remarka-
BILE series of litigations ever recorded
in the court annals of Rock Island
county.
1t was the evidence of Daniel Drost,
the supposed fellow conspirator, that
resulted in States Attorney YIELDS
nolle PROSE- motion this morning.
Drost was placed on the stand yester-
day, after voluntarily pleading guilty
and taking a fine of So 900. Not only
did he fail to show any conspiracy,
but rather revealed that Schnell was
an innocent. victim of an intricate
succession of matchmaking schemes.
An Abrupt Ending.
The sudden finale of the ease is a
surprise. as it was expected Drost
would prove star witness
for the prosecution, but instead he
was its undoing. He told the jury an
entirely different story from that re-
lated to the states attorney, and this
morning the latter, when court open
ed at . o'clock. arose and gave his
reasons for offering motion to dis
miss the case.
Attorney Haas, for the defense.
filed cross motion to the effect that
no hs IN. I'm.
a verdict of not guilty. The last order
was sustained and the jury followed
instructions. The court then dis
missed the jury and the defendant.
The latter was much agitated and
plainly showed the strain of the past
few days. 1t was with difficulty that
he controlled himself for n brief peri
cd, but with the congratulations of
his friends his strength returned and
he left the court free of litigation for
the first time in 10 or - years.
story of Case.
Mrs. McDermott was relative of
Mr.. Schnell's deceased wife. After
the latter's death Mr.. SchnelIspaid
some attention to Mrs. McDermott
and at various times gave her money
and property. She claimed that he
asked her to marry him. but this he
has always denied. At any rate she
started breach of promise suit for
$4,000. About this time Drost be
came one of the figures in the events
that were TRANSPORTING, with the result
that he followed Mrs. McDermott TO
Omaha and married her there. The
Cd itg -irrir, Il -,
fact The state attempted to show
that the ceremony was the result of
a conspiracy between Drost and
Schnell to invalidate the breach of
promise suit
Assumed n Name.
Drost was married under the name
of Chandler in 1897, but the defense
had four witnesses to prove that Mrs.
McDermott was acquainted with
Drost before she went to Omaha and
that the wedding was put-up scheme
to bleed Mr.. Schnell. At any rate.
Drost and his wife came back and re-
ceived $4,000 from the contractor.
This money was soon squandered in
one way and another, Drost having
the Newcomb case i'm Scott county
on his hands at the time. From time
TO time further attempts were made
to get money from Schnell, but none
to any great amount was afterward
secured. Then followed the indicty
ment Of SchneH and Drost for con
spiracy. Mrs. McDefmott-D rost being
the prosecuting witness. In the mean
time she had commenced divorce pro-
eeedings against Drost.
Judge Gest Tomorrow. ~
The circuit court was adjourned
this morning until 9 o'clock tomor-
row morning, when Judge Gest will
be on the bench