Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-24
CLAIM ATTORNEY
OFFERED BR|BE
WALLACE WIDEMAN ARRESTED
ON WARRANT
Complaining Witness Declares ST.
Clair Was offered Money to Leave
the Country and Remain
In Mexico

DrlDe "A. w. De Lyle Sl. CldlT, COlll-
planning witness against Scotty, the
Death valley king, in order to have
st. Clair leave the country and not
appear as a witness, Attorney wal
lace W. Wideman, a member OF the
Los Angeles Bar association and
well known lawyer of of Los Angeles,
was arrested late yesterday afternoon
by Sheriff White.
The warrant for Wideman's arrest
was sworn to by j. L. Carder, deputy
sheriff of San Bernardino, who has
been in Los Angeles for several days
past investigating the Scotty mystery.
Carder went to the district attorney s
office yesterday afternoon, accompanied
by another deputy sheriff and repre-
sentative of an evening paper. They
laid the alleged facts before Deputy
District Attorney Paul Mccormick and
he issued the complaint against Wide
man and gave the warrant to Sherlff
White for service.
In the meantime Wideman had
learned of the action taken against
him and while the sheriff went to his
office in search of the accused, WIDE
man made a hasty visit to Attorney
Earl Rogers and retained him as his
representative.
White served the warrant on Wide
man as the young attorney and MS
house.
Wideman was taken before Justice
Young late yesterday afternoon but
his visit to the court room seemed
more like a fashionable call than like
an arraignment. The young attorney
was met at the door by number of
officers who happened to be there at
the time and all were eager to shake
hands with him and tell him that they
did not believe there was anything
in the charge.
Hold Consultation
The sheriff and Wideman spent some
time in conversation and then Deputy
Paul Mccormick appeared on the scene.
Sorry this business was given to
you to handle" said Wideman, as he
shook hands with Mccormick. The
two young men have been friends for
many years.
The bail was fixed at $4,000 and while
awaiting the arrival of the bondsmen
W1deman stepped up beside the judge
and the two held confidential talk.
The bonds were furnished by William
Clune and Frank Goings and Wide
man after shaking hands all around
left the court room.
II have nothing to say about this at
ALL" said Wideman. Anyone can
bring any charge he likes, but there
will probably be few startling deVel-
opments in this case in few days"
According to the detailed allegations
against Wideman, the young attorney
is alleged to have attempted to bribe
St Clair in order to have st. Clair
leave the country and not appear
against Scotty when the two felony
charges filed in the San Bernardino
courts come to trial.
In these complaints, Scotty, Shorty
r1os, ,t.rraf
with having committed an assault with
intent to kill upon the persons of Wal
ter Scott and A. Y Pearl. st. Clair
is the chief witness in both cases.
Offered a Hundred Dollars
While Wideman was in San Bernar-
dino a week ago investigating the ar
rest of Shorty Smith, it is alleged by
the local district attorneys office and
by Deputy Carder that Wideman Of
fered st. Clair $100 and a railroad
ticket to Mexico if st. Clair would
leave and keep out of sight until the
Scotty trouble blew over
The offer is alleged to have been re-
peated after st. Clair and Wideman
came to Los Angeles and it is further
alleged that st. Clair was told to go
Wideman and learn what he could.
Whether this alleged encourage
ment of crime was with the sanction
of the local authorities is not known,
but deputy sheriffs from San Ber-
nardino claim to have been present
in a South Main street lodging house
on the night of March %, when Wide
man entered the place and met st.
Clair.
According to the complaint against
Wldeman he is alleged to have started
the conversation by saying, "What is
your proposition? indicating that he
and st. Clair had been talking on some
subject before.
Planned Trap
eve will give you $1OO and a ticket
to Mexico to cross the border at Tia
Juana or some other near point and
see that you are cared for when you
get there" Wideman is alleged to
have said and st. Clair, having secured
enough so the witnesses in hiding
could hear, disagreed with Wideman
and the young attorney is said to have
left the place.
action, it is understood, will be en-
tered by the attorney and his friends
and on the other hand st. Clair will
be charged with having solicited money
from Wideman with which to leave
the country and get away.
According to the statements of Rol
King, Scotty's manager, st. Clair
called Wideman up at the Hollenbeck
bar early Thursday morning and
wanted to arrange a meeting with
him.
st. Clair called up again during the
evening and Wideman was in the bar
at the time. "Wideman talked over the
phone for some time" said Rol King
yesterday, "and then he hung up the
receiver and started to leave. That
fellow st. Clair wants to get clear of
the country he said, and he wants
me to come up to his room. He says
he has a confession of all this business
to make and then he wants to see
what can be done to get him out of
town. But 1 think there is some put
up job about this and 1 am not going
without protection
Secures Typewriting Machine
"Wideman then left and returned a