Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-21
COULD NOT HOLD HIM
UnWritten Law Was Applied in
New York State.
FAILURE TO INDICT SC0BEY
He is Alleged to Have Killed His
Wife's Admirer.
SENTIMENT FAVORED ACCUSED
Staying of Dickinson Was Justified by
the Conditions Which Govern
ed the Case.

WATKINS, N Y. December 21.-The
failure of the grand jury to indict Frede-
rick c. Scobey for the alleged murder In
April last of Frederick c. Dickinson, his
wife's admirer, is thought to indicate that
the unwritten law is now no less potent
in the north than in the south. Public
sentiment in Schuyler county is divided In
the matter. Many persons believe that
Scobey should have at least been indicted
for manslaughter; that he has been saved
through the influence of his family, one
of the most prominent in this region, and
through the liberal use of money. They
declare that Benjamin w. Scobey, former
ly well-to-do, has impoverished himself in
aiding his. son, but there is no specific
hint as to where the money has gone and
this phase of the case is as yet merely
rumor.
On the other hand, it is declared that
the Staying of Dickinson was justified
by the unwritten law; that an Indictment
would surely have been followed by
acquittal, and that the county has been
relieved of the large expense of murder
trial. Two weeks after the tragedy, Jus
tice Lyon of the supreme court released
Scobey in bonds of $4,000, although he
was being held for the grand jury under
a charge of murder in the first degree.
Several of the most prominent business
men here became his bondsmen.
Nursed Husband.
Scobey and his wife became reconciled
Immediately after the murder. the wife
nursing her husband through a danger
Gus illness of pleurisy, complicated with a
broken rib and other injuries received in
the encounter with Dickinson. Mrs Scobey
was driving with Dickinson in the evening
on one of the back streets of this village
when the latter received mortal wounds
but in his ante-mortem statement Dick1n-
son would not say absolutely that Scobey
was the man who shot him, and later, at
the preliminary hearing, Mrs. Scobey as
serted that it was too dark for her to
recognize Dickinson's assailant. There
was, nevertheless, no lack of circumstantial
evidence against Scobey, not the least
Important being his injuries, freHf>whieh
it was first thought he could not recover.
Blow on Head.
The relations between Dickinson, who
kept a hotel at Montour Falls nearby, and
Mrs. Scobey had been of such a nature
as to cause much public comment, and
to arouse Scobeys anger Mrs. Scobey
was formerly Miss Jennie Rightmeyer, and
it is said that Scobey's marriage was
against the wishes of his family and
friends. Scobey was thirty years old and
was cashier of the Watkins Exchange
Bank. of which his father was president
Dickinson came here from his home one
took Mrs. Scobey out riding. They were
stopped in the darkness by a man, who
seized the bride and began firing a re-
volver at Dickinson.
Dickinson whipped up his horse, ran over
his assailant and got away, but not be-
fore he had been struck by two bullets,
which shattered the bones in one leg. He
drove alone to Montour Falls, three miles
distant, left the blood-stained buggy with
friend, and hobbled toward the railroad
station, intending to take the next train
for Elmira to procure hospital trea tment.
He was found little later, unconscious
by the tracks, with a severe scalp wound
He died the next day. The theory was
that his assailant had followed him from
Watkins and dealt him a mortal blow on
the head. A coroner's jury held Scobey
responsible for the death, and he was
placed in Jail as soon as his condition
permitted his removal from his home.
Dickinson was about thirty-eight, and
left wife and two small children. He
bore good reputation in ithaca, where
he formerly lived.