Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-01
READS WARRANT
TO MRS. STORRS
IN SHADOW OF HOME WOMAN
HEARS CHARGE
Police still Diseredit Suicide Theory
and Hold That Wife Knows All
the Facts Behind the
Shooting


of the home in which she had spent the
greater portion of her short married
life, Mrs. Alberta Dabney Storrs, ar
rested in connection with the alleged
murder of Rowland S. Storrs at Mon
rovia last Thursday, heard for the first
time yesterday afternoon the legal
charge against her.
Following her visit to Monrovia, late
Sunday afternoon when in the COM
pany of a deputy sheriff she attended
the funeral of her husband Mrs. Storrs
became nervous over her incarcera ton.
Yesterday in order that she might in a
measure be spared the irritation of
constant Jail regime, Mrs. Storrs, two of
her friends and two deputy sheriffS
were sent to Monrovia, where the war
rant against Mrs. Storrs, charging her
with the murder of her husband, was
read in court.
AS it was a legal holiday and no ac-
ton could be taken even in preimin-
ary examination, Mrs. Storrs was simply
remanded to the custody of Sheriff
White and sent back to Los Angeles.
The little party left the car before
1t reached the public station at Mon
rovia and Mrs. Storrs was taken to the
court room by a roundabout path.
Glimpse of Home
the deputy sheriffs with one of her
friends when she caught the first
glimpse of the city hall and beyond
Ii the chimneys of her former home.
Then she turned to Deputy Cleveland
and said:
IT guess L will have to be arrested
before l go to the court and l guess 1
might as well be arrested here
as any place else"
The street was clear of pedestrians.
and out in the open, with the soft bor-
ders of pepper trees about her, Mrs.
Storrs for the first time heard the Of
ficial charge accusing her of the muir
der of her husband.
She hardly turned during the reading,
and as Deputy Cleveland put the docu-
ment back in his pocket Mrs Storrs
walked ahead, crying softly and re-
fusing to be consoled.
AS the little party approached the
court house a newspaper representative
approached. She was reporter for a
Monrovia newspaper and Mrs. Storrs
asked that she be told that no state
ment would be made.
Sinks Into Chair
The reading of the warrant by the
justice required only a few moments
and then Mrs. Storrs sank back to a
On the return to Los Angeles, Mrs.
Storrs was accompanied by Deputy
Cleveland. She spoke only few words,
asking in a pleading voice when she
could get bail and requesting an inter
probation of the phrase, "remanded to
the custody of the sheriff"
In Los Angeles she was met by her
sister Mrs. e. Kendall Cutter, and the
two went to the jail. There Attorneys
Rogers and James were waiting. The
attorneys, thinking that Mrs. Storrs
had been "snaked" out and arraigned
without her attorneys being present, OBJ
jected strenuously to such conduct, but
they were soon set to rights.
Up until a late hour last night Deputy
Sheriff Franklin stayed at Monrovia
working on various clews.
It was known in Monrovia that young
Storrs was of a violent disposition and
would become insanely angry upon
slight provocation. Several times since
their marriage a few months ago, Row
land Storrs and his pretty young bride
were heard quarreling about domestic
affairs. Storrs had recently been away
on visit and upon his return affairs
at the home were not running smoothly,
Argued While Drinking
On the night of the alleged murder
the young couple, according to reports,
were drinking, and whether during
some heated argument Storrs tried to
kill his wife and then killed himself, as
he often had threatened to do, or
whether during a struggle for the
possession Of the revolver, Storrs was
accidentally shot, has not yet been de-
termined.
Deputy Franklin, alleging that it
would have been impossible for a man
to shoot himself in the way Storrs was
shot, while occupying the position in
which the dead man was found is work
ing on a private theory of his own re-
garding the killing.
"Storrs did not look a bit natural
when he was found shortly after the
shooting" said Deputy Franklin yes
terday. "I have seen many cases of
suicide, and Storrs case did not look
like one.
Scouts Suicide Theory
1.-THE body was found lying on its
back the head high on the pillow and
jammed against the head rest. There
was gaping wound in the left side
and the revolver was down among the
sheets.
"Now a man doesn't kill himself that
way. If he is going to shoot himself
in the head he generally lies on his
back and presses the trigger against
ms temple Whlle MS mead Is resting in
the middle of a pillow, If he shoots
himself in the heart or the body he
almost without exception rests on his
side and gets way down on the pillow
so that his head is barely visible. I
cannot see how 1t was possible for
Storrs to have shot himself in the way
he was shot while lying in that peculiar
and unnatural position"
There is a theory to the effect that a
fight occurred in the immediate neigh
borhood of the house and that Saorrs