Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-15
SEVEN HOURS ON THE STAND
PROVES TOO MUCH
Details the Gruesome Conspiracy to
Murder Her Husband-Seemed
to Smile as She Bestowed
Last Kiss

mouse ana l1RnIeQ uneTe IHe STliil, HdIu
faces of the jurors last night, Mrs
Aurelia Scheck. self-confessed accom-
plice to her husbands murder, who
during the long hours of the day had
told the hideous details Of that tragedy,
staggered from the witness chair, and
with bowed head and twitching limbs
walked slowly to an ante-room, where
she collapsed.
The strain on the woman had been
more than human nature could endure.
For seven hours she had been COM
PEELED to occupy the witness chair in a
crowded court room.
She had faced without fiinching the
cruel, condemning eyes of the public,
and there, with the pitiless questions
ringing in her ears, she had been COM
PEELED to tell in every minute and ter
rible detail the story of the murder Of
her husband, tell it over and over, until
its very rhythm sounded like a death
knell, until in the suffocating heat of
that room the objects turned dark be-
fore her and the faces of the spectators
grinned dixie hideous death heads
from out the shadows.
CoIIapses in Court
AS the last answer marking the close
of the fearful ordeal and ending her
present connection with the case came
slowly from her lips, she slipped for
ward in the witness chair. then got to
her feet.
She moved like some ore in dream
and her lips parted as in smile, and
then for moment she steadied herself
by grasping the door frame leading
- i, ri
The next moment friendly hands had
clasped her ahd guided her to lounge,
and then the fearful strain had it's way,
and for a moment she lay there as
white as death. with her hands clutch
ing at the leather and her breath COM
ing in heart-breaking sobs.
And there. in probably the most ter
rible ordeal of her life, she raised her
head for just a moment, and, as though
written by the hand of fate, at that
very moment Ernest G. Stackpole, her
former lover and alleged murderer OF
her husband. whose life she had been
so surely swearing away. stepped into
the room.
His Eyes Flash Hate
His we'll shaped hands were raised
10 his breast and in the semi darkness
the outline of the steel cuffs was
barely discernible
His face was unusually white and his
eyes looked tired. but he caught the
look in her eye and for a second he
stopped.
His cool gray eyes flashed a signal
of hate and terror to the woman, and
like a flash the lines hardened in her
soft, pudgy face, showing a rare trait
of character, hard, cold and sneering
as the face of a fiend
1t was for only a moment, as the
warming hand of the deputy sent the
prisoner forward, and with shoulders
squared and head erect Ernest Stack
pole passed the woman and marched
slowly to the stairs and back to his
cell at the county jail
The session of the court yesterday
was probably the most exciting In
the history of the case.
Spectators Come Early
At an early hour the spectators be-
gan to arrive.
Most of them were women, nicely
dressed women, whose faces bore the
sweet looks of womanhood so dear to
the male heart.
They crowded against the heavy
court doors and like an avalanche
swept aside the man who opened the
doors. There was a clatter like the
stampede of cattle as they rushed mad
ly for seats. choked the aisles and
lined up against the walls.
The room was crowded an hour be-
fore the case was called and then the
doors were locked and barred and
Stackpole was ushered into the room.
He had hardly taken his seat how
ever, before the crowd. madly clam
oring for admittance. beat down the
doors, shattering the glass and sending
the deputy on guard staggering back
to the wall.
Crowds Fight Guard
He beat them out and for second
time the doors were shut and barred,
and the outsiders we're compelled to be
content with standing at the empty
frames and picking up such evidence
as they could hear.
All morning the questions rang out
in. pitiless succession.
The star witness for the prosecution
sat in the witness chair and proved
that her mind was steadier than any
of those who strived to confuse her.
Step by step the attorneys read
scraps of evidence to. her, the sentences
phe had uttered at the inquest over the
body of Joel Scheck when she testified
her husband had been murdered by
burglars, and as often asked, came the
oft repeated answer as with head erect
she looked squarely at the attorneys
for the defense.
"Do You Remember7"
"Do you. Mrs. Seheck. remember
having testified to these facts at the
inquest when you told of burglars kill
ing your husband, do you not remem-
ber your oath there and that you are
guilty of perjury If you lied there? Do
you now refute those statements?"
came the question.
II lied" was the simple answer and
It carried wealth of expression
with It.
In the afternoon the conditions were
similar. but there was a look of weari-
ness on the woman's face.
For more than an hour attorneys for
the defense tried to break down the
girl. that girl Of less than twenty years.
who has confessed to deeds too horrible
10 relate. but they failed.
She did not know when Stackpole
had written to her except that his
letters arrived almost daily. He had
rallied her his darling wife, his sweet
heart. his love and his angel; he had
neaped commitments upon the pOOr |