Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-18
is ARRAlGNED ON CHARGE OF
PERJURY
District Attorney Promised Immunity
on Murder Case, but viii Try
to Punish Aoeompllce Of
staokpole

/ a charge of perjury. The Information
| i'm the case had been filed by repre-
sentative of the district attorneys
office and Mrs. Scheck's preliminary ex-
! animation on the felony charge was sci
! for hearing Wednesday afternoon. The
| bail which she was unable to give, was
| fixed at $500.
The minor charge against the woman
came as a sort Of surprise to the gen
era public. but it has been rumored
! for some time that after having dis
missed the murder charge against Mrs.
| Scheck. the district attorney would In
| all probabilt file the minor complaint
| to show his good faith in that he would
prosecute Mrs Scheck to the limit of
| the law If he could
But the perjury charge is not bother
| ing Mrs. Scheck's attorney to any great
extent When Mrs. Scheck took the
witness stand at the coroner's inquest
and swore that she had seen burglars
kill her husband, she was looking di-
rectly at the man whom 1t has since
been proved commimtted the deed. Ac-
cording to her later statements. she
feared that Stackpole would kill her.
Cowed by Threats
Throughout the trial she contended
that fear of Stackpole's threats had led
her to open the door for him on the
night of the murder. At the examina-
ton in the higher court when put un-
der cross-fire from Stackpole's attor-
neys, her statement was TO the effect
that she had deliberately sworn to
lie at the coroner's inquest to save her
self from what she feared would be
death as soon as Stackpole had her
outside the inquest room.
So the perjury complaint has been
filed against Mrs Scheck by the district
attorney. and he says he will prosecute
her to the limit of the law on that
charge. but just where he can get
Jury to see perjury where life might
have paid the penalty of truth is
question which many are waiting to see
solved.
"Will Mrs. Scheck plead guilty to
the perjury charge and accept sen-
tence in the state prison 10 atone for
her sin?" is the question being asked
by many. 1t can be answered with a
single word:
"No'
Nothing like that seems to have en-
tered Mrs. Scheck's head, and it still
seems as though Aurellia Scheck will
go free without having suffered any
other punishment than her shor term
of incarceration in the city Jail.
Women Insist on Punishment
element when Mrs. Scheck appeared in
the lower court for arraignment 1t
shows only in the smallest degree the
interest being taken in the Scheck
case. The women of Los Angeles are
thousand per cent more insistent
upon a punishment for Mrs. Scheck
than are the men. To great degree
the women seem to take no notice of
the fact that Stackpole, with his cum
ming power, was the dominant feature
of the brutal murder.
And the interest in the wonan's case
is becoming more intense every day.
The announcement that Mrs. Scheck
would go free on the murder charge
was met with derision. The further
announcement that woman probably
will go free on the perjury charge will
only add fuel to the flames.
But here is the statement of the dis
trict attorney regarding the case.
Captain Fredericks in his statement
has given full history Of the case
from a legal standpoint, fully and
thoroughly explaining why Mrs. Scheck
cannot be prosecuted. The statement
is as follows:
District Attorney Explains
81 believe that the Stackpole-Scheck
matter has come TO a situation where
1t is right and proper that the public
should be informed In the premises
This has been a very remarkable case,
especia lily when we take into consdera-
ton the fact that this murder was
committed in the middle of June, and
in less than two months Stackpole
had been tried and convicted.
IN order that we may understand
the case properly it is necessary to re-
fer to the situation existing at the
time of this murder. 1t first appeared
and was accepted by the authorities
to be a murder by burglars. This was
borne out by the testimony of Mrs.
Scheck at the coroner's inquest There
were, however, one of two features
antagonistic to this theory-first, the
poverty of the house alleged to have
been burglarized and the improbable
ity that burglars would choose house
of this kind for such a desperate deed !;
second. the well known fact that bur-
glars who commit these crimes in the
night very rarely commit murder in
their Preparation, but invariably flee
when detected.
Burglar Theory Secuted
1T was not known, so clandestine ha d
been their acquaintance, that Stack
pole was more than a friend Of the
family. This was the situation con-
fronting us at the beginning Of the
cornoner's inquest. During that nt-
quest both Mrs. Scheck and Stackpole
testified. This office was not satisfied
with the burglar theory because of the
reasons have before state BY rea-
son of that feeling Mr.. Fleming was re-
uuested to be present during the COR
oner's inquest and watch carefully the
maner and testimony Of all witnesses
mo breath of suspicion had at that
time been directed towards Mrs. Schecb
or Mr.. Stackpole. After hearing theii
testimony the conorers jury rendered
a verdict which practically assumed
that Mrs. Schecks story of burglars
was correct, to wit: That Schecl
came to his death by gunshot wound;
by the hands of persons unknown
Basing our action upon the improb-
ability that from our knowledge anc
experience in cases of alleged bur
glaries, this was a case of that nature
eliminating every other possible the
ory, we suspected that Mrs. Schecl
and Stackpole knew more than they
had told This conclusion was arrived
at with the assistance of Captain
Flammer and the detective department.
by applying to this case the knowledg,
and experience gathered in slmilai
cases, and running down carefully ant
rapidly a great many clews and sus'
picions
Arrests Ordered