Los Angeles herald., 1908-08-31
WOMAN FOUND
MURDERED AND
HID IN MARSH
OAKLAND SPIRlTUALIST LEADS
BOYS TO CORPSE
VICTIM MISSING FROM HOME
SINCE JUNE II
Was Prominent Club Woman-Man
with Cold Brooch Arrested on Sus-
picon-Husband Has Em-
phatic Theory
By Associated Press

By Associated Press
~ AN FRANCISCO, Aug. SO--The body OF
Mrs Alice l.. Donohue, q prominent
lD clubwoman, who disappeared from hel
home in Emeryville the night of june
IL, was uncovered today by two boys who, in
dependent of a rigid police investigation, fol-
lowed the directions of a. spirituaiist who
claimed to have located the spot in trance
The remains were badly decomposed as
to be almost beyond Identification, and lay
within ten feet of where a portion OF the
woman's clothing was unearthed yesterday
| in a shallow grave in the marsh' almost
beneath the factory of the Western Furni-
ture Manufacturing company, two block'
from the DOnohue home.
Gustave Arkell was arrested late
today.
Gustave Arkell is carpenter, So
years old. He is now under arrest at
the Oakland city prison, held by the
police, who suspect him of being con-
nected with the murder of Mrs. Dom
ohue.
Chief of Detectives Peterson, who
| ordered ArkelPs arrest, intimated that
the officers were working on the theory
that the crime was committed because
of jealousy.
Loaded weapons are said to have
been found in the home of Arkell, who
resided near the Donohue home, and
who is asserted by the police to have
been friendly with the dead woman.
Arkell is being sweated by detec-
tives tonight, and it is stated that he
strongly protests his innocence.
The prisoner has been married sew
eral times and divorced.
The body was tonight declared pos
itively to be that of Mrs. Donohue.
Autopsy Reveals Nothing
An autopsy failed to show any signs
of a cause of death, and its condi-
tion is believed to preclude any theory
except that death was the result OF
poison or strangulation. The viscera
is being examined by chemists en-
ployed by the coroner.
Developments today indicate thai
Mrs. Donohue met her death on the
night of her disappearance. but a frs
| examination contributed in no degree
toward a definite clew.
No explanation Is offered for the fac
that a portion of her clothing had beer
secreted beneath the factory whence i
was dragged to the light.
Her husband, Immediately after the
body was discovered, Is declared tt
have made the emphatic assertion thai
| two men and not one were concerned
| in the murder.
| Arkell is said to have had in his
possession a brooch once worn by Mrs
| Donohue. This, however, is not re-
| garded as of great Importance. His
arrest is due more, the police say, II
the fact that he had offered possible
explanations of the woman'S disappear
ance long before the search of tbs
Emeryville swamp had been under
taken.
Woman Had Vision?
The body, 1t Is agreed tonight, wai
located through the action Of a woman
who describes herself as spiritualistit
medium.
Accompanied by G. P. Ingersoll, a
detective employed by District Attor-
ney Brown, Mrs. Parsons, who claims
to have been several times consulted
| by Mrs. Donohue, entered into the
search in the territory where police and
citizens had vainly sought the body
According to the narrative of wit
nesses, Mrs. Parsons went directly to
the factory and, standing beneath its
| caves, raised her hand heavenWard and
declared the body lay at her feet.
Frank Walsh, the 16-year-old boy
whose foxterrier yesterday took refuge
where Mrs Donohue's clothing was
found, seized a spade and began dig
ging in the ooze.
| Walsh had thrown up about two feet
| of the muddy mixture when he was
overcome by the odor arising, and
Tony Figono, a companion, COM
pleted the grewsome task of unearth-
ing the body, which lay doubled up as
1t had been hastily crammed into It's
narrow resting place.
Partly enveloping the body was a
red kimono and some undergarmenr5,
which, together with a pair of slip
pers, were identified a few moments
later by the missing woman's hus-
band, who was engaged in q search
elsewhere. Ingersoll Immediately noti-
! fled chief of Police Peterson and the
coroner's office.
Had Dug Nearby
Shallow excavations had been made
earlier in the day within few feet of
where the body lay, but because this
| spot appeared softer and less resistant
to the shovels in use it remained un-
| touched.
1t is stated, however, that the moist
| condition of the earth was in itself an
| indication thatthe place had been dis
| turbed and that it was clew which
could no longer have remained un-
noticed.
To the already chastity details of the
search and discovery Frank Walsh, the
| bow who first welded the shovel, has
added the persistent declaration that
some unknown influence had already
guided his efforts in that direction, and
| it is said the boy, who has been most
active in the twenty-four hours seach,
was allowed to participate only as a
relief for his overwrought condition.
The woman whose psychic powers are
given neighborhood credit for her solu-
ton of the mystery is said to have de-
clared that she has more than once
been professionally consulted by Mrs.
Donohue, and that on each occasion
she had had prophetic visions of muir
der in the Donohue household, and had
foretold calamity to the woman or her
husband
Police Are Reticent
OF the more material evidence in
their possession the police tonight are
inclined to say little,
An effort is being made to locate ac-
quaintances whom Mrs. Donohue is said
to have made at the race track, and to
learn whether or not there is any foun-
dation to the nelghborhood narratives
relating to visitors at the Donohue
house.
The theory brought most forcibly to
the attention of the police has to do
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