Los Angeles herald., 1908-09-01
LINK BY LINK, FORGE CHAIN
OF EVIDENCE
MUD-sTAINEp TROUSERS AND
SPADE IDENTIFIED
Police Discover Murdered cIubwoman
and Accused Man Met Secretly.
His Attentions Annoyed
Her
p Associated Press.

duOtlSI 10 DCili6 etSoO0 ~ eNN>
" Oakland police in the mass of cir
ournstantial evidence upon which they
charge Gustave Arkell with the murder
of Mrs. Alice Luerecia Do 1ohue, prom
inent clubwoman and wife of Daniel
Donohue.
Late this afternoon Mrs. Emma Verra
of 1882 Sixty-first street, Elmhurst. q
friend of both the accused and the muir
dered woman. positively identified
pair Of mud-stained trousers he wore
on the night the crime is alleged to
have been committed, June IL.
In addition, she identified the space
found concealed under the factory on
Saturday with Mrs. Donohue's cloth
ing as belonging to the prisoner.
But perhaps the most tangible clew
in the case was given by Mrs. Eliza
beth SmHh, mother of the boy, Frank
Walsh, who, with his dog, first dis
covered the woman's clothing. and then
a day later dug UP the body.
Mrs. Smith saw a man and woman
at $3.50 o'clock on the night af the muir
der lurking in the shadow of the FUR
niture factory where the body was
found. She and her husband were re-
turning from a. drive.
Heard Voices In Shadow
She first heard voices at the factory
and at one of the windows saw a re-
flection of a man and a woman.
Mrs. Smith told the police today she
had remained silent until now about
the incident because her husband
wanted to avoid any further notoriety
in the case, enough of 1T having been
given through the part his stepson,
Frank Walsh, had taken.
Today, however, the woman con-
suited with her priest and upon his
advice disregarded her husbands
wishes and made known the facts.
The detectives attach great import
ance to this disclosure, for there has
been difficulty in tracing the where
abouts OF either Arkell or the muir
dered woman on that night.
So far as Arkell is concerned he has
'steadfastly refused, even after twenty
flour hours of solitary confinement and
continued Sweating" ordeal, to make
Ssny declaration excepting of innp-
elnce.
He Is sullen and declines even to
answer the smallest query as to his
past or as to any of his movements on
the day and night of the supposed mur-
der.
Met Victim Secretly
The police have established beyond
any doubt that he was frequently seen
in clandestine meetings with the dead
found secreted with her garments near
her grave; that he bothered her so
much with his attentions that she fire.
quently complained about 1t.
In addition, a search Of his rooms
disclosed that pair Of trousers and
a light overcoat, both of which he
constantly wore, were stained with
mud different from any excepting such
as was found in the vicinity of the fac
tory where the clothing was found and
where the body was found buried.
Another link is found in his posses
sion of gold locket belonging to the
dead woman, which he exhibited after
her disappearance and which ne told
I his friends he had picked up.
Another feature which the police lay
dgreat stress upon is the way Arkell
5aonstantly agitated the community
,avith gossip to the effect that Mrs. DON
!. ohue had eloped. Not later than week
ago he told story of having seen her
in San Francisco.
Past Is Traced
Most of the efforts of the police to-
day were spent in hunting up the past
of the prisoner.
In addition to the fact of his arrest
three years ago in San Francisco under
the name Of Gustave Ostadhl, upon the
charge of trying to poison his second
wife, they learned that his first wife
was drowned, that his last one secured
a divorce, and that he had figured in
the east in a sensational police case,
details of which have not been secured.
The police also have in their possess
sion a "black hand'' letter written to
Joseph Mondine of 1918 Sixty-second
street, who was a neighbor of the Dom
ohues and Arkell.
The letter reads:
sTf you don't bring that lumber back
you stole from me will see to it that
you are 1ynched. If you don't bring
back those stolen tools will blow your
home up with dynamite and be quick
about it, That's my name"
Gave Letter to Police
Mondine, who is employed in a
slaughter house, became greatly ex-
cited over the matter and placed the
letter in the hands of the police within
the last week for investigation.
1t vas during the search of Arkell's
house, since his arrest, that some of
his handwriting attracted one of the
detectives.
A cursory examination was followed
by placing the different samples of
handwriting and the threatening let
ter with an expert.
In connection with this matter the
police have learned that Arkell, who Is
a carpenter, did lose some tools and
some lumber and that he had threat
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