The San Francisco call., 1910-09-28
EVIDENCE AGAINST DOCTOR
PILES UP AT INQUEST
DIR. Thompson Is Hemmed In by
Flood of Damaging Testi-
mony and Positive
IdentifiCatiOnS
PERFORMED MANY CRIMINAL
OPERATIONS, SAYS WOMAN
IFE. death and little love over

r IFE, death and a little love over
/ shadowed by the somber drab of
- tragedy marked the coroner's
inquest on the death of Evan Swan
yesterday. the poignancy of the hear
ing of the horror being brought to a
tense and dramatic pitch when Marie
Messerschmidt, the nurse, tottered
into the room and, between hysterical
sobs, declared that her relations with
DR.. Robert Thompson, alias James
Grant, the man accused Of the murder.
were closer than those OF nurse and
doctor, and in the next breath she, by
her testimony. showed him along his
way TO the penitentiary gates.
Doctor Thompson received her
words with silent anger. While she
talked he leaned forward and glared
at her, as if seeking by the very force
of his gaze TO turn her eyes toward
his; but she would not Around was
dense crowd. hanging TO every word,
watching every gesture, gasping in
pure sensation of horror as bit by bit
the chain of evidence was woven
around the malpractitioner. In the
center of the room was the trunk in
which the body of Eva Swan was re-
moved to the dwelling house at 327
Eureka street, and near it a lantern,
suitcase and grip, all mute evidences
of the crime, and all adding to the
tragic settings.
Nurse Faints on Stand
In the midst of her testimony the
nurse tainted. 1t was but another SEN
sation and in the face of what she
had said and of her manner when
testifying. a minor event. The in
terest seemed to lie in the meeting of
Doctor Thompson and Miss Messer-
schmidt and in the angry glare with
which the accused man regarded the
woman who had torn down his de-
fenses.
All day long the hearing lasted
The crowd becoming too large for
the coroners Office, an adjournment
was taken to Judge Conlan's court.
and there it saher ter acn
bers than ever, lii walls
deep. blocking the doorway ana
| flowing into the corridor
after witness was 3rogyse 40. each
testifying to some s4s sicuiar feature
and each a link in the evidence against
theh physician.
On Sacks Trail
In the meantime the police ceased
not their work. Apart from the words
and statements of the witnesses at the
for the missink links. Pike" the
boy who. with Ben Gordon. knowing
of the crime. attempted to blaekmaiI
Doctor Thompson. was found and ar
rested at Weed Willie Sack. the lad
who is said to have helped Doctor
Thompson in removing and buryfng
the body. was traced to the lumber
camps in that vicinity, and the prob
abilities are that he also will be ar
rested before long The expressman
who removed the trunk from the ply
I SlC1anS s OI1CeS III GOlQcH Cdte avenue
to Eureka street, the police think they
have discovered in one known as Dan"
employed by A CERT
From every direction the evidence
against Thompson was gathered. Every
hour brought a new development, a
new phase of the situation. and night
fall saw him hemmed in on eVsry side.
That he will make a fight to defend
himself on technical point was made
clear by the questionings OF Attorney
Greely who is representing him. at the
! inquest There remained for Thomp-
son the faint hope that all the mass
of evidence against him would be
worthless If positive Identification
could not be made of the body. but
even this was dispelled by the une-
quivocal testimony of Mrs. Carrie
Ware. the landlady of the rooming
house where the dead girl lived
"win you swear" asked Greedy OF
her. that the body was that of Eva
SWAMI
| Il will positively swear that it was