New-York tribune., 1910-04-26
COURT FREES SCHWARTZ.
Jury Directed to Acquit Him OF
the Murder of |. ]. Nelson.
EVIDENCE OF GUILT LACKING
THANK Cod" Exclaims Widow
of Victim When She Hears OF
Release of Former Boarder.

Riverhead Long Island. April 25--The
trial OF Augustus Schwartz for the murder
of Irving j. Nelson, ended abruptly mere
to-day. when Justice Putnam directed the
fury to bring in verdict OF mot guilty
on the ground that no evidence sufncieh'
to prove his guilt had been presented oy
the state The end came with the closing
of the states case. The defence had Of
fered no evidence, for after Ralph C.
Green. attorney for Schwartz, had ended
the cross-examination of an expert he made
his motion, which was granted.
The first witness the prosecution put on
the stand this morning was DR.. John
Moore. OF the State Hospital at Central
Islip. who identified pieces of lead and gun
waddng found I'm Nelson's body at the au-
topsy. These were admitted only after
stiff fight. Dr. Moore said that Nelson had
been shot twice in the back with charges
of buckshot. DR.. George A. Ferguson. Of
No. SO2 Stuyvesant avenue Brooklyn. testi-
fed that the stains on the corduroy hunting
coat and the overcoat were of human
blood, and that he was reasonably sure
that the stains on the shoe were of human
blood, also.
Now, doctor, will you state positively
that the stains on. the shoe were human
Green. who was coached by DR.. John ].
OReilly, of Brooklyn.
NO, 1 will not" answered DR.. Ferguson.
Now, the overcoat." continued the at
torney. Couldn't some other blood have
got on that?"
Yes. of course, there could"
The blood tests came in for sharp exam
inatiOn. DR.. Ferguson saying that he was
not sure that the serum obtained was alb
sOlutely pure. one of the questions was
If he had examined the blood of a Long
Island deer. When he said that he had not.
Mr.. Green snapped out, Well, a Long ISL
and deers blood might be the same as
mans, then, as far as you know
Yes"
When DR.. Ferguson left the stand the
state closed, and Mr.. Green asked Justice
Putnam TO direct verdict Of mot guilty"
The jury retired and argument was heard.
When il returned the bench ordered a YER
dict in accordance with Mr.. Green's mo-
ton. and the jury returned it without
leaving the box. Schwartz shook hands
with his lawyer. and said to some spec
tators who crowded around him. Il knew
it all along
Later he said he would so back to Cen
trail Islip and TO Mrs. Nelson's home. If
she is willing to have me board there
said he, Il will continue TO do so, but if
she is not / will seek other quarters
Thank God" said the woman when
told over the telephone that Schwartz was
free 1t has been said in some quarters
that she will marry Schwartz now that
he is at liberty. District Attorney Fur
man was surprised during the trial when
Mrs. Nelson refused to testify, as she did
at the inquest. that she heard Schwartz
leave the house on the night of her hus-
lands murder.
The killing Of Irving J Nelson. who was
a politician. was peculiar in its cirCum
stances Schwartz boarded with the
happily together. On the night of Sep
tember 10, 1909, Nelson went TO a dance
with Gertrude Lupke. an employe of the
State Hospital at Central Islip, and. re-
turning was shot from ambush and killed.
Suspicion fell on Schwartz. II had been
expected that the girl would be an impor-
tant witness. but few weeks ago while
in Manhattan. her clothes caught fire and
she was fatally burned.
This left Mrs Nelson as the most impor-
tant witness. but in the trial she became
much that she had repeated
at the inquest. She explained her testi-
mony that she had heard some one tiptoe
downstairs by saying that burglars had
been frequent in the neighborhoOd and
that Schwartz had been investigating any
unusual sounds