The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1911-10-30
new GRAND JURY
IN MCNAMARA
CASE PLANNED
Charges That Witnesses Have
Been Tempered With to
Be Investigated
Disappearance of Some Called
by Prosecution Worries
District Attorney
LOfthaus, Who has Vanished, Is
Regarded as a Man of Much
Importance
BY ARTHUR L. PRICE
-Seeeial Dispaleh % The CelIl

Especial DIspotch 10 he CotlI
Os ANGELES. Oct 29.-Assist-
ant District Attorney Horton is
4 authority for the statement that
presiding Judge George +. HIST
ton wisr, within the course of the next
week C. 10 days. impanel the grand
jury. The grand jury which indicted
the McNsmara brothers on the charge
of murder through the destruction of
the Lo- angeles Times building was
discharged about the time the trial
started.
Under the law the new inquisitorial
body may be drawn at any time prior
to December 81. but the district at
torney's office feels that there is need
at present for a grand jury. The Of
fee is busy with the various involu-
tionss Of the Mcnamara trial and it
has its hands fun. Alleged disappear
ance OF witnesses will be one of the
subjects taken up by the grand jury
The nomadic habits of witnesses for
the state is the chief trouble of tire
prosecution at this time, while the de-
Tense is most perplexed with the work
of impaneling a trial jury to sit in
judgment of J. b. Mcnamara
Fredericks Evasive
District Attorney J. d. Fredericks
tonight endeavored to minimize to The
Call correspondent the Importance of
Bofthaus as a witness
Have you had any trace of Lofthaus
since he disappearedg' Fredericks was
asked.
I'm not keeping track OF the wit
.nesses.v the district attorney replied.
What has Lofthaus to do with the
case?"
He is said to be very important
witness. He was a witness before the
grand jury He knew Schmidt and
.Brice' at Belle LAWNS house in San
Francisco" it was explained.
"oh. don't know that he is such an
important witness" replied Fredericks.
L don't know about him being miss
Ing"
Despite the evasions OF the district
attorney. it is reported that the prose-
sution Is sorely disturbed over the un-
official departure of witnesses. There
are a number of them in Los Angeles
now. and they are for the most part
stopping at the Rondo hotel, which is
managed by E. r. Mills, chief of the
Burns detective bureau at Los Angeles
The strategy that is implied in the fact
that the detective runs rooming house
need only be suggested. The prosecu-
ton has announced that $50 witnesses
viii be called by their side. As many
Of these witnesses will come from out
Of town. it may be presumed that Mills
has a prosperous winter before him.
One Not a Guest
But he did not get Lofthaus as one
of his guests and now the state may
well wish he had.
Lofthaus was the particular friend
of Belle LAWN and made her house his
home. Tkere he met her mysterious
Iodger. 4cockyr Schmidt, who is now
under Indictment. Mrs. LAWN was the
close friend Of Lena Ingersoll. the
Mission landlady. whose roof sheltered
price" whose real name is said to
be J. 3. Mcnamara. Mrs. LAWN and
Mrs. Tngersoll did not let their busi-
ness rivalry interfere with their social
activities. and many calls were ex-
changed in which Lena Ingersoll'
"Brice. Belle LAWN, Schmidt and Loft
haus figured. In this way Lofthaus
came to know Schmidt and 'Brice,' :
and the state counted on his being
able to identify the defendant, ]. B.
Mcnamara as the man who posed as
.'Brice, who visited Johannson at
Corte MADEIRA, and who is the same
man who purchased the nitroglycerine
at Giant
While Lofthaus might not be an
essential witness. he would be one of
the important witnesses to substan-
tiate the story of Lena Ingersoll and
Belle LAWN.
Just how far the grand jury will
investigate the disappearance of Loft
haus none of the officials will say, but
the alleged tampering with witnesses
for the state will be one of the i'm
portant matters that will be brought
to its attention.
Issue of Importance
That the state will work hard to
combat the theory that an explosion
of gas caused the wreck of the Los
Angeles Times building became known
today. The defense will rely largely
on its ability to disprove the states
contention that the Times building
was destroyed by dynamite and it has
been particularly anxious to eliminate
from the panel men whose minds have
been set in favor of tEe dynamite
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