The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-12-16
STAHL HAS SMILE AT TALE.
Racine Man Who Admitted He Held
Up Himself in Court Here, Now
Claims This Also Was a Lie and
is Going to Make Someone Settle.

Jake Christensen, Racine fish mer-
chant and Kenosha county hold up ro-
mancer staged another comeback in
Racine on Monday afternoon when he
went to District Attorney w. W.
IStorms there and declared that he had
been bulldozed by Sheriff Stahl Of Ke-
lnosha and that he had been forced by
third degree methods to admit that
his story of the alleged holdup was a
fake.
Christensen complained to the dis
trict attorney on account of the third
degree methods of the Racine police
departments and he declared that he
was going to get satisfaction Sheriff
Stahl was shown the story of the fish
peddler this morning and his face
wreathed in smiles. II suppose Judge
Randall gave him the third degree too,
when he stood up over here in court
and admitted that he had lied about
the holdup' was the comment of
Sheriff Stahl. II dom t wonder that
Jake is trying to square himself,'' con-
tinued the sheriff. eff I was mixed
up in just such a case would go a
long ways to square myself and so
would anyone else. Anybody that has
been connected with the case knows
that we had the goods on Christensen
as big as a house.
Here is what Christensen had to say
in regard to the third degree being adj
ministered to him:
cit was something awful the way
they treated me,'' said Christensen.
"They got me in room at the Racine
police station and then they all sat
around me, and threatened me with all
kinds of things if I didn t say that the
whole thing was a frame-up. Sheriff
Stahl of Kenosha was the worst one
of the crowd. He shook his fist in my
face and said: Now say that the
whole thing was fake, you big fat
head or I'll knock the head off of your
shoulders. He also threatened to
send me to prison for life if I didn It
admit that I had faxed the holdup.
They even went SO far as to take me
to the cell-room, open the door and
threaten to put me in cell unless |
said what they wanted me to say.
What could I do? There they were, all
grouped around me, threatening to
beat me and send me to prison, and |
finally gave in and told them it was
frame-up.o They had said to me
previously to this: All you We got to
say is that the holdup was a frame-up
and we IL let you go home and no one
will know thing about it. = They
promised not to say anything to the
newspaper reporters or let anyone
know that I had admitted it.
ct am no more guilty Of fake
holdup than you are, but I couldn It
stand the strain of the third degree
and had to admit it. }"
Members of the Racine police de-
partment laughed when told of Chris
tenson' IS story. Chief Baker said that
Christensen was merely endeavoring to
put up weak defense to try to be-
little the police and thus shift public
attention from himself. "He not only
admitted it to the police, but he told
lit to Judge Randall in the Kenosha
municipal court; he admitted frame
up to reporters when he went to the
newspaper offices and tried to keep the
story out of the newspapers, and has
also admitted it to many other persons.
I do not believe single word of Chris
tenson IS story about the third degree s
Detectives who were present when
Christensen made the admission also
denied undue methods had been used
Distri-s Attorney Storms said: 81
have carefully investigated the matter,
and find that the police used no meth
DDS in questioning Christensen that /
would not have used myself. The man
has very convenient memory, re-
Numbering those things which favor
him, and forgetting other things that
night place him in had light. In
view of the findings of my investiga-
ton, I told Christensen I could see no
reason why should take any steps
against the police. Christensen i'm
presses me as a man who could take
care of his own interests against a
dozen policemen, all firing questions
at him at the same time. -
| Mrs. Louis McGonegle of Kenosha,