The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1916-08-25
BIRCH RUN MAN
BRUTALLY MURDERED
ERNEST SCHMITZER KILLED BY
JOHN Mclean, OF FLINT
Victim Was Acting as Peacemaker and
Was Struck Over Head With
Beer Bottle

The following taken from the
Saginaw Courier-Herald of We'd
nesday gives the details of a
tragedy which took place in
Birch Run on Tuesday morning,
the victim of which was well
known to many who reside in
this vicinity. AS is too often the
case, booze lies at the root of
the sad occurrence
John Mclean, 21 years old, a
Flint jitney bus driver, is held at
the county Jail here on charge
of murder, in connection with
the death at 8:45 o'clock Tues
day morning of Ernest Sch
mitzer, % years old, one of the
proprietors of the Schmitzer
Hotel at Birch Run. He has con-
fessed that it was he who struck
Schmitzer on the head with a
beer bottle about LOO o'clock
Tuesday morning, infiicting the
injury from which Schmitzer
died.
| Taken before Justice James E.
Mcdonald of Buena Vista town.
ship last evening, Mclean ex-
pressed a desire to plead guilty
to the murder charge, but was
bound over to the circuit court
without bail to await trial. He
may be arraigned today in the
circuit court, it was announced
last night by Prosecuting Attor-
ney Bird j. Vincent. Neither
in his formal statement yester-
day to Prosecutor Vincent, AS
sistant Prosecutor Emil A. Tessin
and Sheriff George H. Suther-
land, nor in talks with other Off
GERS who questioned him, did
Mclean attempt to deny that he
struck Schmitzer with the bottle.
An autopsy performed at Birch
Run yesterday morning by DR..
H. B. McCrory, of that place,
showed that Schmitzer's skull
was fractured by the blow from
the bottle. Coroner L. B. Harris,
summoned from Saginaw to in
vestigate the case, impaneled a
jury and fixed 9o'clock next Sat-
urday morning as the time for
the inquest.
According to the story told by
Mclean and corroborated by a
number of witnesses interviewed
yesterday by Assistant Prose-
cutor Tessin, Mclean left Flint
about 9 o'clock Monday night
with party of three men in his
automobile, bound for Birch Run.
They stopped there, bought sew
eral drinks at the bar in the
Schmitzer hotel and at other sa-
looms, and then drove to Sagi.
nav and visited a resort on South
Water street. On their way
back to Flint, via Birch Run. the
Mclean party became involved
in an argument with Roy Horn.
ing, of Birch Run, driver of ar
automobile owned by William
Arnold, of Birch Run, Mclean
declaring Horning had violated
the rules of the road by cutting
in closely in front of the Mclean
car In passing.
After reaching Birch Run, the
stories agree, Mclean got out OF
his automobile and upbraideC
Horning and Arnold, and it was
while they were arguing on the
main street of the village that
Schmitzer, on the way home with
his wife and some of his hoteI
employees from a party in the
outskirts of the village, appear.
} ed and attempted to enact the
role of peacemaker.
Schmitzer, witnesses say, urged
Mclean to get back into his au.
tomobile and return to Flint, but
} was met by a blow on the heac
from a beer bottle which Nc
Lean picked up from the from
seat of his car. Witnesses de
clare that Schmitzer had not laiC
| hands on Mclean and the prison
er, in his statement to the prose
cutting attorney admitted tn,
truth of their statements.
SchmitZer sank to the proun(
and his companions held McLeal
until Deputy Sheriff Eugen,
J Briggs arrived and placed hin
under arrest. Schmitzer wa
} aided to his home, being able tt
! walk with the assistance of tw,
friends. He retained conscious
ness until about 4 a. m, but die
not arouse after that and diet
J shortly before 9 o'clock yester
day morning,