New Britain herald., 1924-10-13
First Degree Count Against Springfield Man In Connection With Killing Of Po- iceman Skelly.
Atwater Tells of Threat to Kill by Chapman-Ma. Iona Weeps as He Re- views Events Ending in Death of Friend.

Walter F. Shean, scion of q wealthy Springfield, Mass, family appeared before Judge William c. Hungerford in police court this morning to answer to a charge or murdering Policeman James Skelly, veteran policeman, who died on the operating table at the New Britain general hospital yesterday morning after being shot while attempting to frustrate a burglary in the Davidson S. Leventhal stores. shortly after o'clock. Shean was ordered held without bail for the next term of the superior court.
 An air of gloom lowered over the courtroom as the police went to the stand and testified to the events leading up to and after the shooting of their buddy" of Is years in the service. Walter Malona, the police man who placed Shean under arrest, could not restrain his tears as he was testifying, and towards the end of his story he was overcome by his feelings and the words refused to come.
 Accessory Before The Fact
 Shean is specifically charged with being an accessory before the fact, the warrant reading that he 'felon- iousIy, wilfully and with malice aforethought, did aid, assist, abet and comfort" Gerald Chapman in the burglary and subsequent mur- der. He was not represented by at torney at this mornings proceedings and no members of his family were in the courtroom When the police had testified and shean was asked if he cared to say anything, Prosecutor Joseph G. Woods warned him that he was not compelled to say anything, and if he did, anything he said could be used against him in ihe future. Shean answered that he had nothing to say.
 A heavy police guard surrounded him, Policeman Thomas J. Feeney, sitting beside him in the prisoners pen, other police being stationed just outside. The prisoner listened in tently to the charge as it was being read and to the testimony of the police.
 Police were stationed at the foot of the stairs leading up to the court room long before the opening of court, and no one was allowed to go up who did not have official busi- ness. A crowd of several hundred collected outside the station in hopes of gaining admittance to the courtroom, but Chief William c. Hart's orders to prohibit outsiders from entering the court frustrated their plans.
 Shean's pal in the crime, whom he said was Gerald Chapman, national ly known criminal and yeggman has been sought by police since his es- cape from the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, where he was serving a 25 year term for a S2,400.000 bond robbery in New York in 1921.
 Insists Friend Was Chapman
 The federal and local police are skeptical of Shean's story that Chap man was his companion, but the prisoner has steadfastly maintained the truth of his statement. He iden- tiied Chapman's picture, picking it from a number of circular pictures that were shown him with the names and identifcations concealed. The local police are of the opinion that Shean is shielding somebody, and in doing so, he names Chapman as his partner in the crime.
 Shean has been grilled and quiz Zed by the police many times since his arrest and has materially chang ca his story each time, but in each instance he involves Chapman. He has described him to the police, and both the description given by him and others who caught a glimpse of the man who fired the shot that snufled out the life of the veteran policeman tally with the description given by federal officials of the hunted criminal.
 The Springfield police are report ed to have received a tip that Chap man was in Springfield a week ago and investigated the tip without re- suits. The Cooley hotel officials, whore Chapman is said by Shean to have been living under the name of Waldo w. Miller, have emphatically stated that the man living at the To- cal hotel under the name of Miller could not possibly have been Chap man.
 Ammunition In Room
 The Springfield police searched the room at the hotel yesterday morning occupied by Miller, sup- posed to be Chapman, and found a .45-calibre revolver, a holster for a similar gun and a set of Indiana automobile registration plates. The automobile in which the two men came to New Britain was a high powered machine and bore Massa- chusetts registration under the name of Miller. On the application for the registration. it was stated that . the machine was purchased in Fort Wayne. Ind, in 1923. The machine is now in the custody of the police | (Continued on Page is.y