The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-06-02
SCHROEDER|S
FREE;
ON MARCH 80
Secrecy Surrounds Release
of Alleged Indiana
Torch Slayer.
LOCATED IN ALABAMA
Served Three Years of Term
at Michigan City,
Records Reveal.

road torch car Staying case
and sentenced to serve two to
twenty-one years in the Indi-
ana state prison at Michigan
City, is free, The Times
learned today.
Release of Schroeder from the
state prison occurred March 80.
News of the parole of Schroeder was
not made public and information
came accidentally through a local
source.
In a long distance telephone call,
The Times learned today from L. C.
Schmull, deputy warden at the state
prison, that Schroeder was released
from the prison March 80 after
serving three years of his sentence
for the alleged Staying of a youth
in a blazing car near the city limits,
May 81, 1880.
First information that Schroeder
was free came from Ira Holmes,
local attorney, who defended
Schroeder. Mr.. Holmes said today
that he had received a letter
from a Mobile CAla.) attorney ask
ing for some papers in connection
with the Schroeder case. The Mo-
bile attorney indicated that Schroe-
der wa present in his Office in the
Alabama city while he was writing
to MI. Holmes.
Freed Late in March
At the state prison, it was said
that Schroeder was freed by the
parole board after a hearing held
at the institution late in March.
Mr.. Holmes told The Times that
Schroeder would have been released
sooner had he not attempted to- tell
former Warden Walter DAILY "how
to u the prison."
Schroeder never named his vic
tim before going to prison. He
claimed he knew nothing of his
identity. He asserted he had picked
up the unknown man, a hitch
hiker, and the man had been in
jured when S~chroeder's Chrysler
sedan Swerved off the National
road in Indianapolis after the
Speedway race in 1880.
Then followed his story of by
sierra. Schroeder said he feared de-
lection and burned the body in his
car on the High School road north
of the Rockville road. He fled the
scene and wandered back to Mo-
bile, where he vas captured.
Schroeder's- record during his
three-year stay at the prison was
good" according to Mr.. Schmull,
deputy warden. The prison Off
cial said that Schroeder had been
heard on a parole plea in 1888, after
serving the minimum portion of his
sentence. At that time the board
decided that he should serve at
least another year, according to Mr.
Schn1ull.
j. T. Arbuckle, chairman of the
state prison parole board, could not
be located at his home in Rush
vile today to comment on the un-
expected release of Schroeder. Rob-
ert Grafton of Michigan City, mem
Der of the board, told a Times re-
porter that he did not remember the
case.
Coy in Conference
Il will have to go through the
records of the board to find out
the reasons for ~Schroeder's release, =
said Mr.. Grafton.
Wayne Coy, under-secretary to
Governor Paul V. McNutt, could
not be reached for comment. Mr.
Coy, in charge of state penal insti-
tutions, was in conference with
Governor McNutt.
Herebrt E. Wilson, Marion county
prosecutor, who prosecuted Schroe-
der in the sensational murder trial
held in Indianapolis following the
capture of the ''torch-murderer'' in
Mobile, June 81, 1880, was aston
ished to hear that the convict had
been released.
Maximum Term Urged
"I recommend that Schroeder be
made to serve the maximum of his
sentence, tWenty-one years." sale
Mr.. Wilson, when informed of the
parole boards action by a newspaper
man today. eff I am not mistaken
Criminal Judge Frank P. Baker
made the same recommendation
during the trial"
Secrecy surrounding ~Schroeder'S
release was regarded specifically by
many observers, who recalled recent
criticism of state officials for pa
roles and pardons. John Dillinger
it was recalled, was paroled from
state prison one year ago by Cover
nor Paul v. McNutt.
The identity of the youth found
in the smoking ashes of ~Schroeder's
car on the High School road never
has been proven satisfactorily by
authorities. Investigators for The
Times discovered here a a believed
to have been owned by John M.
Slower, Elizabeth, Tenn, missing
since that time.
Since the day that Slower parked
his car at the garage at Georgia
and Pennsylvania streets, no record
has been found of Slower. Asked
if Slower was the victim Schroeder
denied the crime and said that
name doesn't mean anything to me.
Threats against the lives of two
Indianapolis Times reporters, Prose
cutor Wilson, and other officials
were made by Schroeder when he
was sentenced to prison.
If it's the last thing I ever do,
I'll get you - of - when / get