Speaker 1: Althuler got calm.
Speaker 2: May twenty ninth, nineteen eleven, lying in the bath tub
Speaker 2: of his flat. Henry Sheeb, thirty years old, five eighteen
Speaker 2: East seventy eighth Street, was found dead this afternoon. It
Speaker 2: is believed he had been dead at least three weeks.
Speaker 2: The body was badly decomposed. Sheib and his wife lived
Speaker 2: in the apartment, and about a month ago she went
Speaker 2: to Cleveland, where his relatives live. Sheib was a chauffeur
Speaker 2: and tenants in the house noticed him about several days
Speaker 2: after his wife went away. As no rent had been
Speaker 2: paid in the last month. Superintendent Daniel Smith this afternoon
Speaker 2: decided to open the apartment using a pass key. He
Speaker 2: opened the door and immediately noticed an odor. He went
Speaker 2: through the rooms, and when he reached the bathroom, he
Speaker 2: discovered the body. Policeman mal Day of the sixty seventh
Speaker 2: Street station summoned doctor Brown of the emergency hospital, who
Speaker 2: said that the man had been dead at least three weeks.
Speaker 2: The surgeon believed apoplexy was the cause of death. In
Speaker 2: the bathtub was four inches of water, but the man's
Speaker 2: face was not covered. It is supposed that he was
Speaker 2: stricken as he was about to take a bath. True
Speaker 2: crime historian presents Unsolved, a special edition of Yesterday's News
Speaker 2: exploring one of history's most baffling mysteries. Episode three hundred
Speaker 2: and sixty eight tells the sad story of a woman
Speaker 2: found dead in a bathtub, her body so decomposed that
Speaker 2: police first assumed that it is her husband because they
Speaker 2: heard she is sick and convalescing somewhere. When the truth
Speaker 2: is revealed and the husband found alive, he soon becomes
Speaker 2: a suspect as officials assume murder. But is the chauffeur,
Speaker 2: murderer or the victim of police harassment. I'm true crime
Speaker 2: historian Richard O. Jones, and for your puzzlement and indignation,
Speaker 2: I give you an acid bath for the suffragist. The
Speaker 2: Lilian She mystery May thirtieth, nineteen eleven. The discovery of
Speaker 2: a woman's body in a bathtub partly filled with a
Speaker 2: quicklime or acid solution intended to destroy identification at number
Speaker 2: five eleven East seventy eighth Street is believed today by
Speaker 2: the police to furnish another murder mystery. When the body
Speaker 2: was found late yesterday by the man in charge of
Speaker 2: the apartment, it was believed that Harry A. Sheeb, thirty
Speaker 2: one years old, a chauffeur, and he was supposed to
Speaker 2: have died from apoplexy. Today, Sheib is a prisoner at
Speaker 2: police headquarters, suspected of knowing something about the strange disappearance
Speaker 2: of his wife, Lilian, a suffragist worker and writer, and
Speaker 2: the body found in the bathtub, which proved to be
Speaker 2: a woman's and is believed to be hers. Although paying
Speaker 2: rent on the seventy eight eighth Street apartment until a
Speaker 2: few days ago, Sheib has been living at number nine
Speaker 2: ninety three Amsterdam Avenue. His wife has not been seen
Speaker 2: since early in February. When arrested early today at one
Speaker 2: hundred and tenth Street and Broadway, Shib denied his identity,
Speaker 2: but finally admitted it, and when told at the East
Speaker 2: sixty seventh Street police station that he was suspected of
Speaker 2: killing his wife, he turned pale and exclaimed to Lieutenant Breen,
Speaker 2: my god, that isn't my wife. Up to that time
Speaker 2: he had not been told anything about the finding of
Speaker 2: the woman's body. It was Dan Smith, in charge of
Speaker 2: the furnished apartment buildings at number five eleven East seventy
Speaker 2: eighth Street, who found the body yesterday afternoon, after Sheb
Speaker 2: had failed to pay the rent several days overdue. He
Speaker 2: opened the door with his brass key, and the air
Speaker 2: that rushed out caused him hastily to close the door
Speaker 2: again and run for a policeman. They climbed the fire escape,
Speaker 2: opened the windows, and when it was possible, went into
Speaker 2: the apartment. In the bath tub, faced downward was a
Speaker 2: body that, at a rough estimate, had been there for
Speaker 2: three or four weeks. Clinging to it were fragments of underclothes.
Speaker 2: One leg was sticking out of the tub. There were
Speaker 2: three or four inches of liquid in the tub, and
Speaker 2: doctor Brown, who was called from the Presbyterian Hospital, thought
Speaker 2: it was water, although it seared the hands. Watchman Smith,
Speaker 2: who was a sort of supervisor with the authority of
Speaker 2: the usual janitor, had been told that missus Sheeb was
Speaker 2: in Cleveland, Ohio, and it was concluded the unrecognizable mass
Speaker 2: of flesh was the remains of Sheeb, who had died
Speaker 2: from apoplexy when preparing to take a bath, and it
Speaker 2: was so reported by the police. The strange burning effect
Speaker 2: of the fluid was explained after the body had been
Speaker 2: removed to the Morgue on the order of Cordner Holzausen.
Speaker 2: The Morgue attendant said the body was not only that
Speaker 2: of a woman instead of a man, but that it
Speaker 2: had been immersed in a solution of quicklime or some
Speaker 2: acid for the purpose of destroying it or preventing identification.
Speaker 2: The police at once got busy. They found in the
Speaker 2: rooms a large quantity of suffragist writings, evidently the handiwork
Speaker 2: of Missus Sheeb. Copy paper with completed and uncompleted articles
Speaker 2: was everywhere, but no woman's clothing could be found anywhere.
Speaker 2: Detectives Owen and mc mahon were assigned to the case
Speaker 2: and found on a slip of paper the address of
Speaker 2: a Broadway garage and began questioning persons living in the house.
Speaker 2: Smith told them that last February Sheeb, who had been
Speaker 2: living in an apartment twenty three with the wife, told
Speaker 2: him Missus Sheeb had gone to Cleveland to visit his
Speaker 2: relatives and might not be back for some time. Sheeb
Speaker 2: said he would live elsewhere during her absence, but would
Speaker 2: keep the apartment in return every week and pay the rent.
Speaker 2: For several weeks. He came regularly and paid or sent
Speaker 2: the money by messenger recently. According to Smith, Sheb came
Speaker 2: with the rent and said, in case I should get
Speaker 2: a few days shy with the rent, don't get uneasy
Speaker 2: and go into my place. I'll be around all right
Speaker 2: and make good, so don't go inside. The rule in
Speaker 2: the furnished apartment house is that the rent must be
Speaker 2: paid every week. Smith said he became suspicious at the
Speaker 2: way Sheb talked, although he couldn't tell why. At any rate,
Speaker 2: when the rent due last Thursday was not forthcoming and
Speaker 2: nothing was seen of Sheeb, Smith decided to take a
Speaker 2: look inside. With the result already detailed, the detectives got
Speaker 2: a photograph of Sheb and started out to look for
Speaker 2: the man whose obituary was in all the afternoon papers.
Speaker 2: They learned at the garage that he drove a car
Speaker 2: for George Wyeth of number twenty eight eighty one Broadway,
Speaker 2: a wealthy man interested in an accounting machine. At the
Speaker 2: garage where mister Wyeth keeps his machine, they learned that
Speaker 2: the chauffeur had it out and remained in hiding in
Speaker 2: the neighborhood until after one o'clock this morning, when Sheb
Speaker 2: drove up. They put him under arrest, telling him he
Speaker 2: was wanted for not having a chauffeur's license. She denied
Speaker 2: his identity, saying his name was Smith, but when taken
Speaker 2: to the garage, the employees there said, that's sheb all right.
Speaker 2: He was then confronted with photographs of himself and admitted
Speaker 2: his identity. When asked why he denied it, he jauntily replied, oh,
Speaker 2: John D. Rockefeller himself would deny his identity if anyone
Speaker 2: came along and ask him questions, and he didn't know
Speaker 2: their business of people do it. It was learned at
Speaker 2: the East sixty seventh Street station, according to the police,
Speaker 2: that she really has no license and that it had
Speaker 2: escaped the notice of authorities. Although he was recently arrested
Speaker 2: and fined for having a smoking car, the prisoner thought
Speaker 2: he was under arrest for the simple misdemeanor until the
Speaker 2: police suddenly told him of their suspicions, and then he exclaimed,
Speaker 2: my god, that's not my wife. Although the police say
Speaker 2: nothing had been told him of the finding of the body,
Speaker 2: sheb seemed very cock sure. At first. He did a
Speaker 2: lot of talking and several times contradicted himself, but nothing
Speaker 2: he said, according to the police, threw any light on
Speaker 2: the whereabouts of his wife, nor could they get from
Speaker 2: many information that might lead to the discovery of her
Speaker 2: whereabouts if alive. Sheib told the police that his wife
Speaker 2: was miss Lillian Glover, an orphan of Holyoake, mass When
Speaker 2: he married her five years ago in New Jersey, she
Speaker 2: was then twenty years old. He seemed to have only
Speaker 2: a vague idea as to their relatives and where they lived.
Speaker 2: She did a lot of writing on suffragist matters, he said,
Speaker 2: but he didn't know what she did with her articles
Speaker 2: and never knew her to get any pay for them.
Speaker 2: He said she was intensely jealous of him and imagined
Speaker 2: he was trying to flirt with every woman he passed
Speaker 2: on the street. Often, he asserted, his wife had tantrums,
Speaker 2: enraged and ranted and left the house. Usually it was
Speaker 2: always because of her jealousy, and she did not remain
Speaker 2: away long. Last summer, he got a position driving a
Speaker 2: car for a man living in Amityville, Long Island. She
Speaker 2: left him soon afterward and came back to New York,
Speaker 2: telling him that she would live with him when he
Speaker 2: returned to the city to work. It was then he
Speaker 2: gave up the Amityville Place and went to work for
Speaker 2: mister Wyeth. They went to live in the East seventy
Speaker 2: eighth Street apartment February second, He said he went home
Speaker 2: and found a note with a key to the apartment
Speaker 2: lying on the dresser. The note and his wife's handwriting, said,
Speaker 2: I can't stand this any longer. There's no use in
Speaker 2: your looking for me. I'm gone. He said he expected
Speaker 2: she would return sooner or later, and told it around
Speaker 2: she had gone away on a visit. He explained his
Speaker 2: paying the rent for two places by saying he knew
Speaker 2: he would feel lonesome living in the east side apartment
Speaker 2: and rented a room on the west side, nearer his work.
Speaker 2: He admitted keeping up two apartments was a drain on
Speaker 2: his resources. He said that he was the only person
Speaker 2: who had a key to the apartment so far as
Speaker 2: he knew, although his wife might have had a duplicate
Speaker 2: made before she left hers for him with the note.
Speaker 2: He declared he had not heard from his wife since
Speaker 2: February second, when she disappeared, and said he had not
Speaker 2: been in the flat for a month, but intended to
Speaker 2: go there last night and pay the rent and find
Speaker 2: out if his wife had been about. Told the police
Speaker 2: he had no idea who the woman could be, but
Speaker 2: he did not believe it was his wife. He did
Speaker 2: not know any woman could have gone into the flat,
Speaker 2: he said, and the woman's identity was as much a
Speaker 2: mystery to him as to anyone else. The police confess
Speaker 2: there are many puzzling features about the case, not the
Speaker 2: least of which is what became of the woman's clothes.
Speaker 2: The detectives found a few little odds and ends of
Speaker 2: clothing about the place, but nothing that the person, in
Speaker 2: their opinion, could have worn to the house alive. The
Speaker 2: solution in the bathtub had so eaten away the underclothes
Speaker 2: worn by the woman. They offered no clue whatever. Today,
Speaker 2: a dentist who did some work on Missus Sheeb's teeth
Speaker 2: will go to the Morgue and try to identify the body.
Speaker 2: The detectives regard the outcome of this examination as the
Speaker 2: most important thing in the case just now. Superintendent Armstrong
Speaker 2: of the Morgue said today that the body was in
Speaker 2: such condition from chemicals it would require an autopsy to
Speaker 2: determine positively, so far as the officials are concerned, whether
Speaker 2: it is that of a man or a woman. It
Speaker 2: is a small body, however, and there seems to be
Speaker 2: no doubt in the mind of the coroner that it
Speaker 2: is a woman. Sheib said his wife was a small
Speaker 2: woman and never weighed more than one hundred and four pounds.
Speaker 2: Henry A. Sheeb, held by police on suspicion of having
Speaker 2: caused the death of his wife Lilian, made the astonishing
Speaker 2: declaration to Deputy Commissioner Dougherty this afternoon that he wrote
Speaker 2: a letter addressed to himself and signed Anna, which intimated
Speaker 2: intimate relations with that fictitious person. Shib's statement was made
Speaker 2: in the course of a long examination to which he
Speaker 2: was subjected at police headquarters. The detectives were very anxious
Speaker 2: to learn the whereabouts of Anna, and persistently quized him
Speaker 2: on that point, said Scheib, I wrote that letter myself.
Speaker 2: I was going to show it to my wife when
Speaker 2: she came back, to prove that other women liked me.
Speaker 2: Sheb was given a pen and ink and a sheet
Speaker 2: of paper in order to write the Anna letter. From dictation.
Speaker 2: He turned out an exact facsimile of the letter, which
Speaker 2: was found in his room after his arrest. In the
Speaker 2: letter were references to Sheeb's wife. The suspect was under
Speaker 2: the probe of Dougherty and Inspector Russell for several hours.
Speaker 2: He admitted that he had made a mistake in giving
Speaker 2: the name of his wife. His latest story is that
Speaker 2: she was Lily in Lover, not lilyan Glover. He declared.
Speaker 2: She came from a small town near Holyoake, mass Link
Speaker 2: by link, a convincing chain of circumstantial evidence is being
Speaker 2: forged round Sheb. It has been established to a certainty
Speaker 2: that even if he didn't know of his wife's whereabouts
Speaker 2: as he claims, he lied systematically on the point after
Speaker 2: she disappeared. As recently as last Wednesday, she voluntarily stated
Speaker 2: to missus John Wyeth, wife of his employer, that his
Speaker 2: wife was in Chicago with his mother, living in Llewellen Avenue,
Speaker 2: said Sheb. She is out of the hospital and doing fine.
Speaker 2: About a week previously, she but asked for and had
Speaker 2: been granted, a short leave of absence. He said he
Speaker 2: wanted to put his wife on a train and send
Speaker 2: her to Chicago. She had been, he said, in a
Speaker 2: hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts. Mister Wyeth recalls that during the
Speaker 2: spring Sheb made several requests for advances on his salary
Speaker 2: owing to the heavy expense of taking care of his
Speaker 2: sick wife. While she was representing to his employer and
Speaker 2: Missus Wyeth that his wife was alive, her body was
Speaker 2: in the bathtub of the East seventy eighth Street flat,
Speaker 2: the rent of which Sheb was paying. Missus Wyeth says
Speaker 2: that one day last winter, when she was about to
Speaker 2: enter her car, a small, sick looking little woman with
Speaker 2: light blue eyes walked up and spoke to Sheb. This
Speaker 2: is my wife, missus Wyeth remembers Sheb to have said,
Speaker 2: and she's not filling well, if you wouldn't mind, I
Speaker 2: would like to take her up to one hundred forty
Speaker 2: eighth Street, where we live in the car, Missus Wyeth
Speaker 2: had no objections. Sheb took the little woman up to
Speaker 2: one hundred and forty eighth Street. Some time after that,
Speaker 2: Sheb informed his employer that he had sent his wife
Speaker 2: to a hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts, so she could be
Speaker 2: near her parents. Since his arrest, he has told police
Speaker 2: his wife was an orphan when he married her. The
Speaker 2: detectives attach a lot of importance to Sheeb's admission made
Speaker 2: to the coroner into various police officials that he was
Speaker 2: in the flat last on April fifteenth, Two weeks before that,
Speaker 2: a family living in the flat above was driven out
Speaker 2: by an undesirable odor. The coroner's experts say the body
Speaker 2: was in the bathroom at least three months. The police
Speaker 2: today began a systematic inquiry into Sheeb's past. He has
Speaker 2: admitted that he came here from Chicago. When asked if
Speaker 2: he had ever been arrested there, he said he had
Speaker 2: not been, but when told his picture and measurements were
Speaker 2: to be sent to the police there just the same,
Speaker 2: he is alleged to have exclaimed, well, you'll probably find
Speaker 2: that I've not been an ider down angel in Chicago.
Speaker 2: Just because my wife was found dead in the bathtub
Speaker 2: is no reason I set fire to Dreamland Park. They
Speaker 2: do not know whether he was trying to be witty
Speaker 2: or was so rattled he didn't know what he was saying.
Speaker 2: They are investigating a rumor that his real name as Wells,
Speaker 2: and that his home is in Sacramento, California. Headquarters men,
Speaker 2: on the strength of a letter found in Sheeb's possession,
Speaker 2: visited Miss ethel Mullen at the home of her parents
Speaker 2: six thirty five ninth Avenue. Miss Mullan said she and
Speaker 2: her friend, Miss May Flannery met Sheb about four months
Speaker 2: ago through another girl whose name they declined to give.
Speaker 2: He had been attentive but always brought them home early.
Speaker 2: She said he had never said anything about being married.
Speaker 2: The last time they saw him was last Wednesday. Miss
Speaker 2: Mullan's mother corroborated her. May Flannery was found today by
Speaker 2: an Evening World reporter at number four fifty West fifty
Speaker 2: eighth Street, where she lives with her aunt, missus Jackson.
Speaker 2: May is seventeen years old, small, dark and attractive. She's
Speaker 2: employed as a clerk in a Broadway department store. Quote.
Speaker 2: Ethel Mullen and I met Sheb early in April. We
Speaker 2: were walking in sixty third Street when he spoke to us.
Speaker 2: We told him we didn't know him, and he said
Speaker 2: it was all right and we could call up the
Speaker 2: garage and ask all about him. He invited us to
Speaker 2: get into his car and took us to number six
Speaker 2: thirty five ninth Avenue, where we both lived at the time.
Speaker 2: I never liked Sheeb, but I did like to ride
Speaker 2: in his automobile. Ethel and I went out in the
Speaker 2: car with him four or five times, and once he
Speaker 2: took us to see Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. We used
Speaker 2: to ride up to the Bronx or Westchester, and he
Speaker 2: brought us home early. He passed with us as a
Speaker 2: single man, but he never said or did anything that
Speaker 2: was not proper. Of course, we never had an idea
Speaker 2: that he had a wife. A letter that is puzzling
Speaker 2: the police since they found it in a bureau drawer
Speaker 2: in Sheeb's room is a badly worn one addressed to
Speaker 2: William Allen from H. S. Allen, his brother at avalon
Speaker 2: Catalina Island. It was dated March twenty second, nineteen eleven,
Speaker 2: inclosing forty dollars sent in response to a telegram for
Speaker 2: money said at the Samadi Garage. A William Allen had
Speaker 2: worked there but recently dropped out of sight. No one
Speaker 2: knew how Sheb came into possession of the letter. The
Speaker 2: most important clues found since the discovery of the body
Speaker 2: of missus Sheeb has been discovered by newspaper reporters doctor
Speaker 2: Lehane and Detective McMahon. Also found in the kitchen of
Speaker 2: the flat a copy of the Sunday World of March
Speaker 2: twenty sixth. In the bathroom were found two pieces of
Speaker 2: Sunday World's magazine section dated April second. These discoveries make
Speaker 2: it certain that someone who had easy access to the
Speaker 2: Sheb apartment had been there at least twice since the
Speaker 2: death of Missus Sheeb, and while the body lay in
Speaker 2: the bathtub for doctor Lehne is convinced that at least
Speaker 2: four months have elapsed since Missus Sheeb died. The pieces
Speaker 2: of the Sunday World so close to the body were
Speaker 2: first pointed out to the police by a reporter.
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Speaker 2: June first, nineteen eleven, Henry A. Sheeb, after a day
Speaker 2: of strenuous defenses the various charges on which he was
Speaker 2: arrested and rearrested, was discharged by Magistrate O'Connor on the
Speaker 2: West Side Court this afternoon on a charge that he
Speaker 2: had in his possession a sixty dollars per overcoat belonging
Speaker 2: to his employer, John Wyeth, of twenty eight eighty one Broadway.
Speaker 2: Earlier in the day, Sheeb had obtained a few minutes
Speaker 2: of liberty when the justice who issued a rid of
Speaker 2: habeas corpus in his favor yesterday set him free. He
Speaker 2: was immediately re arrested by Detective Gloucester on two charges,
Speaker 2: one of operating an automobile without a license and the
Speaker 2: other charge involving the overcoat. Gloucester arraigned him on the
Speaker 2: first automobile charge. Magistrate O'Connor heard the evidence and imposed
Speaker 2: a fine of ten dollars. Then Glocester made a short
Speaker 2: affidavit on the overcoat charge. Magistrate O'Connor tried that case
Speaker 2: at once and obtained an admission from the detective that
Speaker 2: the overcoat had not really been found in the possession
Speaker 2: of Sheb, but in the possession of a man named Allan. Discharged,
Speaker 2: said Drade O'Connor, and there only remained for Sheb to
Speaker 2: pay the fine of ten dollars, but he didn't have it,
Speaker 2: nor did his lawyer, and he was held in the
Speaker 2: pen while his lawyer went out to get it during
Speaker 2: the interim Assistant District Attorney Wilmot, who was present to
Speaker 2: press the various charges, said that the moment the fine
Speaker 2: was paid, Sheb would be re arrested on another charge.
Speaker 2: After the fine was paid, Sheb was arrested for the
Speaker 2: third time. Sib got his first court hearing before Justice
Speaker 2: Bishoff of the Supreme Court. A great crowd thronged the
Speaker 2: court room in Corridor E O Town. A Chicago lawyer
Speaker 2: who had known Sheb for many years and volunteered to
Speaker 2: defend him, was in court, as was Alexander Carlin, who
Speaker 2: has been retained by Sheb. District Attorney Whitman and Assistant
Speaker 2: District Attorney Strong were on hand to represent the state.
Speaker 2: Mister Carlin asked for the release of Sheb on the
Speaker 2: ground that he was in without warrant of law by
Speaker 2: a coroner's commitment for forty eight hours. Justice Bischoff wanted
Speaker 2: to know if any information had been filed against the prisoner,
Speaker 2: replied mister Carlin, none, whatever. The only charge against him
Speaker 2: is that he is a suspicious person. Mister Strong argued
Speaker 2: that inasmuch as Sheb is suspected of the murder of
Speaker 2: his wife, the coroner was justified in holding him in
Speaker 2: the absence of a formal charge. He said. He understood
Speaker 2: the coroner has a right to commit a suspect to
Speaker 2: imprisonment for forty eight hours, said Justice Bischoff. There is
Speaker 2: no law to warrant any such procedure, explained mister Strong.
Speaker 2: At the time this man was arrested, we had to
Speaker 2: hold him in order to prevent his escape from our jurisdiction.
Speaker 2: But we had no time to file information. The case
Speaker 2: had to be investigated, said Justice Bischoff. From the letters
Speaker 2: before me, I can gather nothing to justify the detention
Speaker 2: of this man. I have no right to assume that
Speaker 2: you will be able to gather legal evidence upon which
Speaker 2: he may be held. Put in mister Carlin, as an
Speaker 2: officer of the court, I promised to produce the prisoner
Speaker 2: at the Coroner's court this afternoon. Not heeding mister Carlin's
Speaker 2: volunteered pledge, Justice Bischoff said, all I can do is
Speaker 2: sustain the writ the prisoner's discharged. She laboring under great excitement,
Speaker 2: hurried through the crowd from the court room, with his
Speaker 2: lawyers on either side of him. Just outside the door,
Speaker 2: a husky looking man with a square jaw and a
Speaker 2: police look grabbed hold of Sheb and yanked him to
Speaker 2: one side. Here, what are you doing, cried mister Town,
Speaker 2: who is a noted lawyer in Chicago and unfamiliar with
Speaker 2: the appearance of New York policemen. The police looking man,
Speaker 2: who proved to be Central Office Detective McMahon, said, it
Speaker 2: means this man is under arrest. I have here a
Speaker 2: warrant sworn out by John Wyeth charging him with grand larcening.
Speaker 2: Mister Town and mister Carlin grabbed hold of Sheb, and
Speaker 2: the detective held on too. The crowd surged about, and
Speaker 2: there was a lot of excitement in the corridor and
Speaker 2: in the court room. Mister Town appealed to District Attorney Whitman.
Speaker 2: He said hotly, this is not a fair proceeding, mister
Speaker 2: District Attorney. We have pleasured ourselves to produce our client
Speaker 2: in the coroner's court at one o'clock, said mister Whitman.
Speaker 2: I don't know anything about this proceedings. I did not
Speaker 2: know the warrant was to be issued. The police officials
Speaker 2: did not consult me. McMahon showed his warrant, which was
Speaker 2: in due form then he got a better grip on
Speaker 2: Sheb and hurried him away, stating that he would take
Speaker 2: his prisoner to police headquarters and later arraign him in
Speaker 2: the West Side Police court. John Wyeth, who swore out
Speaker 2: the warrant, was Sheeb's employer. He charges Sheb with the
Speaker 2: theft of a fur coat valued at six hundred dollars.
Speaker 2: Evidence in the hands of the police indicates that Sheb
Speaker 2: was getting ready to flee from the city when he
Speaker 2: was arrested two days ago. He had announced his intention
Speaker 2: of resigning his position as chauffeur for John Wyeth, and
Speaker 2: all that held him from departure from New York was
Speaker 2: a lack of money. Professor John Larkin, who took the
Speaker 2: organs of the dead woman for the purpose of analysis,
Speaker 2: made today a preliminary report to Coroner Winterbottom, which encourages
Speaker 2: the authorities and the belief that they will be able
Speaker 2: to build up a murder case against Sheb. The report
Speaker 2: of Professor Larkin states he will undoubtedly be able to
Speaker 2: determine the cause of death. Thus far this has been
Speaker 2: a question of doubt. An important piece of cumulative evidence,
Speaker 2: such as has been piling up on Sheb ever since
Speaker 2: his arrest was furnished The Evening World Today by Claude Mne,
Speaker 2: the telephone operator in the Saint Charles apartments at five
Speaker 2: sixty five West one hundred and forty eighth Street. Min's
Speaker 2: got to know Sheb when the chauffeur used to drive
Speaker 2: Missus Ways, the wife of his employer, to the Saint
Speaker 2: Charles where she visited Missus Watson, a friend. While Missus
Speaker 2: Wyeth was in Missus Watson's flat, it was the custom
Speaker 2: of SHEB to sit in the corner and talk with Mine.
Speaker 2: The telephone boy was anxious to become a chauffeur, and
Speaker 2: Sheb instructed him about the construction and operation of automobiles.
Speaker 2: Mine noticed within the last three months that Sheb had
Speaker 2: become morose and preoccupied sometimes, who would remain outside in
Speaker 2: the car smoking cigarettes while Missus Wyeth visited her friend.
Speaker 2: It was apparent to mine In the superintendent of the building,
Speaker 2: that the chauffeur had something on his mind. On Wednesday,
Speaker 2: May twenty fourth, Sheib called on Mine and announced that
Speaker 2: he was going to quit his job and leave New York.
Speaker 2: Mine at once asked Sheb of the chance of getting
Speaker 2: the job of chauffeur for mister Wyath, said Sheb to mine.
Speaker 2: I haven't told mister wat yet, but I'm going to
Speaker 2: tell him and cut loose next week and I'll try
Speaker 2: to get you the job. There's nothing in New York
Speaker 2: for me. I'm going to strike out for the West
Speaker 2: as soon as i can, say, asked Sheeb, suddenly shifting
Speaker 2: the subject. Can you read my mind? Do you think
Speaker 2: it possible to read a man's mind by looking into
Speaker 2: his eyes? Mene replied that he was no mind reader. Well,
Speaker 2: said Sheep, if you could read my mind, you'd learn
Speaker 2: something that would surprise you. You'd be wise to something
Speaker 2: that a whole lot of people would like to find out.
Speaker 2: But I don't think there's anything in this mind reading business.
Speaker 2: One reason I'm getting away from New York is because
Speaker 2: there's no justice here in the courts for a poor man.
Speaker 2: The rich get everything. Look at that fellow Rosenheimer who
Speaker 2: killed a girl with his automobile. They let him off
Speaker 2: because he had lots of money. If it had been me,
Speaker 2: they would have sent me to the chair. Millionaires can
Speaker 2: have what they want. If a millionaire wants your wife,
Speaker 2: he can get. But if a millionaire interfere between me
Speaker 2: and my wife, I'd kill my wife. There'd be a
Speaker 2: chance to beat that, but there's no chance if you
Speaker 2: kill a millionaire unquote. Sheb was trapped in another lie
Speaker 2: yesterday when the dentist who had done nearly all the
Speaker 2: work on his wife's teeth identified her by gold crowns
Speaker 2: and pivot teeth he had put in place. Detective Diefendorf
Speaker 2: then recalled a conversation he had with Sheb at the
Speaker 2: time of the arrest. Diefendorf asked, if that's your wife's body,
Speaker 2: how are they going to identify it. Sheb replied, cheerfully.
Speaker 2: They can't identify it. The detective said, but they can
Speaker 2: always get the dentist who fixed up a person's teeth
Speaker 2: to make an identification. She declared, not in this case.
Speaker 2: You know that dentist who was killed in his office
Speaker 2: at fifty ninth Street and Third Avenue last winter, Well,
Speaker 2: he's the man who fixed my wife's teeth. They can't
Speaker 2: get an identification from a dead man. A dentist was
Speaker 2: killed at fifty ninth Street and Third Avenue a few
Speaker 2: months ago. He may have done some work on missus
Speaker 2: Sheeb's teeth, but another dentist put in fillings and crowns.
Speaker 2: A development that the police are working on today is
Speaker 2: that Sheb had been using two names, and that he
Speaker 2: has been concealing the real maiden name of his wife,
Speaker 2: which he first said was Lillian Glover and yesterday declared
Speaker 2: was Lover. It has learned today that she is Elizabeth
Speaker 2: Connor O'Grady, daughter of Connor O'Grady, a well known man
Speaker 2: of Springfield, Massachusetts. Sheb was known to her parents as
Speaker 2: Hugh Allerton, Sherman of Chicago, the initials being the same
Speaker 2: as those of the right name. According to the statements
Speaker 2: made to the Eograds, the couple were married here in
Speaker 2: nineteen o seven in Saint Francis Xavier's Church, West sixteenth Street,
Speaker 2: by the Reverend S. J. Donnelly. It was said at
Speaker 2: the church today that no such priest had been attached
Speaker 2: to the church in recent years. After his arrest, Sheb
Speaker 2: told the police they were married in Jersey City. The
Speaker 2: detectives working on the case are unable to understand why
Speaker 2: Sheb went under another name unless there was a previous
Speaker 2: missus Harry A Sheeb he desired to avoid, and this feature.
Speaker 2: They are investigating very closely. The police admit that Sheb
Speaker 2: is one of the most remarkable suspects they have ever encountered.
Speaker 2: They have trapped him in one misstatement after another, only
Speaker 2: to be met with exasperating calmness and in obstinate adherence
Speaker 2: to the last story he happened to tell. After Sheb
Speaker 2: had admitted writing the love letter to himself and had
Speaker 2: satisfied Commissioner Dougherty that it was true by writing a
Speaker 2: copy of it from dictation, he told his lawyer Carlin,
Speaker 2: according to the latter, that he never claimed to have
Speaker 2: written the letter and had not written anything at all
Speaker 2: at the dictation of the police. Commissioner Dougherty and Inspector Russell,
Speaker 2: who grilled Sheb for three hours yesterday, laughed when told
Speaker 2: this and said they would produce the duplicate letter written
Speaker 2: by the prisoner if necessary. The police learned today that
Speaker 2: at the time she was telling various friends here that
Speaker 2: his wife was in this or that hospital. He gave
Speaker 2: one acquaintance an account of her death and funeral. This
Speaker 2: was miss May Blake, who had known that Shebs for
Speaker 2: three years and is an usher at the Lyric Theater.
Speaker 2: They all formerly lived at number one seventeen West sixty
Speaker 2: third Street. Missus Sheeb called her husband Hughey, and they
Speaker 2: seemed to be a loving couple. The friendship of the
Speaker 2: two women was such that they exchanged pictures. Miss Blake
Speaker 2: said today quote After a while, I moved away and
Speaker 2: went to live with the Bartels at number one forty
Speaker 2: one West sixty second Street. I did not see them
Speaker 2: or hear anything from them until one day in the
Speaker 2: middle of last March, when I was walking along Eighth Avenue,
Speaker 2: I was startled by a man rushing out of a
Speaker 2: restaurant and tapping me on the shoulder. It was Harry Sheep.
Speaker 2: He said he was awfully glad to see me, and
Speaker 2: then he exclaimed, isn't it too bad about Lilian? I
Speaker 2: asked him what he meant, and he said that she
Speaker 2: had died two weeks before. He told me that she
Speaker 2: had been taken down with pneumonia and he had taken
Speaker 2: her to the German hospital. She lived only three days,
Speaker 2: according to what he said. He told me how her
Speaker 2: lips had swollen with the fever and that she looked
Speaker 2: very ugly in death. Then he went on to tell
Speaker 2: how he had taken her body to her home in Massachusetts.
Speaker 2: It was Holyoak or Springfield, I do not remember which.
Speaker 2: He told me about the services at the church, how
Speaker 2: all the people in the town turned out at the funeral.
Speaker 2: He even went so far as to give me a
Speaker 2: description of how the little girls of the parish, all
Speaker 2: dressed in white and carrying flowers, walked in front of
Speaker 2: the coffin up the aisle of the church. Then he
Speaker 2: told me how everyone went out to the grave, and
Speaker 2: how he had cried over her coffin until they had
Speaker 2: to take him away. I pitied him so much that
Speaker 2: I gave him my dress and asked him to call
Speaker 2: me and see me. I didn't see any harm in
Speaker 2: it now that his wife was dead. But he never came,
Speaker 2: and I never have seen him from that day to this.
Speaker 2: It is all very terrible, and I'm so sorry for Lilian,
Speaker 2: as she was a very sweet girl and I was
Speaker 2: very fond of her. June second, nineteen eleven, a writ
Speaker 2: of habeas corpus, designed to secure the release of Henry A.
Speaker 2: Sheeb from custody, was dismissed this afternoon by Justice Bischoff.
Speaker 2: Justice Bischoff held that there is sufficient evidence at hand
Speaker 2: to warrant the suspicion that sheb killed his wife, Lilian
Speaker 2: and left her body in the bathroom of their apartment
Speaker 2: for several weeks. Sheib was taken into court at twelve
Speaker 2: thirty o'clock on a writ that he had been granted
Speaker 2: two hours before. He was represented by Alex and Carlin,
Speaker 2: who maintained that the commitment of his client to the tombs,
Speaker 2: on the strength of a deposition made by Inspector Russell
Speaker 2: of the police department, was illegal. Justice Bischoff read over
Speaker 2: the deposition and appeared to agree with Carlin. Then assistant
Speaker 2: district attorneys Johnson, Ruben and Strong got into the proceedings.
Speaker 2: They pointed out that the woman disappeared early in the
Speaker 2: year that Sib left the flat at the time the
Speaker 2: woman's absence was marked, but continued to pay the rent
Speaker 2: for the apartment that he had declared he was in
Speaker 2: the flat on April twenty fifth, where there is indisputably
Speaker 2: evidence apparently that the body was there at that time.
Speaker 2: The many discrepancies in the stories he told to account
Speaker 2: for his wife's disappearance were also pointed out to the court.
Speaker 2: Justice Bischoff said that the body was undoubtedly in the
Speaker 2: flat on April twenty fifth. According to the evidence, if
Speaker 2: she was there at that time or any other time,
Speaker 2: he should have reported the death of his wife to
Speaker 2: the authorities. His policy of secrecy indicated guilty knowledge. Sheb
Speaker 2: was sent back to the Tombs. Counsel for Sheb will
Speaker 2: try some other plan to procure his release. They hold
Speaker 2: that the police have not produced evidence that a crime
Speaker 2: was committed. Confronting the authorities is the task of proving
Speaker 2: how Lilian Sheeb came to her death. This was a
Speaker 2: task successfully taken up by the authorities of London in
Speaker 2: the Cripping case. In fact, there is considerable similarity between
Speaker 2: the Cripping case and the case of the woman whose
Speaker 2: body was found last Monday in a bathtub in an
Speaker 2: apartment at number five eleven East seventy eighth Street. In
Speaker 2: the Cripping case, only fragments of the body that in
Speaker 2: buried in the cellar were found. In the Sheeb case,
Speaker 2: the body was in such an advanced state of decomposition
Speaker 2: that the cause of death is impossible of determination by
Speaker 2: ordinary means, as if in the Cripping case, the authorities
Speaker 2: must depend upon a chemical examination. Professor John Larkin who
Speaker 2: does all that kind of work for the city, reports
Speaker 2: that he will not be able to complete the requisite
Speaker 2: tests for three weeks, and the absence of definite information
Speaker 2: as to the cause of the death of Sheib's wife,
Speaker 2: no information based upon facts can be filed against him.
Speaker 2: The police are under the necessity of resorting to legal subterfuges,
Speaker 2: such as mark the proceedings in the Sheb case yesterday,
Speaker 2: when the prisoner was arraigned four times in court and
Speaker 2: discharged three times. In order to hold him, it was
Speaker 2: necessary for Inspector Russell and coroner's physician Lehane to make
Speaker 2: affidavit charging him with murder in the first degree. Alexander
Speaker 2: Carlin Sheeb's Council maintains that this form of procedure is illegal.
Speaker 2: If habeas corpus proceedings batter down all the plans of
Speaker 2: the police, it will be necessary to place a continual
Speaker 2: watch of detectives over the suspect, with orders to arrest
Speaker 2: him on some pretext or other should he attempt to
Speaker 2: leave the city. Inspector Russell's men have some evidence which
Speaker 2: they are compelled to keep secret. On this evidence, they
Speaker 2: have built up two theories designed to account for one
Speaker 2: of the factors entering into first degree murder motive. The
Speaker 2: two theories they are now working on are that Missus
Speaker 2: Sheeb was killed through jealousy or in order to get
Speaker 2: her out of the way. Charles Connor O'Grady, Missus Sheheb's father,
Speaker 2: arrived late yesterday from Springfield, Massachusetts, and identified Sheb as
Speaker 2: the Hugh Allerton sherman who married his daughter. The side
Speaker 2: of his father in law visibly affected Sheb, who became
Speaker 2: nervous immediately and almost collapsed. According to the Springfield police,
Speaker 2: sherman who married the O'Grady girl, is wanted there for
Speaker 2: jumping his bail in a check transaction. The police think
Speaker 2: Missus Sheeb was the only person who knew that Harry A.
Speaker 2: Sheeb and Hugh A. Sherman were one and the same,
Speaker 2: and that because of his ill treatment of her, she
Speaker 2: had threatened to give him away to the authorities and
Speaker 2: was put out of the way to prevent it. The
Speaker 2: police have heard that Sheb served a term in Elmira
Speaker 2: and that he was hauled before the domestic relations court
Speaker 2: last fall by his wife for non support. They are
Speaker 2: investigating both reports. Winnipeg Dispatches quote John Mackenzie, a real
Speaker 2: estate dealer there as, saying he corresponded with Missus Sheeb,
Speaker 2: whom he met on a trip to New York until
Speaker 2: early this year. He also knows miss may Blake, the
Speaker 2: girl to whom Sheb described his wife's death and funeral,
Speaker 2: and says he has heard them discuss Missus Sheeb's troubles
Speaker 2: with her husband. According to Mackenzie, Missus Sheeb told him
Speaker 2: her husband was intensely jealous of her, although he ran
Speaker 2: around with other women and spent most of his money
Speaker 2: on them. Mackenzie says he sent Missus Sheeb money from
Speaker 2: time to time because she had written she did not
Speaker 2: get enough to eat. He addressed letters to her as
Speaker 2: Lilian May Stearn's care of General Delivery. He has a
Speaker 2: photograph signed ever Yours Lil Sheeb. Missus Fred Carston of
Speaker 2: Blue Island, Illinois, mother of Sheeb, has announced she will
Speaker 2: come to New York to help extricate her son from
Speaker 2: his troubles. She is sixty years old and recently married
Speaker 2: a well to do real estate operator. The condition of
Speaker 2: the body made it impossible for a Grady to identify
Speaker 2: it as that of his daughter, but as Sheeb has
Speaker 2: positively identified it and as a dentist chart in the
Speaker 2: hands of the police also established the identification. He will
Speaker 2: give it burial. Doctor Lee Haines expects development shortly. He
Speaker 2: completed his examination of the body today and said there
Speaker 2: were no signs of violence discoverable. The lungs showed no
Speaker 2: signs of strangulation and no bones were broken. The police
Speaker 2: now depend on the chemical analysis for traces of poison.
Speaker 2: Doctor Lehane said the shirt, towel and apron found in
Speaker 2: the tub were not stained, except where a little of
Speaker 2: the cloth had lain in the liquid in the tub,
Speaker 2: which indicated to him that these cloths were thrown over
Speaker 2: the body long after the body itself was put in
Speaker 2: the top. June third, nineteen eleven. In the story of
Speaker 2: Eileen Macombe, not yet seven years old, the police have
Speaker 2: found they believe a strong strand for the net of
Speaker 2: circumstantial evidence which they have been night and day weaving
Speaker 2: for the chauffeur Hairy A Sheeb, now formerly charged with
Speaker 2: the murder of his waff the little girl, were proved
Speaker 2: by her testimony that as far back as the holidays
Speaker 2: of last year, Sheib was setting afloat the fiction, which
Speaker 2: he repeated so often subsequently, that his wife had been
Speaker 2: taken to a hospital very ill. Even more important from
Speaker 2: the viewpoint of the authorities is the child's positive assertion
Speaker 2: that last Sunday afternoon, less than twenty four hours before
Speaker 2: the discovery of the corpse by a suspicious janitor, she
Speaker 2: encountered sheb as he hurried away from the vicinity of
Speaker 2: the locked and empty rooms, wherein so the coroner's physician
Speaker 2: claims the woman's remains had been hidden for upwards of
Speaker 2: six months. So the District Attorney's office counts heavily upon
Speaker 2: evidence of little Eileen Young as she is, for she connects,
Speaker 2: by two widely separate incidents, the main points of the
Speaker 2: theory which the police have built up to account for
Speaker 2: the mystery. The found witness is the daughter of John mccomby,
Speaker 2: a well to do carpenter who lives with his family
Speaker 2: in a comfortable flat on the top floor of number
Speaker 2: five eight East seventy ninth Street, almost directly back of
Speaker 2: the house where the crime is supposed to have been committed.
Speaker 2: An Evening World reporter heard the child's story this afternoon
Speaker 2: at the home in the presence of her mother, who
Speaker 2: pieced out the narrative with things which she herself remembered. Eileen,
Speaker 2: who is phenomenally bright for her years, with the precocious
Speaker 2: alertness of the city raised child, gave her account with
Speaker 2: a clearness and coherency that would do credit to one
Speaker 2: three times per age. Her acquaintans with the Sheebs dated
Speaker 2: back to last fall. The Macombe children, there are three
Speaker 2: of them, Eileen being the second, used to play in
Speaker 2: the courtyard which runs through the block back of the
Speaker 2: row of the model tenements where they live. From a
Speaker 2: rear window of a ground flour or flat in the
Speaker 2: row which faces seventy eighth Street, they frequently saw a slender,
Speaker 2: pale little woman who seemed to take great interest in
Speaker 2: their frolicking. Finally, one day she spoke to them, telling
Speaker 2: them her name was Missus Sheeb. On Thanksgiving Day, Sheeb
Speaker 2: himself came to the mccomby apartment and introduced himself to
Speaker 2: Missus mccomby. He said his wife had taken a fancy
Speaker 2: to the young mccomby's and wanted them to eat dinner
Speaker 2: with her that afternoon. Although she often heard her little
Speaker 2: one speak of the lonely lady, as they called Missus Sheeb.
Speaker 2: Missus mccomby would not trust her brood into strange hands
Speaker 2: until she had investigated herself. She accompanied Sheb back to
Speaker 2: his house, and after meeting with Missus Sheeb, she consented
Speaker 2: that the three youngsters should make the visit. They came
Speaker 2: back at dusk, stuffed with goodness and radiantly happy. Thereafter,
Speaker 2: one or another of them, but most frequently Eileen, was
Speaker 2: almost daily in the sheeb apartment. Missus Sheeb gave her
Speaker 2: small collars, candies, and tea cakes. She showed them a
Speaker 2: handsome doll which she was dressing for her little niece
Speaker 2: in Massachusetts, and on Christmas morning she and her husband
Speaker 2: brought to the Mcombe house a bundle of small gifts
Speaker 2: for their little friends. It was during the Christmas holidays,
Speaker 2: and probably only one or two days before New Year's
Speaker 2: Missus mccombe's remembrance serving to fix the approximate date that
Speaker 2: Eileen and Stanley, her brother, aged three, went in the
Speaker 2: afternoon to seventy eighth Street address to see their charm.
Speaker 2: Their knock brought Sheb in his shirt sleeves to the
Speaker 2: hall door. According to Ellen, he said to her runaway kitties.
Speaker 2: My wife is very sick and I don't want you
Speaker 2: to disturb her. The children tiptoed off obediently. The next day,
Speaker 2: Eileen was back again to inquire how the invalid was.
Speaker 2: This time she didn't get past the hall door either. Sheb,
Speaker 2: who seemed to be spending most of his time indoors,
Speaker 2: told her missus Sheeb had grown worse during the night
Speaker 2: and had to be taken to the hospital. She is
Speaker 2: very sick, he added, and then he closed the door,
Speaker 2: leaving her outside. For weeks afterward, Eileen made daily visits
Speaker 2: to the Sheebs, but her Knox never brought any answers.
Speaker 2: Each time, she would go home and tell her mother,
Speaker 2: she supposed the lonely lady must still be at the hospital.
Speaker 2: On last Sunday afternoon, somewhere around three o'clock, Eileen and Stanley,
Speaker 2: with some other children, were skylarking on the sidewalk in
Speaker 2: front of Kepler's drug Store at the southeast corner of
Speaker 2: seventy ninth Street and Avenue A, a half block from
Speaker 2: their home. She saw Sheb, whom she had not seen
Speaker 2: in months, coming up the avenue from the direction of
Speaker 2: seventy eighth Street, she ran toward him. Ring to her account,
Speaker 2: he stopped at the sight of her and smiled, and
Speaker 2: when she came nearer, he patted her on the head quote.
Speaker 2: I said to him, why, hello, mister Sheep. He said,
Speaker 2: hello Eileen. I said, oh, mister Sheeb, how was missus Sheep?
Speaker 2: He said, she's almost well and she'll be home again
Speaker 2: in a few days. I said, I'm so glad, And
Speaker 2: then he crossed the avenue caddy cornered and walked fast
Speaker 2: along seventy ninth Street, going toward First Avenue. I ran
Speaker 2: home to tell my mama that our lonely lady would
Speaker 2: be out of the hospital soon. But the next day
Speaker 2: Papa came home and said she was dead in a bathtub,
Speaker 2: and we all cried unquote. The mother added that when
Speaker 2: she first heard of the discovery of the remains, she
Speaker 2: could hardly credit the news, for on her last meetings
Speaker 2: with the Sheeps, they had seemed to her a most
Speaker 2: loving and devoted couple. Her husband went yesterday afternoon to
Speaker 2: the police with the account of the little daughter's experience,
Speaker 2: and it was then arranged that I Eileen should be
Speaker 2: taken a headquarters and subjected to a test at the
Speaker 2: Detective Bureau, she was handed a sheaf of police photographs.
Speaker 2: She ran through them and at once sifted out five
Speaker 2: different pictures of Sheb and identified all of them. Because
Speaker 2: of her age, the District Attorney hesitated at first to
Speaker 2: add Eileen to his list of prospective witnesses, but after
Speaker 2: he had heard from two of his assistants descriptions of
Speaker 2: the child's quick wit and good memory, he decided to
Speaker 2: use her testimony at the proper time. While men from
Speaker 2: the Central Office were uptown scouring the length of East
Speaker 2: seventy eighth Street for any shreds of proof which they
Speaker 2: might fit into the fabric of their case, plans to
Speaker 2: meet and combat Sheb's newest fight for freedom were being
Speaker 2: framed at the Criminal Courts Building on an adjourned hearing.
Speaker 2: He was taken before Magistrate Corrigan in the Center Street
Speaker 2: Police Court at one o'clock this afternoon. Sheb was in
Speaker 2: the consultation room at the Tombs in conference with his
Speaker 2: lawy Carlin, in town when a fashionably dressed woman who
Speaker 2: said she was missus Helen Foley of number fifty one
Speaker 2: Beach Street, came to the prison accompanied by her brother
Speaker 2: Edward Foley, and asked to see the prisoner, saying his
Speaker 2: published pictures bore a close resemblance to her husband, who
Speaker 2: disappeared two years ago. Warren Fallon took her before sheeb.
Speaker 2: At first glance, she said, that's him. That's the man
Speaker 2: who deserted me. She laughed, and she quickly added, no,
Speaker 2: I've made a mistake. This is not my husband, although
Speaker 2: he looks like him. A few minutes later she crossed
Speaker 2: the bridge of size, handcuffed between detectives Gloucester and McMahon.
Speaker 2: Lawyer Carlin wanted to send all the witnesses away from
Speaker 2: the courtroom, but the magistrate allowed Deputy Commissioner Dowerty and
Speaker 2: Inspector Russell to remain, so mister Carlin contented himself by
Speaker 2: sharply cross examining each witness for the prosecution. Doctor Timothy Hayne,
Speaker 2: coroner's surgeon, described the autopsy. He also said that when
Speaker 2: sheb was brought to the more Glass Tuesday, he admitted
Speaker 2: the body was that of his wife, saying he recognized
Speaker 2: it by the teeth. Doctor Lane based his claim that
Speaker 2: the woman must have been dead at least four months
Speaker 2: and probably longer on the physical conditions. A leg which
Speaker 2: had escaped the fluid that filled the tub was mummified
Speaker 2: in itself, a certain evidence that death occurred a considerable
Speaker 2: time before he recalled that Sheib had told him the
Speaker 2: last time he saw his wife alive on February second, when,
Speaker 2: according to the prisoner's account, she went away in a
Speaker 2: jealous hoff decay had been so far advanced that it
Speaker 2: was impossible to tell whether any violence had been inflicted.
Speaker 2: Most of the vital organs had entirely disappeared, which explained
Speaker 2: why he could not answer Carlin's demand to know whether
Speaker 2: the woman might have succumbed to chronic lung trouble. The
Speaker 2: lawyer said, quote, it has been alleged that the defendants
Speaker 2: spent days in the rooms and even slept there while
Speaker 2: the body was in the tub. Could any human have
Speaker 2: endured the odors? The bathroom door was well made and
Speaker 2: tightly closed, and most of the odors escaped by a
Speaker 2: window opening into the court, which was open, said doctor Lehane.
Speaker 2: The bathroom door was well made and tightly closed, and
Speaker 2: most of the odors escaped by a window opening into
Speaker 2: the court, which was open. Nevertheless, the condition must have
Speaker 2: been such in the flat that only a man who
Speaker 2: was drunk or full of drugs could stay there very long.
Speaker 2: A normal man could not endure the situation long. Here,
Speaker 2: the preliminary hearing was broken off to be resumed Tuesday morning.
Speaker 2: Although mister Carlin had been threatening to sue out another
Speaker 2: rit of habeas corpus, which would make three times he
Speaker 2: had invoked this rite in his client's behalf, he made
Speaker 2: no objection to the remanding of Schibe to the tombs
Speaker 2: if us or Larkin of Columbia University went to the
Speaker 2: morgue last night and procured two sealed jars containing what
Speaker 2: remained of the internal organs of missus Sheeb. He is
Speaker 2: analyzing them for traces of poison, but it will be
Speaker 2: next week before he is able to make a report
Speaker 2: concerning the result.
Speaker 3: Enjoy ad free listening at this safehouse. Dubbadubbadubba dot Patreon
Speaker 3: dot com, slash True crime Historian.
Speaker 2: June fifth, nineteen eleven. Twenty five persons, all witnesses to
Speaker 2: some phase or another of the bathtub mystery, went to
Speaker 2: the Criminal Courts Building this afternoon to repeat a new
Speaker 2: their stories to Assistant District Attorney Ruben, who was in
Speaker 2: charge of this puzzling case. It was stated that if
Speaker 2: he regarded the evidence on hand as being sufficient to
Speaker 2: sustain the charge, mister Reuben would go before the grand
Speaker 2: jury not later than tomorrow and ask for an indictment
Speaker 2: for murder in the first degree. The twenty five witnesses
Speaker 2: included Inspector Russell of the Detective Bureau and several of
Speaker 2: his men. Little Eileen McCombe, the six year old charm
Speaker 2: of the dead woman and her mother, Missus John mccomby
Speaker 2: may Blake, a young woman to whom sheb posing as
Speaker 2: a widower, paid attentions, and one new witness in the
Speaker 2: person of a waitress in a Harlem restaurant. According to
Speaker 2: one report, this girl was the Anna of the letters
Speaker 2: found in Sheeb's rooms. After his arrest on the night
Speaker 2: when his wife's body was discovered in his abandoned flat,
Speaker 2: Sheeb declared that he himself wrote the love letter signed Anna,
Speaker 2: but it was said that the police had found a
Speaker 2: genuine Anna who admitted knowing the accused man. The newest
Speaker 2: theory in the mystery that Missus Sheeb was either killed
Speaker 2: by drowning or that boiling water was used after her
Speaker 2: death in an effort to destroy the body. Received more
Speaker 2: attention today from the detectives when the body, or what
Speaker 2: remained of it, was found a week ago today in
Speaker 2: the locked and deserted flat. It lay face upward in
Speaker 2: the dingy white tub, with the head flat on the
Speaker 2: bottom and one of the legs sticking up from the
Speaker 2: other end. This body was half covered in a noisome liquid,
Speaker 2: which the investigators at first took to be an acid
Speaker 2: solution of some sort. Later they had reasons to amend
Speaker 2: this theory, but subsequent search has revealed indubitable proof that
Speaker 2: after the woman's body sank into the tub, a considerable
Speaker 2: quantity of water must have been poured in. This is
Speaker 2: a stablo by the presence of rings of dried sediment
Speaker 2: upon the smooth inner walls. The first of these shows
Speaker 2: plain against the white porcelain surface. It encircles the tub
Speaker 2: at a height of about ten inches. The next is
Speaker 2: perhaps five inches lower down, and there follows a succession
Speaker 2: of these black water marks, showing how the natural processes
Speaker 2: of evaporation gradually reduced the volume until there remained only
Speaker 2: the fluid mass which would resist all the influences of
Speaker 2: heat and cold. Moreover, these traces helped to bolster up
Speaker 2: the claim of the authorities that the remains of the
Speaker 2: woman must have lain in the tub for weeks and
Speaker 2: perhaps months. To an evening World reporter, a high authority
Speaker 2: of the police department this afternoon made this statement. My
Speaker 2: belief is that the woman, while in bed, was at
Speaker 2: first choked until she died or lost consciousness, and then
Speaker 2: that the murderer, cared, carried her body into the bathroom
Speaker 2: and thrust it into the tub and turned on the water,
Speaker 2: either to finish the work he had begun or to
Speaker 2: assist the natural action of decay. I based this opinion
Speaker 2: mainly upon certain physical facts. To begin with, the body,
Speaker 2: when found, was crowded down into the short tub, with
Speaker 2: legs protruding, just as though it had been flung there. Moreover,
Speaker 2: the head lay directly under the water taps at the
Speaker 2: straight up and down end of the tub. This, to
Speaker 2: my mind, effectively disproves the suggestion that missus Sheeb might
Speaker 2: have succumbed to illness while taking a bath. Any sane
Speaker 2: person taking a bath would lie or sit in the
Speaker 2: tub with the head at the sloping end of the
Speaker 2: tub and the feet toward the faucets, whereas in this
Speaker 2: case the normal position was exactly reversed. There have been
Speaker 2: certain important developments of the last few hours which I
Speaker 2: cannot at this time even hint at. I can't tell you, however,
Speaker 2: that we are strengthening our evidence all the time, and
Speaker 2: we feel entirely confident that the committing magistrate will hold
Speaker 2: Sheb without bail and that the grand jury will indict
Speaker 2: him for murder in the first degree. Yesterday and today
Speaker 2: the Sheb flat was thoroughly gone over by men from headquarters,
Speaker 2: even the wallpaper being examined. The detectives announced later that
Speaker 2: they had found evidence indicating that an effort had been
Speaker 2: made to dispose of the body by boiling it. After
Speaker 2: having been partly carried out. According to the detective's theory,
Speaker 2: the effort was abandoned. It is recalled that a hardware
Speaker 2: dealer in the neighborhood says that in February she bought
Speaker 2: the biggest copper bottom wash boiler in the store, saying
Speaker 2: his wife intended to take in washing. The same dealer
Speaker 2: had previously sold missus Sheeb a smaller boiler and one
Speaker 2: adequate to the needs of the average household. This smaller boiler,
Speaker 2: the police say is still on the Sheeb flat. The
Speaker 2: other boiler was soon after. We're taken back by Sheeb,
Speaker 2: who explained that his wife had gone to a hospital.
Speaker 2: Another important witness has appeared. Missus J. J. Donnelly of
Speaker 2: three nineteen West sixty fourth Street, told a story of
Speaker 2: domestic trouble that culminated about a year ago in a
Speaker 2: street assault which she says Schibe made on his frail
Speaker 2: little wife. The police do not try to conceal the
Speaker 2: fact that they have one of the naughtiest cases in
Speaker 2: years to handle. Connor Seal Grady, father of Missus Sheeb,
Speaker 2: who came here from Springfield, Mass and identified the prisoner
Speaker 2: as the man who married his daughter under the name
Speaker 2: of Sherman, now says he is not satisfied that the
Speaker 2: body is that of his daughter. He declares the identification
Speaker 2: is not complete enough to satisfy him, and that until
Speaker 2: it is he will take no steps towards burying the body.
Speaker 2: When Deputy Commissioner Dougherty heard the Sheb would declare that
Speaker 2: he slept in the flat until March twenty fifth, He
Speaker 2: gave orders for his men to bend their efforts towards
Speaker 2: ascertaining where Sheb lived between February two, when he was
Speaker 2: last seen at the seventy eighth Street flat, until he
Speaker 2: rented his room in Amsterdam Avenue late in March. They
Speaker 2: are satisfied he did not live in the seventy eighth
Speaker 2: Street house as he says, but they have been unable
Speaker 2: to discover where he did live. After he and his
Speaker 2: client had discussed every phase of the police evidence, mister
Speaker 2: Carlin announced he was ready to back his assertion that
Speaker 2: missus Sheeb died of tuberculosis. The defense will contend that
Speaker 2: she was in the last stages of the disease, died
Speaker 2: while taking a bath, and that the sudden change in
Speaker 2: the temperature two weeks ago caused rapid decomposition of the body.
Speaker 2: Quote Harry Sheeb slept in the flat for seven weeks
Speaker 2: prior to March twenty fifth, and his wife was missing
Speaker 2: all that time. It was after a quarrel on February
Speaker 2: second that Missus Sheeb left her husband. He kept up
Speaker 2: the payment of rent, believing he would hear from her.
Speaker 2: In a last effort to prove their assertion that missus
Speaker 2: Sheeb was murdered by her husband. The police have come
Speaker 2: forward with a ring, but the pawnbroker who gave the
Speaker 2: ring to them has failed to identify Sheb as the
Speaker 2: man who pledged it. The ring did not belong to
Speaker 2: the dead woman. We will prove that missus Sheeb and
Speaker 2: her husband quarreled frequently. In the summer of nineteen ten,
Speaker 2: she left him, and after an absence of several months,
Speaker 2: she came back to him. All the time she was gone,
Speaker 2: Sheib kept the flat and never disturbed any of the
Speaker 2: little furnishings she had added. In the fall of last year,
Speaker 2: they became reunited, but in February, the woman, jealous without cause,
Speaker 2: again left him. At that time, she was a victim
Speaker 2: of the white plague. Her body was wasted and death
Speaker 2: was not far off. Sib knew this and determined to
Speaker 2: have everything ready to nurse his wife should she come
Speaker 2: back to him Once. He sent her to a sanitarium
Speaker 2: and paid her bills there for some time. To prove this,
Speaker 2: we will summon physicians who attended the unfortunate woman just
Speaker 2: before missus Sheeb left her husband. The last time. She
Speaker 2: was in such a condition that medical men would have
Speaker 2: despaired of curing her. Instead of being a brute as
Speaker 2: he has been pictured. Harry Sheeb paid the rent of
Speaker 2: the flat, hoping she would return. For seven weeks he
Speaker 2: lived there alone and then he lost his position. That
Speaker 2: was at the time the automobile broke down. Knowing it
Speaker 2: would be from five to six weeks before repairs could
Speaker 2: be made, Shib took a position with the Semiati garage.
Speaker 2: Tired of living alone, Sheb went to the house of
Speaker 2: Hugo Minor at nine to ninety three Amsterdam Avenue and
Speaker 2: took a room. In his new position. The chauffeur had
Speaker 2: night work and could not very well go away over
Speaker 2: to the east side. There was no wife to meet him,
Speaker 2: and he preferred to be near his work. If Missus
Speaker 2: Sheeb died in her apartment as described, it was after
Speaker 2: March twenty fifth, as her husband was there until that time.
Speaker 2: Doctor Lahane, the coroner's physician, has said the woman has
Speaker 2: been dead four months when found. That may appear to
Speaker 2: be so to him, But what about the warm weather
Speaker 2: since May one? Was that not responsible for the condition
Speaker 2: of the body? Unquote. June sixth, nineteen eleven, after working
Speaker 2: all night, Professor John Larkin of Columbia University reported today
Speaker 2: to District Attorney Whitman that he had been unable to
Speaker 2: discover any traces of poison in the internal organs of
Speaker 2: Missus Lillian O'shady Sheeb. This report, although not entirely unexpected,
Speaker 2: was a profound disappointment to the police who have been
Speaker 2: working night and day since the finding of the corpse
Speaker 2: to make out a case of circumstantial evidence against the
Speaker 2: woman's husband, Harry A. Sheeb, who is under arrest on
Speaker 2: a charge of murder. Professor Larkin said that none of
Speaker 2: his tests produced suggestions of any of the mineral poisons,
Speaker 2: such as arsenic decay was so far advanced, he said
Speaker 2: that even if there had been an alkali poison in
Speaker 2: the body, he could not have proved its presence. Immediately,
Speaker 2: the high police officials, who have been at work on
Speaker 2: the bathtub mystery were called into consultation with mister Whitman
Speaker 2: and his assistant, Mister Reuben. It was apparent that the
Speaker 2: authorities feared they might not be able to muster sufficient
Speaker 2: testimony to ensure that Sheb would be held without bail
Speaker 2: for any considerable time. Except for his own contradictory statements
Speaker 2: regarding the prolonged absence of his wife and certain suspicious details.
Speaker 2: They had nothing seemingly upon which to base a forty
Speaker 2: normal accusation. Professor Larkin made his report verbally, he didn't
Speaker 2: have time to write it out formally, and he said
Speaker 2: he wanted more time for further examination of the liquid
Speaker 2: in which the body lay when it was discovered, although
Speaker 2: he held out no hope of discovering anything of significance there.
Speaker 2: He was sitting alongside Magistrate Corrigan this afternoon when the
Speaker 2: adjourned hearing of sheb was continued in the library of
Speaker 2: the District Attorney's office. Doctor Timothy Lehane, coroner's physician, who
Speaker 2: was on the stand when the examination broke off last Saturday,
Speaker 2: resumed his testimony, describing with minute detail the condition of
Speaker 2: the body and the autopsy. SIB's counsel, Mister Carlin, devoted
Speaker 2: more than an hour to cross examining doctor Lehane, mainly
Speaker 2: centering his fire upon Lehane's estimate of the length of
Speaker 2: time the corpse was in the flat. Lehane stuck to
Speaker 2: it that the woman must have been dead for at
Speaker 2: least four months and possibly five or six. Carlin demanded,
Speaker 2: suppose I produced a witness to prove that missus Sheeb
Speaker 2: was alive on February twenty seventh. Lehane answered that would
Speaker 2: make it approximately four months until the finding of the
Speaker 2: remains February, March, April and May. After policemen and an
Speaker 2: ambulance surgeon described the finding of the body in its
Speaker 2: removal to the Morgue. Doctor S. A. Wooster, a dentist,
Speaker 2: testified that missus Sheeb on January twenty sixth, went to
Speaker 2: his office on East fifty ninth Street and contracted with
Speaker 2: him to do twenty two dollars worth of repair upon
Speaker 2: her teeth. During the week following this date, she called
Speaker 2: twice and began preliminary work, receiving from her four dollars
Speaker 2: on account. After the second visit, she never returned and
Speaker 2: he had no word from her. Abraham Moscow, now living
Speaker 2: in the Bronx, and his wife, said they had been
Speaker 2: forced to move out of the seventy eight Street tenement
Speaker 2: on April fourteenth because of noisome odors. Both of them
Speaker 2: insisted that the unpleasant smells had been noticeable for at
Speaker 2: least two months before they moved. Several other former tenants
Speaker 2: agreed that the odors began to fill the building as
Speaker 2: far back as February and March. Magistrate Corgan adjourned the
Speaker 2: hearing until Friday morning, and in the meantime remanded Sheb
Speaker 2: back to the tombs without bail. June seventh, nineteen eleven.
Speaker 2: It developed this afternoon that on the day after the
Speaker 2: body of Missus Lillian O'Grady Sheb was discovered, detectives in
Speaker 2: searching the apartment found upon the bed in the single
Speaker 2: sleeping room a mattress with dark brown stains upon it.
Speaker 2: The stains were at the upper end, where the head
Speaker 2: would rest in the case of a person lying in
Speaker 2: the normal position. Without making public the news of the discovery,
Speaker 2: the police department turn this mattress over to Professor John A. Larkin,
Speaker 2: the bacteriologist at Columbia University, for analysis. He made a
Speaker 2: private report today to Deputy Commissioner Dougherty that the discolorations
Speaker 2: were caused by dried human blood. This new development, in
Speaker 2: the eyes of the men at the Detective Bureau, constitutes
Speaker 2: a new and valuable piece of evidence to be used
Speaker 2: against the dead woman's husband, who is now in the tombs,
Speaker 2: charged with her murder. Inspector Russell holds that the presence
Speaker 2: of the bloodstains at the upper end of the mattress
Speaker 2: serves to confirm his original theory that Missus Sheeb, while
Speaker 2: helpless in bed, was choked until she died or became unconscious,
Speaker 2: and then that she was thrust into the bathtub and
Speaker 2: covered with boiling water. On the other hand, it seems
Speaker 2: certain that Carlin in Town, lawyers for the accused man,
Speaker 2: will undertake to explain the bloodstains on the claim that
Speaker 2: Missus sheephb had weak lungs and suffered from frequent hemorrhages.
Speaker 2: The two lawyers succeeded today in entering the flat, which
Speaker 2: is upon the ground floor of a model tenement, by
Speaker 2: a rear window opening upon an enclosed court. They took
Speaker 2: from the walls a calendar for nineteen eleven, with the
Speaker 2: January page still adhering as support for their contention that
Speaker 2: Missus Sheeb went away of her own accord on February second,
Speaker 2: and that sheb did not thereafter occupy the room. They
Speaker 2: also hold that their own entry by way of the
Speaker 2: window served to emphasize the suggestion advanced by the defense
Speaker 2: that Missus Sheeb returning home and finding the door locked
Speaker 2: might have broken in from the back and then, while
Speaker 2: taking a bath, succumbed to illness. Unless some really important
Speaker 2: evidence is found in the meantime, Assistant District Attorney Reuben
Speaker 2: has little hope of inducing Magistrate Corgan to hold Sheb
Speaker 2: when the preliminary hearing is continued on Fry. Mister Rubin
Speaker 2: admitted that so far the police have been unable to
Speaker 2: find little proof that would serve to actually connect Sheb
Speaker 2: with the supposed murder, except for the accused man's own
Speaker 2: contradictory statements, his often repeated fictions regarding the missing woman,
Speaker 2: and his suspicious behavior prior to the finding of the
Speaker 2: body in the flat. There is at this time absolutely
Speaker 2: nothing upon which to base a formal charge. Yet mister
Speaker 2: Rubin feels morally sure that a crime was committed. The
Speaker 2: police are promising that they will have charges sufficient to
Speaker 2: hold Sheep for possibly several months while the detective Bureau
Speaker 2: seeks evidence. It does not believed the grand jury will
Speaker 2: take up the alleged murder case unless stronger evidence develops.
Speaker 2: Magistrate Corgan, who is in charge of the preliminary hearing,
Speaker 2: has expressed the hope that the grand jury will take
Speaker 2: the case off of his hands. They say. The police
Speaker 2: have proven neither a motevtive nor a murder. The preliminary
Speaker 2: report of Professor Larkin of his chemical analysis was a
Speaker 2: disappointment to the police. He found no poison in the organs,
Speaker 2: but has not completed his examination of the fluid found
Speaker 2: in the bathtub. Coroner's physician Lee Hayne has testified that
Speaker 2: death by poison was the only kind of murder that
Speaker 2: could be proven owing to the condition of the body.
Speaker 2: The pivotal point in the case is now that of
Speaker 2: the time of death. Sheeb says he lived in the
Speaker 2: flat until the latter part of March and that there
Speaker 2: was no body in the bathtub. Then coroner's physician Lehane
Speaker 2: asserts that from all medical standards, the body must have
Speaker 2: been there at least four months. Professor Larkin gives it
Speaker 2: as his opinion that the woman had been dead about
Speaker 2: two months.
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Speaker 2: June eighth, nineteen eleven, Another woman who thought from the
Speaker 2: pictures printed in the papers that Harry A. Sheeb might
Speaker 2: be her husband, went to the Tombs today to see
Speaker 2: the prisoner. She was the third within a week, and
Speaker 2: like her two predecessors, she failed to identify Sheeb. This
Speaker 2: one's name is missus Mary Tripp. She's about forty years
Speaker 2: old and lives in Flatbush. Her husband, she says, has
Speaker 2: a habit of leaving her for irregular periods. He went
Speaker 2: away about two years ago and she hasn't seen him since.
Speaker 2: Sheieb's published photographs. She thought bore a close resemblance to
Speaker 2: the truant. She consulted with Missus Connolly probation offer at
Speaker 2: the Adams Street Court, and at miss Connolly's suggestion, she
Speaker 2: went to the Brooklyn headquarters and told her story. Detective
Speaker 2: Murray was detailed to accompany her to Manhattan. Deputy war
Speaker 2: Card and Hanley stood. Sheb in a row with fourteen
Speaker 2: other men, and Missus Tripp was asked to walk along
Speaker 2: the line and pick out her husband if she could.
Speaker 2: She passed sheb twice, once when he had his hat
Speaker 2: on and once when he was bareheaded, and failed to
Speaker 2: recognize him as she was going away. She said she
Speaker 2: must have been mistaken. The bacteriologist of Columbia University Today
Speaker 2: received in his mail a letter apparently written by a
Speaker 2: woman threatening him with death unless he dropped the case.
Speaker 2: The envelope bore a one cent stamp who was addressed
Speaker 2: to doctor Larkin at number four thirty nine West one
Speaker 2: hundred and thirtieth Street, and the postman took it to
Speaker 2: his home, number two ninety three on the same street.
Speaker 2: Quote Doctor Larkin, you better drop your connections with the
Speaker 2: missus Sheeb case. There is nothing in it. If you
Speaker 2: do not, I will shoot you on site, signed suspect
Speaker 2: Jim on quote. Professor Larkin took the letter to the
Speaker 2: West one hundred and twenty fifth Street station and turned
Speaker 2: it over to Captain Farrell. June ninth, nineteen eleven. While
Speaker 2: the preliminary hearing of Harry Sheeb went on today before
Speaker 2: Magistrate Corrigan, his lawyers were confident that he would be
Speaker 2: discharged from custody, while the police were ready to admit
Speaker 2: that in less some evidence more valuable than any on
Speaker 2: hand should materialize. At the last moment, there was little
Speaker 2: prospect that the prisoner would be held for the grand
Speaker 2: jury on the charge of murdering his wife, Lilian. The
Speaker 2: examination of today's witnesses failed to lift any of the
Speaker 2: mystery that surrounds the case. Sheib's employer, John H. Wyeth,
Speaker 2: testified that the chauffeur had remarked to him in an
Speaker 2: ironical tone one week before he was arrested that he
Speaker 2: had had a happy birthday in February because that was
Speaker 2: the day he took his wife to the hospital. Missus Wyeth,
Speaker 2: wife of Sheeb's employer, testified that the chauffeur had told
Speaker 2: her four days before the arrest that his wife was
Speaker 2: recovering from an illness in Chicago and wanted him to
Speaker 2: join her there. Another witness was miss May Blake, who
Speaker 2: gave her occupation as a lady usher in the Lyric Theater.
Speaker 2: She said she had met Sheb on the street early
Speaker 2: in March and that he told her his wife was dead.
Speaker 2: His eyes filled with tears, she said, and he asked
Speaker 2: if he might come and visit her, said Miss Blake.
Speaker 2: He told me that in death she had presented a
Speaker 2: very ugly appearance, her lips burned by fever and her
Speaker 2: face discolored. He seemed to be very much affected as
Speaker 2: he told me this, And when I invited him to
Speaker 2: call on me, he accepted gladly. Then he told the
Speaker 2: same thing again to me and people with whom I bored.
Speaker 2: He described the fine funeral he had given his wife
Speaker 2: at a cost of four hundred dollars, and how little
Speaker 2: girls of her hometown and all her friends and relatives
Speaker 2: had turned out to attend the funeral. It was very
Speaker 2: affecting to listen to him. Missus Mary Fell, a laundress,
Speaker 2: said that on February twelfth, she brought her some of
Speaker 2: his clothing and some of Missus Sheebs to be laundered.
Speaker 2: He told her. She said that his wife was ill
Speaker 2: in a hospital, and that her illness had already cost
Speaker 2: him two hundred dollars. Three or four weeks passed before
Speaker 2: he called for the bundle. Miss Agnes Graham, a telephone operator,
Speaker 2: said that about two months ago she told her that
Speaker 2: missus Sheeb was ill in Springfield, Massachusetts. During February, he
Speaker 2: frequently mentioned his wife's illness to her, she claimed. Miss
Speaker 2: Nina Pray, rent collector for the building, told of having
Speaker 2: called at the flat every Tuesday up to February ninth,
Speaker 2: and receiving an answer from some person whose identity or
Speaker 2: sex she said she could not recall. After that date, however,
Speaker 2: she was unable to get any response to her calls,
Speaker 2: though the rent was paid at irregular intervals up to
Speaker 2: May tenth. She opened the door of the flat on
Speaker 2: at least three occasions, she said, and found it each
Speaker 2: time in precisely the same condition. Lieutenant Gloucester of the
Speaker 2: Central Office, who took Sheb to the morgue, told how
Speaker 2: Sheb had at once identified the skull as his wife's
Speaker 2: and had lingered around the remains, although he Gloucester was
Speaker 2: forced to leave the room because of the odor. At
Speaker 2: four o'clock, after twenty witnesses had been examined, Assistant District
Speaker 2: Attorney Strong asked for an adjournment until Monday, saying he
Speaker 2: still had one more witness to produce. Alexander Carlin, attorney
Speaker 2: for the prisoner, protested, but on mister Strong's promise to
Speaker 2: close this case within fifteen minutes time, the magistrate continued
Speaker 2: to examination until Monday, meanwhile remanding Sheb to the tombs
Speaker 2: without bail. June twelfth, nineteen eleven, Harry Sheeb was this
Speaker 2: afternoon discharged from custody by Magistrate Corrigan. Immediately after the
Speaker 2: man left the Criminal Court building, he was again arrested
Speaker 2: by Lieutenant Gloucester on the charge of taking the automobile
Speaker 2: of his employer without permission, which constitutes grand larceny. The
Speaker 2: new charge upon which she was arrested was preferred by
Speaker 2: John Wyeth, who asserts that the chauffeur used his machine
Speaker 2: for joy rides without his permission. Shib was taken to
Speaker 2: the fifty fourth Street Court for hearing upon the new charge.
Speaker 2: The dismissal upon the murder charge followed the hearing of
Speaker 2: a number of witnesses and arguments by Assistant District Attorney
Speaker 2: Strong and Alexander Carlin, the latter representing Sheeb. After all
Speaker 2: the testimony was in and the statements of Council were made,
Speaker 2: Magistrate Quarrigan said that none of the evidence had established
Speaker 2: that missus Sheeb had been murdered or that the defendant
Speaker 2: had murdered her. Sheeb shook hands with his counsel and
Speaker 2: friends and started away after the decision was rendered, only
Speaker 2: to meet with his new trouble. Before the decision was reached,
Speaker 2: Magistrate Quarrigan heard Louis P. Ludwig, who said that he
Speaker 2: was employed by the gas company which supplied the flat,
Speaker 2: and that he came at intervals to collect from the
Speaker 2: quarter meter. He said that he had to let himself
Speaker 2: in with the pass key and noticed the peculiar odor
Speaker 2: of the decomposing body upon his late trips. George Hunrath,
Speaker 2: who lives in the house where the body was found,
Speaker 2: said that the last time he had seen Sheb and
Speaker 2: his wife together was February second, when the two came
Speaker 2: from the house apparently quarreling. He said that the wife
Speaker 2: went toward Avenue A in seventy eighth Street, and that
Speaker 2: she followed her and brought her back to the house.
Speaker 2: May Flannery said she had been joy writing with Sheep
Speaker 2: several times and that he had never said anything to
Speaker 2: her about having a wife. Anne A. Crouse, cashier and
Speaker 2: a restaurant on Broadway, said she had been writing three
Speaker 2: times with Sheep, the last time being May eighteenth, and
Speaker 2: that she did not know he was married. Policeman Skellion
Speaker 2: Inspector Russell completed the list of witnesses. Both gave facts
Speaker 2: that the police investigation had developed for the defendant. Attorney
Speaker 2: Carland dwelt, upon the statement of coroner's physician Lehne, that
Speaker 2: he did not know how the woman came to her death.
Speaker 2: For the people. Mister Strong called attention to the many
Speaker 2: conflicting statements made by the defendant, to the fact that
Speaker 2: he paid the rent for the room where the body
Speaker 2: was found with so much care, and to his ready
Speaker 2: identification of the body at the morgue, and various other
Speaker 2: elements of the tragedy. When he finished, Magistrate Corgan said,
Speaker 2: Miss Strong, while I agree with you that there are
Speaker 2: suspicious circumstances connected with this case, still the people have
Speaker 2: not proved that this woman died from homicide or that
Speaker 2: this man killed her. She went to the elevator with
Speaker 2: his counsel. He did not notice mister Wyeth, his former employer,
Speaker 2: was in the next elevator. When Lieutenant Gloucester arrested the
Speaker 2: man at the bottom of the shaft. His attorney, Carlin,
Speaker 2: was furious. Who makes the charge? He demanded, I do,
Speaker 2: responded Wyath, and the entire party went to the scene
Speaker 2: of the next trial. June thirteenth, nineteen eleven. Chauffeur Harry
Speaker 2: Sheeb landed back in the tombs this afternoon, this time
Speaker 2: under bonds of three thousand dollars to await the action
Speaker 2: of the grand jury in a grand larceny complaint. His
Speaker 2: return to his old cell was a victory for the
Speaker 2: Detective Bureau, which for two weeks has been working to
Speaker 2: find evidence that would connect Sheb with the death of
Speaker 2: his wife. John Wyeth, who made the newest accusation yesterday
Speaker 2: after Magistrate Corrigan had declined to longer hold the much
Speaker 2: buffeted prisoner for homicide upon such scanty proof as the
Speaker 2: police had gathered, appeared today as the complainant in the
Speaker 2: West Side Court, where the preliminary hearing was resumed. Mister
Speaker 2: Wyeth's charge was based upon the new law which makes
Speaker 2: it a felony to use an automobile without the owner's consent.
Speaker 2: Mister Wyeth said he was positive he did not use
Speaker 2: his machine May eighteenth, the date named in the warrant
Speaker 2: and the affidavit, because on the evening of that day
Speaker 2: he had guests at dinner. Anne Akraus, a waitress to
Speaker 2: whom Sheb had paid attention after his wife had disappeared,
Speaker 2: testified that on May eighteenth, at six thirty o'clock in
Speaker 2: the morning, she wrote a note to Sheb asking him
Speaker 2: to take her that evening for a spin. About eight
Speaker 2: forty five o'clock, she said he drove a machine to
Speaker 2: her house on West ninetieth Street. Mister and Missus Sherman,
Speaker 2: Miss Simper and W. D. Meeker accompanied Sheeb for a ride.
Speaker 2: They were gone two hours and a half. Anna Crous
Speaker 2: rode on the front seat with Sheeb and recalled that
Speaker 2: he told her the automobile was a Pullman, the make
Speaker 2: owned by mister Wyeth. W. R. Clemens, manager of a
Speaker 2: garage on Broadway, produced records to show that the Wyeth
Speaker 2: Carr had been checked out May eighteenth at eight forty
Speaker 2: p m. And had been returned shortly before midnight. Alexander Karen,
Speaker 2: Sheeb's lawyer, cross examined each witness sharply. Then he announced
Speaker 2: that he wanted to press a charge of perjury against
Speaker 2: mister Wyath because of the alleged contradictory statements Magistrate Fresh
Speaker 2: He told mister Carland that if he wanted to make
Speaker 2: a case against mister Wyath, he must swear to the
Speaker 2: preliminary papers and assume responsibility for prosecution. Mister Carlin dropped
Speaker 2: that subject and made a lengthy plea for the discharge
Speaker 2: of his client, saying that a miserable police conspiracy was
Speaker 2: behind the continued imprisonment of Sheb, and that detectives in
Speaker 2: New York would swear an innocent man's life away to
Speaker 2: make reputations. When he was through Central Office, men handcuffed
Speaker 2: the suspect and started with him for jail, while mister
Speaker 2: Carlin hurried out, threatening to invoke habeas corpus, a right
Speaker 2: which he already employed twice in his efforts to free
Speaker 2: as man. October eleventh, nineteen eleven, Harry Sheeb was placed
Speaker 2: on trial today before Judge Foster in General Sessions on
Speaker 2: an indictment charging grand larceny. This indictment was found shortly
Speaker 2: after Sheb was arrested and charged with the murder of
Speaker 2: his wife. There was no direct evidence that Sheb had
Speaker 2: committed murder, other than that he was separated from his
Speaker 2: wife and she was dead. In order to hold him
Speaker 2: and dodge writz of habeas corpus, the detectives prevailed upon
Speaker 2: John H. Wyatt, for whom she worked as a chauffeur,
Speaker 2: to swear out information charging grand larceny in that Sheb
Speaker 2: used mister Wyatt's car without his permission for joy riding purposes.
Speaker 2: Sheib has been in the tombs ever since, awaiting trial.
Speaker 2: October fourteenth, nineteen eleven. Harry A. Sheeb, the chauffeur who
Speaker 2: has been locked up ever since May twenty ninth, when
Speaker 2: the body of his wife, Lilian was found in the
Speaker 2: bathtub of their flat at five eleven East seventy eighth Street,
Speaker 2: was acquitted yesterday before Judge Foster in General Sessions, where
Speaker 2: he was on trial for grand larceny. Sheb was first
Speaker 2: arrested for having caused his wife's death, and when that
Speaker 2: and two other charges brought against him failed to hold him,
Speaker 2: his employer, John H. Wyeth, brought the charge of grand larceny.
Speaker 2: Sheib did not take the stand in his own defense.
Speaker 2: Assistant District Attorney McCormick was unable to find more than
Speaker 2: one of the women with whom Sheb was said to
Speaker 2: have been riding May eighteenth, and she could not state
Speaker 2: positively that it was mister Wyeth's car which was used.
Speaker 2: The strongest point against him was the testimony of the policeman,
Speaker 2: who said that Sheb admitted to them he had used
Speaker 2: his employer's automobile without his permission. Judge Foster instructed the
Speaker 2: jury to regard the charge as one of petty larceny,
Speaker 2: and they brought a verdict of not guilty. Sheeb said
Speaker 2: that he had been very well treated in the tombs,
Speaker 2: but that he was very glad to get out. During
Speaker 2: the hot weather summer, he said, the temperature in his
Speaker 2: cell rose to one hundred and twenty eight and he
Speaker 2: spent four days wrapped in a wet sheet. He had
Speaker 2: not decided whether he would try to get another job
Speaker 2: as a chauffeur. About the first thing he would do,
Speaker 2: he said, would be to have his wife's body removed
Speaker 2: from Potter's Field, where it was buried while he was
Speaker 2: in the tombs. His council Alexander Carlin, said that a
Speaker 2: suit for ten thousand dollars damages for false imprisonment would
Speaker 2: be brought against mister Wyath. She added, a summer in
Speaker 2: the tombs is worth more than that you can bet unquote,
Speaker 2: that was an acid bath for the suffer, just the
Speaker 2: Lillian Sheeb mystery, called from the historic pages of the
Speaker 2: New York World and other newspapers of the era. True
Speaker 2: Crime Historian is a creation of popular media opening theme
Speaker 2: by Nico Vitesi. Incidental music by Nico Vitesi, Chuck Wiggins,
Speaker 2: and Dave SAMs. Some music and sound effects license from
Speaker 2: podcastmusic dot Com. Closing music by Dave SAMs and Rachel Shatt,
Speaker 2: engineered by David Hish, Third Street Music Media Management, and
Speaker 2: graphic elements by Sean R. Miller. Jones And as for me,
Speaker 2: he did a lot of talking and several times contradicted himself.
Speaker 2: I'm true crime historian Richard O. Jones, signing off for now.