The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-12 00:00:00

Double Execution at Leeds.

•
On Saturday morning the two men Myers and Sargissal
underwent the extreme penalty of the law in front of the
gaol at Leeds. They were both ccnvicted of wilful murder
at the last assizes (being the first ever held in Leeds), t,'t;
formerfor
rh for the murder of his wife at Sheffield, and the lotief
t e murder of John Cooper at Roche Abbey, The 01:11,e
scuatrghiesraomno,athveire'tsimth,rowaht
owiwthasa
atapboleorkngiafred.
witness against Myers was his own daughter, who 0011
In
murder
and other property was found in the cottage of the ratir
who endeavoured, while admitting having witnessed ter
murder, to fix the actual commission of the deed ()usual/le'.
man, who had also been indicted, but had been relcase'd
to
the grand jury ignoring the bill. Sargisson maintains ener,
the last that he was not the murderer of Cooper. 11°"4,1 t
teesivssetl:
after being urged to corfess, " If I could say anyaliaf
would free him (the other man, Denton) from snsPic°-' f
would, but he is guilty. He struck the blow." l'To i,
pardon or respite has been held out to either of the --to
demned men by any of the officials of the gaol, or blioef
relativesn and others with whom they have had interv.7„ 01
the time of their condemnation both e
thoerirhave they themselves even suggested the possibilw
receiving any commutation of their sentence.
sense of their awful position, and men
ntened attentivliit;
the instruction tiff ,rded them. This was more esPee'i'„o,
tohe case with the younger of the two criminals, Sargiss:ot,
Saturday week the Bishop of Ripon arrived tinel),/i,
were "
edly at Armley Gaol, where the condemned men
fined, and had an interview of an • with•c.
hour's duration
show-ed
he sr
of them. Sargisson
had also had the advantage a t.
ritual ministrations cf the Rev, Mr Hartley, the la see.
bent of the parish in which he formerl resided. °11,,, ift
day forenoon the " condemned sermoyn" was raacethe
the chapel of the gaol by the Rev. Henry TuckWer, bet
chaplain. Myers seemed as indifferent as possible, an
Sargisson was most attentive to his E'rayer"b°°' iele
with the aid of hits attendant at the proper tgel'
found the lessons for the morning service in the Bible.
dom did he suffer his eyes to wander around, but altgettlJe°
he appeared to be most determinedly intent on realisirigft
a befittins
engaged' lain
blessedness of the service in which he was en
"Rock of Ages cleft for me" had been sung, the CllaP,rjillie
delivered the sermon, which was awfully impressive.
text was Luke xxiii., 42. 000
The preparations for the carrying out of the sea for
were commenced on Friday, and every step was t'',ke
the .1: the
preservation of order. The scaffold Was erecteu:the
north east angle of the gaol enclosure, access to it Oro,
condemned men, the chaplain, the under-sheriff, the °atoll
nor, and other officials, being provided for by the f°,fturA"
of a doorway in the masonry of the wall near to t"" lch raies
key's residence. Thescaffold was nine feet from the gre -s
the front of it screened with black cloth, which a°ll,iceeo"
the bodies of the unfortunate men from the waist the
wards. In front of the wall and at some distance fraeas;
scaffold on either side strong barricades were erected, ;to
powerful force of police was employed in the Preseurv„ wets
of order among the many thousands of spectator; o's'a eon'
present. There have not been wanting persons Wiitiebolf
sidered that the facilities for witnessing the ras'a6-010
spectacle were insufficient, and who endeavoured teseooo,
money out of it by the erection of platforms for tbs ~,,10'
modation of those who chose to witness it vriaiout
convenienced by the crowd beneath. One of these erefl'oet.
occupied a site on the right of the scaffold, in the field
lie toll'
ing the gaol, and the roof of the house occupied I),Y,faii3l4
gate keeper near to the prison even supported a Pia"-
the charge of 2s 6d for the front places. e Oerti°
From the town all along the Armley-road thee)
numerous stalls for the sale of edibles (save the
even toys, giving an appearance of a fair rather ala'"
thing else. of
'-
Both the unhappy men went to bed between tly 00.
one o'clock, but Sargisson did not take off his ° c foc
The governor went to Sargisson about nva Aida
in the morning, and found him lying in the bed s“verpor
his clothes on. He was reading his Bible. The
then went to Myers about half-past six. Ile Was ss enviec°
on being awakened he, rose up, and producing a am sir
sir
of paper which he had in his hand said, "Those t
chip
n_
pences Mr Godson has promised to give to
dren." Both the men ate a good breakfast. The v7(i'froeo
viill
was erected under the wall of the gaol, and was dragbe eee°
black cloth, so that after the drop fell nothing could vole:
by the mob of the bodies of the unfortunate men. lgrre, tll°
Sheriff Wm. Gray arrived at a quarter-past 8• lok°o'l, had
executioner, was also present at that time. The‘The e%°'
begun to collect at four o'clock, and at the time 01 ` i,OlO
120,000 It'uve cry
cution there could not have been less than
present. When the prison clock struck &lief 1:110
clor
multitudes
of " Hats off I" was raised by the
under sheriff and Mr Keene wore followed by th weer
lain, in his canonical robes, repeating tbe :wee,
tel Service. Myers came up first, then S rrt opal
both appearing pale and anxious looking. They .t
the drop whilst Mr Tuckwell continued to read 111°'ered
pressively the Burial Service, Both the culprits fora ha
0 Lord
the responses, and frequently ejaculated, ir Tec
mercy upon me 1" and " Lord save my 80°12' n
well having pronounced the absolution, the exec,,
e°);
of
once stepped frward, adjusted tho rope upon tbs „0 of
Myers, and aftoerwards upon Sargisson, but this portwares
the dread ceremony was very protracted. _Myers apps
quiet, but Sargisson shook his head heavily. Both; t,a,
oed
continued to cry out, "Lord have mercy upon
rubrotber
the last words uttered by Sargisson were to his
murderer. He called out, "Are you happy, lad ?
~3„,be
happy I" to which Myers responded, "Indeed I am.
drop fell. and the bodies were immediately hidden frool 1!•110
view of the crowd, and it was only from the vibration of
rope that Myers seemed to die almost immediately—but
the
other man struggledthe
st violently for thee n a
t.t :mat few
e.th..mt n C:ii
Smlargei tsb7rnoutoghout. The crowd then Commenced rapidly die
ereiogh ugh a large number remained to witness the
P , though
down of the bodies at ten o'clock. The arrange'
meats for the preservation of order were carried out with
great zeal and discretion by Mr 8011, the chief constable.
So large a number of visitors to witness this melancbolf
spectacle may be accounte I for by this being the firs,,tel;
cution since the division of the 'West Riding, Leeds
the appointed place for the final consummation of the

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