The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-02 00:00:00

EXECUTION OF DEDEA REDANIES.

MAIDSTONE, JAR. 1.

The murderer Dedea Redanies was executed this
morning, at 12 o'clock, in front of the County Gaol at
Maidstone.

It will be unnecessary to state more in detail the cir-
cumstances connected with the crime for which this
wretohed man suffered than to remind our readers that,
at the late winter assizes, he pleaded guilty to one in-
dictment charging him with the wilful murder of a girl
named Caroline Back, 19 years old, and tho he was
convicted, upon a second indictment, of the wilful mur-
der of Maria Back, the sister of Caroline, and two years
younger.

The career of the prisoner appears to have been a
somewhat extraordinary one. He was born at Belgrade,
in Servia, and until within the last 18 months he had
profeSsed the Mahommedan religion. He appears not
to have been brought up to any trade or profession, but
it seems that he served for some time in the Turkish
army, but being disgusted with that service he left it,
and was for some time at Milan. There he became
acquainted with a Catholic priest, who had some con-
versations with him upon the subject of his religious
notions, and it appears that he succeeded in impressing
him with an idea that the Mahommedan religion was
not the one likely to lead to salvation, and he became a
Christian, and since that period he bad professed the
Roman Catholic religion. Upon the breaking out of
the war with Russia, and the embodying of a foreign
legion, he joined one of the Swiss regiments that were
intended for the service of this country, and was doing
duty with his regiment at Shorncliffe, in the neighbour.
hood of Dover, at the time he committed the dreadful
act for which his life was forfeited.

Redanies appears never for a moment to have denied
his guilt. Indeed, the only thing that seems to have
given him any trouble is the complexity of the mode of
procedure in the English criminal law, whereby ho was
called upon to return an answer upon four forms of pro.
cedure, namely, bills of indictment, and injunctions by
the coroner, whether he was guilty or not of the offences
alleged against him ; and he has repeatedly said that his
intention was to plead guilty to having killed both the
girls, but that as he was perfectly bewildered by having
so many charges of murder made against him, he did not
know what course to take, and allowed everything to
proceed without troubling himself in the matter, as he
was/quite prepared for what he knew must be the inevi-
table result, namely the loss of his own life. Ever since
his conviction the prisoner has evinced the most perfect
composure, and, indeed, impassibility. The Rev. Mr.
King, the chaplain of the gaol, of coursa saw him in the
performance of his ordinary duty, but as the prisoner
professed to entertain Roman Catholic notions, lie was
unwilling to press his ministration upon him, and a com-
munication having been made by the gaol authorities to
the Catholic dignitary of the Brompton district, a priest
who had some knowledge of the German language,
named Lawrance, was sent to visit the prisoner, and he
was almost constantly in attendance with him down to
the last moment of his existence ; and he was so satisfied
with the condition of his mind, that it appears he ad-
ministered the Sacrament to him on Wednesday. Not-
withstanding this, however, there can be no doubt that
there was a strong Mahommedan notion prevailing in the
prisioner's mind to the very latest period of his existence,
for, almost immediately before he was severed from this
world, he regarded his approaching death with the most
perfect indifference, and exclaimed, "In a few moments
I shall be in the arms of my dear Caroline—l care not
for death."

The prisoner was allowed some few indulgences that
were perhaps not strictly in accordance with Trison
rules, and among them he was permitted to smoke.
He evidently enjoyed his pipe, and on Wednesday he
was engaged in smoking as usual. Having finished his
pipe, he coolly shook out the ashes, and then laid the
pipe on the table, and said, " I smoke no more." After
this he amused himself, as he had on previous occasions
frequently done, by making a sort of rough sketch of
the place and the mode in which the double murder was
committed, and when he had finished he laid the pen by
the side of the paper, and said, "Now I write no more.
I prepare myself to go meet my dear Caroline." He
then went to bed, but it appears that, for the first time
since his conviction, he did not sleep soundly. What
awful doubts and fears disturbed him none can tell, but
it was remarked that upon this last dreadful night he
was unable to take that rest that be had before enjoyed.
He had also previously eaten heartily, but on the morn.
ing of his execution he was unable to take any refresh-
ment, although he still exhibited the same outward
appearance of composure that had characterised him all
through the proceedings.

It seems that Father Lawrence, the Roman Catholic
clergyman who was in attendance upon the prisoner,
very shortly after he had been in communication with
him, entertained a strong belief that he was not in a
sane state of mind, and he in consequence had some
communication with Mr. Bone, the governor of the
gaol, upon the subject ; and upon his expressing the
opinion that the prisoner was not in au accountable
state of mind, Mr. Bone, after referring to the pe-
culiar circumstance of the prisoner being a foreigner,
and the consequent difficulty of communicating with
him, and also the character of the offence with which
he was charged, advised that no time should be lost
in communicating with the Secretary of State, and in-
forming him of the circumstances upon which such an
impression was founded ; and Mr. Lawrence accordingly
addressed a communication to Sir George Grey, in
which he represented all the facts within his knowledge
upon which he came to the conclusion that the prisoner
was not a responsible agent. It would appear, how-
ever, that no sufficient grounds were stated for any in-
terference by the Executive, and the law was therefore
left to take its course, a communication to that effect
having been sent to Father Lawrence from the office of
the Secretary of State.
It was rather a peculiar circumstance that the go-
vernor of the gaol rigidly insisted upon carrying out one
of the gaol rules, for the exclusion of all strangers from
the prison on the morning of an execution. All parties
appeared to be perfectly ignorant of the law in reference
to the matter, and under which every proceeding con
nected with the execution of capital punishment devolves
upon the High Sheriff, and, in his absence, upon his
deputy. At present it appears the Under Sheriff for the
county, Mr. W. Palmer, is absent from the country on
account of ill health, and his duties devolve upon Mr.
Wilder, the clerk of the peace, and that gentleman de-
ferred to the judgment of the governor of the prison,
and consequently, so far as the interior arrangements of
the execution were concerned, the whole affair was
managed witk the most complete secrecy, no one being
present but the governor, the Rev. Mr. King, Father
Lawrence, and a few sheriffs' officers. In the case of
the poor wretch who was the sufferer upon the present
occasion, as his guilt was clear, and as the execution
was really, so to speak, a mere matter of course, no
complaint should perhaps be made of this course of
proceeding, but it is obvious that if public executions
are to be a portion of the law of the country, it is
advisable that some authorised representative of the
press should be present on such occasions. In refer-
ence to what is above stated as to the want of know•
ledge of the law upon this subject, it is only neces-
sary to state that the governor of the prison has no-
thing whatever to do with the carrying out of the sen.
tence of death on the morning of an execution ; the she.
riff is the only responsible party, and all the governor
of a prisoner has to do is to deliver up the body of the
prisoner to the sheriff that execution may be performed
upon him, and the governor need not even be present;
in fact, he has nothing to do with the matter.
It has already been stated that the prisoner did not
sleep very well on his last night on this earth, and that
he could not take any refreshment on the morning of his
execution. Father Lawrence was with him at an early
hour, and they conversed together for a considerable time
in German. Redanies did not to the last appear to con-
sider that he had committed any crime. His idea seemed
to be, that being fondly attached to the deceased Caroline
Back, and fearing she was about to become connected
with another man, he resolved to destroy her to prevent
such a result, knowing that the consequence would be
the loss of his own life, but at the same time believing
that he should at once rejoin his beloved one in the other
world ; that, in fact, death was the prelude to him of
everlasting bliss ; and, with such ideas evidently fully
impressed upon his mind, he went to the scaffold as to a
marriage bed. Having been accustomed for considerable
time to a military life, he had naturally imbibed a good
deal of the neatness and smartness of a soldier, and
during his incarceration it was observed that he was
always particularly careful in his personal appearance.
On ;the morning when he was to leave this world for
ever, it appears that he took more care than trend in
dressing himself, and having occasion only a few minutes
before the final period of his existence to obey a call of
nature, it was remarked that he most carefully adjusted
his dress in every particular.
The actual formalities of the execution were very sim-
ple. When Redanies saw Calcraft, the executioner, he
at once placed himself in a military, upright form, and
submitted to the new process of pinioning without a
murmur. The signal being given for moving to the
scaffold, the prisoner at once walked off with a light,
cheerful step, and although he had some considerable
distance to traverse, and had a number of steps to ascend
before he reached the gallows, which was erected in
front of one of the wings of the gaol, and to which ac-
cess was obtained through a window or opening in the
stonework, he did not exhibit the slightest trepidation.
His calmness arid composure did not forsake hint for an
instant. The Rev. Mr. King read the burial service in
English, and Father Lawrence also read some prayers
in the German language, and after a very brief interval
the drop fell, and the culprit appeared to be dead almost
instantaneously. It should he stated, perhaps, to show
the condition of the naiad of the prisoner, that when he
arrived at the entrance of the gaol, and was about to
ascend the stairs leading to the scaffold, he recognised
the officer at the gate by whom he had at first been re-
ceived, and, addressing him in the most friendly manner,
ho stepped on one side and shook hands with him, and
exclaimed, "Good bye," and then joined the procession,
and tripped up the stairs leading to the gallows.
A considerable number of persons assembled to wit-
nese the execution, and their behaviour was most orderly
and decorous. Some few of those assembled seemed to ,
pity the unhappy culprit, but tie general feeling ap
peered to be that his dreadful crime had received only
fitting punishment.

A. ig a d event concluded the melancholy proceedings cf
the day. The body, after hanging the usual time—one,i
hour—was cut down, and the workmen then proceeded 1
to remove the scaffold. While so engaged, one of them
fell a considerable height upon his head And was killed
upon the spot.