The daily Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1855, 1855-02-27
From the Chicago Democrat.
Suicide OF Geo. w. Green, the murderer,
In his cell in the County Jail.
Coroner's Inquest ON the Body.

III
Coronsr's Inquest the Body
Our citizens were startled yesterday NOR
ming by the report that George w. Green,
found guilty of poisoning his wife, at the
Circuit Court Of Cook County, had COM
mitted suicide Upon proceeding to the
jail we found the report to be well founded
Mr.. Andrew, the Sheriff, politely admitted
us to the Jail, and showed us the body of
the unfortunate man, which had been cut
down, and presented an appalling spectacle
From the appearance of the cell, every por.
ton of which was shown US by Mr.. Petrie,
the turnkey, it was evident that the unfor-
tunate man had for some time premeditated
the act, and that he took every possible pre-
caution to effect it, even to precluding the
possibility of his attempting to afford him.
self any assistance after he had taken the
fatal plunge into eternity.
1t is supposed that the act was committed
between IL and !. o'clock Sunday morning,
as two persons confined in an adjoining cell,
at that time heard a peculiar gurglng noise
and grooming. Upon the opening of the
outside door of bis cell at the usual hour,
(l-2 past y in the morning. by the turn
key, he observed, that the quilt of the pris-
oner's bed, was hung up as curtain before
the inside door, which is an iron grated one.
He, however, thought Green might have
hung this up, to shade the light, and passed
on. Shortly after, he again went to the cell
and asked if I" Mr. Green would have his
coffee" but receiving no answer, he drew
back the quilt, and found the prisoner sus-
pended, hanging from the wall. Upon a
thorough investigation Of the cell, and the
body of the unfortunate man, it was found
} that be had taken his morning gown, which
he had ripped up for the purpose, and break
ing out the rounds at the back of bis chair.
with these he forced the gown up behind an
, iron bar which runs all round the walls OF
, the cell within few inches of the ceiling,
and knotted it at the top, so that it could
not be drawn down by his weight The
shrinking of the middle of the planks from
their sides enabled him to get the cloth uE
between the iron and the wood He then
: probably took silk handkerchief, and
: knotting it in several places to strengthen il
] and prevent its slipping, tied it round his
neck, fastened another handkerchief to it
and towel to that, and bound oil firmly by
: passing piece of linen torn frem his sheets
: around his head, tying it across his forehead
in strong knot. He then took his table
or stand, and standing on it, fastened the
: towel which was knotted to the handker
, chief to the cloth--part of his morning
= gown-and having tied his hands bchinC
: his back, he kicked the table from under
y him. and, no doubt, life was soon extinct
In his struggles, he broke the string will
which his hands were tied.
Z The appearance of the corpse, showed
the terrible determination of the man whel
living. The lower jaw projected, and there
0 was look upon the face which almost said
= IL am defeated, but not entirely conquer
9 3D."
Green has been in Jail altogether about
:, five months since he was arrested for the
crime for which he was tried and found
Il guilty During the first part of this time
e he appeared to bear up well, and in fact, tt
4 exhibit but little anxiety as to the result
Since his conviction, however, he had begun
to break down, and particularly since the
writ of Aa5eaS corpus from the Supreme
Court was denied, he began to decline very
S fast. His appearance latterly was emacia
e ted in the extreme. He allowed bis bearl
y to grow, as the Sheriff ordered his razor tt
!, be kept from him Mr.. Andrew, however
told him he might have a man to come an(
+ shave him, when he wished; but after thu
T. barber had made one or two visits, he com
J, planned that he could not afford to pay two
# shillings and refused to have him shave
him any longer.
Green told several persons that he would
much rather be hung than go through thu
3 form of another trial; that the latter was
+ much worse than hanging. A short time
s since he told gentleman, that he would
= be acquitted, if tried again; that his sol
George would not swear so hard against hin
> next time; and that he could bring forward
) such testimony against Mrs. Blame az
i would invalidate any evidence she might
h give against him.
r The corpse presented the appearance Of 6
:, man of very powerful frame. The chest il
u unusually large for the height, (about feet
6 or I, the shoulders broad; the limbs
very muscular. We observed that the
, teeth, which, though worn, are sound, and
= are double, both in front and in the back
, part of the jaws.