Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1858-05-20
THE Roche.ter Murder case,

The Rochester Murder Case
Ira Stout convicted of the murder oi
Littles, his brother-in-lav, lies in the Roch-
ester jail awaiting his execution. His sis
ter, Mrs. Littles, has not yet been tried
She is willing to plead guilty to such grade
of killing as viii inearcetate her for a liml.-
ed time in prison, but not wiling 70 ha. ~
knowledge crime which would se"u A''
for lifetime or hang her;
The circumstances of the murder were
,on,orLohle and showed a brutality which.
in romance, would have been pronounced
over wrought, and yet most strenuous exer-
tions are now making for the pardon of
the murderer, or, rather for the commute
ton of his sentence. Stout, all though his
trial, and at the time of his sentence, dis
played no emotion, but was apparently in
different or careless. His awful death ap-
preaching, he is breaking down, and has
addressed letter from his cell, which let
ter, if his own, is marked by more than Or
dinary ability, making, of course, due al
lowance- for a doridness of style somewhat
out of place in a murderer's dungeon.
In speaking of his conduct at his SEN
tence, he says:
arose to receive that verdict and SEN
tence with cool, determined resolution to
stand uDmoved, though it Hwrung the life
blood from the heaif." There was no yis-
ible emotion to show the volcano boiling
within, and the immense audience failed to
perceive that the passionless exterior simp-
ly concealed an internal agony, of which no
mortal man can form a conception. It
was terrible illustration, how much man
may bear, when supported by all the phil
osophy and self-control he possesses. To
ayoung man, the startling word-Death-
terminates all his brilliant hopes and am
bition, all his powerful attachments to earth
and not his, but the love, hope, and inter-
est Of Others, must slowly fade away
Shall these things bel RI
After going through the natural rigma-
role about the public being willing to be-
ieve anything against him, and the press
prejudging and prejudicing his case, he says:
That am much to blame, is beyoud all
question, but consider myself the victim
of circumstances and misfortune, and not
Of wilful criminality. There are many false
assumptions in regard to this sad affair,
which must be exposed. But waving these
at present, may mention one man whose
evidence, supported by circumstances would
have saved me, unless the jury were SO
firmly impressed with the preconceived no.
tion of conviction that no evidence for the
defence would be regarded. His name 1
will not now mention, but he alone is the
fundamental principle of this whole affair.
/ now ask him, not for myself. but l ask
him in the name of Sarah, to fairly and
honorably state bis motions on that fatal
night, as well as his proceeding conduct in
regard to her. If be will allow her to suf.
fer the slightest punishment when he could
prevent it, he has forfeited the title of man.
Stout evidently has the old woman's idea
of killing a man. After all the expletives
of the English language had been exhaust
ed by the company in expressing their hor-
Tor and detestation of the case of murder
which was under discussion, the old lady
spoke, while silence was perfect to hear
what her climax would be, aYes, yes"
said she, 'he ought to be ashamed of himselfr
After speaking of his brother-in-law,
Littles' as brute towards his sister, Stout |
justifes the murder thus:
That felt brothers sympathy for Sa-
rah, in regard TO her wrongs, is too true
That my heart sometimes burst with in
dignation, is equally true. And if there is
a spirited brother in Christendom, who will
stand passively by and see his sister abus-
ed, he ought to be carved into cubic inch
es and fed to the dogs. My attachment
to Sarah is simply brothers love-the
purest and holiest man can conceive. She
possesses the faults and frailties of wo-
man; but no matter whether right or wrong
she is still my sister, and it is my sacred
duty to defend her, as long as the power
of action remains.
l do say most decidedly, man who will
abuse pure and beautiful woman,--a man
who will strike her,-I say from the bot
tom of my heart, he is not fit 10 live.