Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1870-07-22

LhaGlSi nON soii1 VIC may oc; 81 hC onali
be pardoned; and reprieve was given
on the spot.
AN OLD MURDER CoNEEssED.-On
the 10th day of August, 1866, Maggie
Carney, young woman, was found in
one of the upper rooms of the house at
the northwest corner of Eleventh street
and Marks lane, Philadelphia, with her
throat cut and life extinct. Newton
Champion, who had kept her company
for long time, was arrested immediate
ly afterward, charged with perpetration
of the crime. The accused, who had
been an engineer in the navy, was soon
arraigned for trial, and during the pro-
ceedings it was both attempted to prove
an alibi and to show that the prisoner
was insane. Witnesses proved conclu-
sively the presence of the accused with
the deceased but few minntes before
her death, and his absence Immediately
afterward. The jury, after due deliber-
alton, brought in verdict of murder in
the first degree. During the trial, seve-
raj physicians were called to give their
opinion as to the accused's insanity. The
weight of their testimony, however, was
against him, and Immediately after con-
viction the mother of the condemned
proceeded to Harrisburgh several times,
and importuning Gov. Curtin SO vehe-
mently to save her sons life on the
ground of alleged insanity, the execu-
tive at last was SO moved by the appeals
to his sympathy and love of justice that
he appointed commission of three ply
sicians to examine into and report upon
the actual state of the mind Of Cham
pion. A report was made that the con-
demned man was insane, and consequent
ly the governor never signed his death
warrant, and he was allowed to remain
/ in prison. About year after Champion
had been incarceratad symptoms Of con-
sumption began to be evinced, and as
the disease grew worse, DR.. Smith told
| the unfortunate man that unless he Sc
cured his freedom and obtained plenty
| of fresh air and exercise he would soon
die. Then Champion instructed his
mother, who frequently visited him, not
any longer to use the crazy dodge and
| prattle about insanity, for that was al
nonsense and a farce, but to appeal tc
the governor for liberation on the ground
of fast-failing health and the near ap
proach of DEATH" But the governor
had no inclination to interfere, and sc
Champion was left to his fate Under
the confinement he gradually wasted
away. On Sunday night he breathed hi
last, and an evening or two before h'
sent for DR.. Benjamin F. Butcher, tht
assistant physician of the prison, anC
said to him that as he believed deati
was very near at hand he would make {
full and clear confession to him, so tina
the world might know all the facts bear
ing upon the unfortunate affair. He com
menced by saying that he had loved tn
girl, Maggie Carney, most dearly. 9th
ers courted her society, and this mad
him iealous-and more than jealous. |
maddened him to desperation. Wher
she left the city and wentto Mount Hol
", he followed her thither and caused
her to return to the city. Here he again
: pressed her to become his wife. But t
this she would not yield. She had fal
E len, but he low ed her madly, and to liv
8 without her as his own he felt TO be a
impossibility. So, while bordering on
f state of frenzy, he accompanied her, 8
: on former occasions, to her chamber il
f one of the upper rooms of the dwellin
s on Eleventh street, at the corner {
: Marks lane, and while they were seate
$ together he placed his arm round h'
+ neck and produced concealed razo
;. which he instantly draw across her necI
+ The blood gushed forth in torrent, an
Is in a moment she fell back pale and lif
:, less. He had a pistol in his possession
!. which he intended using. With it
e was going to take his own miserable lii
: His hand quivered, and his courage
). do so forsook him. Then quickly al
Il