Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-01-06


cl0thing and ornaments that the
dead woman was Mary Randall, once
Mary Ordolf; that the prisoner mar
ried her in 1865, and had since
strangely kept that fact secret, not
only from his acquaintance at Bee
vile, but from his own family; in
short, he brought her to Virginia,
and was last seen with her in car
riage, driving through Beeville on
the Sunday we have already noted;
that at the hotel, on the Saturday
night before, he told his wife that on
the next day he intended to take her
to his uncles', whose house she never
reached; that he was engaged to be
married to Indiana Randall, his
cousin; and that he had duped the
Ordolfs into believing that his wife
had died a natural death. There was
a cloud Of other testimony to the
like effect, and though he was elo-
quently defended, the Judge did not
hesitate in returning a verdict of
"Guilty ofmurder in the first degree"
When asked if he had anything to
say why sentence Of death should
not be passed upon him, he answered,
"Nothing!"
His counsel appealed, but In vain;
besought executive clemency, but
without avail. The day before that
set for the execution of the con-
demned man, the following commu-
nication appeared in the Beeville
Gazette:
"EDIToR GAzETTE:-I do not
claim to be the only person in town
who impartially and critically heard
and examined the evidence submit
ted in the case of Randall, who is
soon to be hung; but such seems to
be the fact. While l must admit
that the mass Of that testimony APP
pears to bear fatally against the con-
demned, there are certain odds and
ends of it that point away from him
to another or Others. The man who
first found the body said he saw no
tracks of man near it, only the
tracks Of q woman or women. Not
distant from the spot was an old
well, into which the body would
have been thrown by thecondemned,
had he killed her; the presumption
is that he did not kill her, but that
she was killed by some one unable to
convey her corpse to that place Of
concealment. A freeman testified to
seeing two females pass that way on
the Sunday in question. Mr.. Tinsley
found cOal-black chignon near the
scene, which was not claimed as
Mrs. Randafl's. A certain young
lady witness, with raven tresses,
possessed at least of q motive equal to
that alleged against Randall, admit
ted that she knew Randall was mar
ried, had seen a letter from his wife
to him, had written to her, etc. Is
it not barely possible that her in
formation OF the marriage may have
been derived from the very letter
found by Tinsley, dropped there by
some one-not Randall?
| These things that ! have briefly
mentioned are, Of course, inc0nclu-
sive, but they are terribly suggest
i've, and ! could not let John Randall
die without bringing them to public
notice. JUSTICE"
On the day Of execution, Randall's
counsel published o card, in which
they said:
"The communicationin Yesterdays
Gazette, signed Justice directly i'm
putes to us a gross negligence in
defense Of our client. We can only
say, in disqualification, that the line
Of argument indicated, and the course
Of investigation suggested by the
facts alluded to. were peremrtorily
objected to by Mr.. Randall himself,
and were accordingly abandoned
by'us."
Randall was hanged In accordance
with his sentence;-dying without
confession or denial.
III.
After the execution the sheriff for
warded to Mr.. Ordolf sealed letter
from Randall, written on the eve o.
his death. We give an extract:
81 did not do 1t, nor consent to 1t,
nor know Of it until the awful deed
was done beyond remedy. would
willingly have sacrificed thousand
lives for her, as ! now sacrifice life
and reputation to screen the one who
is really guilty. With Mary persisted
every desire In mo for life. ] long
for death--even the death Of the gal
lows. But ] would not die leaving
you forever under the horrible be-
lief that I am the murderer Of our
darling. Oh, ! adjure you to credit
me when sware here, in presence
Of God and eternity, that ] am inno-
cent. Mary, who knows me guilt
less, will meet me joyfully beyond
the tomb"
Indiana Randall was said to be a
raving maniac. From the first arrest
of John Randall she had exhibited
symptoms Of a mind unsettled by
the weight Of sudden and Ovcrwhelm-
ing grief. Her family gave out that
the loss Of her lover under such
fearful circumstances had Temperate
ly affected her physical and mental