The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-05-08
cosDEMNED TO. DEATH.

= =
Interview with One Of the Brunswick Muir.
dcrera- His yicws on the Security or Jnfis-
He hns an Important Invention in His
Head His Thoughts In View DEATH ,fTl.
Andrew McGiff1n, who hns been sem
fenced by the County Court of Greensyille
to- suffer death as an accomplice. In the
murder of constable Drummoni, of Bruins.
wick county, is now confined In the Jail oil
this city for safe-keeping. Having par
TALLY escaped from this very Jail once be.
fore, he is now heavily ironed in' q secure
cell, by himself. Next door are the quar-.
tsrs lately vacated by Beard, Hazel, and
Watson. E'@ :, s"tS :" -.
A reporter Of this paper hSs had talk
with the condemned man, in the course Of
which the latter made some interesting
statements. he is about % years Of age,
and halls from the State Of Maine, having
drifted Southwark In the wake of the Union
army. A cooler man In prospect Of death
we have never seen. We give the sub
tance Of what he said in the conversation to
which reference has been made !: .';+ =
:" am from Maine. / came South with
the army and have been here ever since.
My family don't know. where am, at least
II never told them. and If they had
uCtilu hAO" GuJJ WOuIu thf0 Will
ten to ME. But they are like me
they're poor-and couldn't helm me much.
Dr.. Lewis is the man who killed Drummond.
They neverseven charged me with killing
him: I only said t'Shoot him :! kill hint y
and for that was found guilty of murder.
I was not armed, except with pistol, and
nobody says ever fired a shot or struck q
lick. But Pm free to say Imight have done
it, if they had oppressed me !; for looked
on it as self defence. About q dozen men
waylaid us, and if I had thought Twas
coming to this sentence I'd a.foueht sure
enough, though they had been all armed
and nothing but my fingers. Drummond
was no constable. He was appointed for
the purpose, and if Lewis had been, tried
first, as my counsel says he ought to have
that he Drummon0 offered ten dol
lrs for the warrant to arrest us.
If Lewis amt crazy now he has
fooled me as much: as anybody. He's
nightly changed, and looks and talks era
zy, so far as l see., This Jail would not
hold me if wanted to get away. There
amt any Jail that can hold man that has
ingenuity. / got out Of this Jail before
with saw made Of piece Of my dinner
pan. made the saw with nail. I have
| an invention in my head, though, that
would save life and be a great help TO Of
ticers. would like nightly TO lay it be-
fore the Governor and see what he thinks
of it. I know he'd say it is good thing;
and then all I'd ask would be that he would
| let me off. i would promise him to leave
the !; United States, and never come back.
The invention would be great saving of
life, and ought to be Known by all officers.
know it don't seem right for one prisoner
to 20 back on another; but Ed do this for
the public good. OF course the Governor
would have to do something for me in turn.
! Ii I had known was coming to this,sen-
| tence might have jumped off the cars and
| got away. Jumping off the cars is nothing,
you know, when they are going at 90 or 30
miles an hour. -...-......
Being asked when his sentence was to
take effect, he pondered moment, and
then said : "Well, really: / dsremember
the day, but it's sometime in July" Then
elevating his voice, he called, 6 Charley,
] ., Charley - One of the prisoners (Char-
| ley Welsh, of Richmond, a bright-f;aced
Fellow about twenty-one years old), came
running to the door Of the cell in response
"Charlie, when does that come OFF," I
What your sentence?" - @H
EYES" ... s. II; a..--.f.
'I believe it's the 9th of July"
"No, no; it's later'n that, I'm right
sure ....g -r. ...-
''It's in July, and there's 90 to the
date" says Charley. "Maybe it's the
25th." .lf a..
"Yes, it is the a5th," rejoined the con
demned man. [The 21st is the day named
| in the sentence.] .-.. 1rg@ .. -.
He then continued, in answer to ques
tions: 81 think J. ought to get new trial
My counsel says they hadn't ought to have
| tried an accomplce before they tried the
principal. But Pm preparing for death
You know that's what man ought to dc
at any time. The days don't seem long tc
| me, for | know Pm innocent: [ haYen'l
done any more'n you or any ybody else would
| don't intend ever to let my folks know
What becomes of me, If it comes to the
] worst" .. ..... .... ...g
| He talked as coolly as his questioner, and
looked the latter steadily Ill the eye with
his clear gray one.
McGiiiin is on the lower floor of the jail
up stairs DR.. Lewis, who has not yet been
/ tried, is incarcerated. He is either insane
| or feigns insanity. A more pitiabe spec.
| tacle IS seldom seen. be would hardly be
recognized as the same person who was
brought to the Jail u few months ago ,for
the murder of Drummond. He neither
| eats nor drinks except upon compulsion,
| and sleeps little. Crouching in the corner
| Of the cell, his favorlte pastlme is to Sit
with his knees drawn up to his chin
and play with his fingers rub his legs
| once or twice he has been violent,
but generally he maintains m all
of sullen stupidity which it seems hardly
| possible can be uninterruptcdly feigned
| DIR. Dove, the Jail physician, and Mr. Frank
| lin, the turnkey, as well as Mr.. Capston
1.-The keeper Of the Jail, are perfectly salts
| fled that he is insane, and on their teStlmo'
nv his trial has been postpo The evi
| dence against him is of such nature that
| he cannot but be convicted of murder ir
the first degree if the case is ever passed
| upon by jury. o.: