Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1872-11-09
George Grant.
HIS RUMORED CONFESSIONAL STRETCH OF
THE MAN-PREPARATIoN FOR HIS ExE.
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HIS RUMORED CONFEssIoS-A STRETCH OF
THE MAN-PREPARATION FOR HIS Exc.
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The West Chester RspiJlicdn saws
This wrrtched man-duomed to suffer an
ignoninious death on the scaflO.d on to
morrow WEEKS still impehittnt, i'm
patient Onl reYeugciul. lie chafcs at his
confinement and complains of the cruel
punishment about 10 be inf .cted upon
Lim-an innocent man lie maufcsts
great intcre-t IN the West Chester news
papers aud is always anxious To see them
as soon as they are published. His health
continues good, and his appetite for food
and drink is keen rs ever. lie is not con
fined to prison isre bat Ia allowed extra
dishes furnished by the Sheriff, for which
he is quite thankful. His sleep Is unlis
turhed, and he rests we'll. His behavior
in prison is unexceptioual, but a. the time
for his execution approaches he begins to
! manifest much uneasiness. Until within
a few days he has evidently hoped for
something to turn up that would release
him frum bis threstened fste--counling
| largely upon one Of his counsel, NimrOd
| Strickland, JT., for aid OF influence, but
| since the departure Of this friend from the
borough, this hope has been dissipated,
and he now eu lenly broOds over his i'm
! pending fate. This is not the first time
he has suffered imprisonment, and as he
! was always a good prisoner, he has the
sympalhies Of those who have charge of
him, but We believe no deed would be too
desperate for him if it promised escape.
For ZONE time rumors have gone about
that Grant had made a written confession
of the part he had taken in the murder ;
that he held the pistol while another
pulled the trigger, and other equally alb
surd stories. lie has written a statement,
covering fourteen pages Of foolscap. This
paper is dated in prison, September, 1872
aud is addressed to Gov. Geary. Ii h
crudely worded and his exact meaning is
sometimes difficult to get at. He declare.
I his Innocence, and that he docs not know
who did the murder but states circum.
stances duplicating others. In the lace
of the evidence ELECTED at his trial anC
his own different statements concerning
the pistol, he says that he parted with 4
some time before tie murder, aud infer
that il was obtained for the purpose o
b numbering Mrs Spence and then fa.teninl
, the murder upon him through il.
e lie attempts 10 eXpl in the fact Of bur
J docks being found upon his clothing, b,
asserting that sometime before the muir
, der he had been out hunting and on hi
I return had hung MS pantalOOns ava
8 without cleaning them Off carefully; tina
+ on the evening Of the murder after hi
s days work had been done he washed an
e changed his clothing, putting the huntinl
4 pantaloOns on. He admits that this wa
: an unfortunate circumstance. He ais
states that when the pistol was fired h
+ was squares away from thr scene Of nun
e der, aud much more OF the same import
u All that he assets in this paper he IN
told to his counsel, before trial, but it wa
:. too fimsy to make anything out of. Tn
] chain Of evidence was too strong, and the
could not offset the testimony offered b
the Commonwealth.