Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-09-29
RRoKEN ON TIE WHEEL.

There is no State in Europe in which
the barbarous punishment Of breaking
on the wheel is inflicted on criminals
except Servia, one Of the ~semi-depen-
denotes Of Turkey. In Servia, they have
three methods Of furnishing murderers,
highway robbers and ineendiaries. In
the most aggravated cases execution BY
breaking on the wheel is inflicted. IN
other cases the culprfts are tied to chairs,
and the headsman runs q sharp knife
across their Threats and then breaks
their spine. II there are peculiar circum-
stances Of mitigation the culprits are
shot by q file Of soldiers. One Of the
most revolving crimes ever committed
in Servia was the assassination Of the
whole family OF wealthy farmer, nam
ed Detrestisy, in Bialin district, about
twenty miles from Belgrade, the capital
Of Servia. On the twenty-fOurth
Of April Detrestisy, a man Of
fOrtyy years of age, his wife,
Susannah, t~wenty-nine years old, and
his three Children, Frances, KathinIa
and Arandeas, aged respectively twelve,
nine and four years, were found in the
house murdered. 1t was also discovered
that the mother and the two daughters
had been outraged. All the victims had
been beaten with bIudgeOns and then
stabbed. An active search was at once
made for the perpetrators. Two days
afterward they were discovered in a for
est about four miles from where the
crime had been committed. They were
Sebastulus Alexiry, formerlya non-eOm-
missioned officer in the army Of the
Sultan Of Turkey, and Moses Alexander
Werthstein, an Austrian. When they
were arrested the officers found several
hundred zequins and the watch Of the
murdered farmer in their possession.
They were taken In irons 10 Bucharest.
Upon being brought before the examin-
ing magistrate they denied any knOwl-
edge Of the crime; but the lash, which
is there still used upon the mendaeious
criminals, was not long in eliciting a
confession from the tortured WOrthstein.
After receiving fifty lashes on the bare
back, he confessed that Alexiry and he
had broken into the house of the farmer
in order to rob him Of three hundred
ZequinZ. They succeeded in forcing
their way into the house, but were con-
fronted by him, whereupon a desperate
scufhe ensued. The farmer fought
valiantly, but they dubbed him, and
then finished him with their dirk knives.
Alexfry refuses to confess, and remained
firm under the torture of the lash, freely
administered by order Of the magistrate.
Both Alexiry and Werthstein were fully
committed. Their trial before the full
bench Of criminal judges came off on the
leventh ofJune. It lasted butone hour.
Both were found guilty Of murder
without -eXtenuating circumstances, and |
sentenced to be broken on the wheel. |
There was loud applause in court when
the sentence was pronounced. Alexiry |
listened to it without emotion. Worth
stein, however, broke into loud screams, |
his hair and yelled for mercy. The
officers of the court had to drag him
back to his cell. The thirteenth Of July /
was fixed fort execution. They were TO
their doom On the old glacis of
the fortress of Belgrade, upon which
Eugene Of Savoy made Onee his
assault. The execution was TO
take place at nine o'clock in the norm
ing, and an enormous cOncoUrse assem-
Jled TO witness it. The scaffold was
circular, Of wood, and the only distine-
tive feature abouti it was st. Andrews
ross, slightly elevated above the plat
iOrm. About half past seven the eX-
scutiOners arrived. One was q heavy
)Uilt man, and the other almost a giant. |
Both were dressed in green flannel
jackets and had their arms bare. When
he clock on st. Mary's steeple at Bel
yrade struck eight, there emerged from
he gate of the fortress a procession
headed by four hOrsemen. Next follow
ID the carriage in which the judges and
he priest were seated. AS the procession
merged from the gate, loud shrieks
we're heard. They were those Of Werth-
tein, who, chained as he was hand and
Dot, screamed to heaven for help. Under,
circumstances, his appeals
have had some effect upon the
But knowing the fearful crime
which he and his aecOmplice had COM
there was not a voice raised in
is favor, and the soldiers were rather
ncOuraged to punch him with the butt
nds of their muskets. When the Grim {
nails had been brought on the platform, {
stitch 0 fclothing left upon AIexiry
Yas torn off and he was firmly tied to c
he st. Andrews cross. Until this
lOment he had preserved his equan- 8
But now the executiOner drew
ON the green bag a sort of iron club, !
18th a knob at its head. The fastened L
looked wistfully at the man I
no was to torture him to death. The I
Secutioner then raised his club and /
Alexiry's right shoulder. The I
lurderer gave a shrek and made a des- a
crate effort to free himself. He strug- S
ed desperately in his agony, but the b
ext blow which the executiOner gave 4
im-on the knee-pan-elicited from \
lie culprit a scream of pain that caused v
lie blood ofthe spectators to freeze. After v
lis infection he seemed insensible, and g
other blows crushed his joints, and b
finishing strokes on his belly were b
ven as to dead man. Meanwhile, 81
Terthstein, in his chains, had to look fl
/. He rent the air with his lamenta- p
Ons, and came near fainting away b
hen the executioner dealt AleXiry the C,
st blow. He flung himself to the floor q
ID begged p~iteously for his life; but, a
ter the lifeless corpse of AleXiry had e.
detached from the fatal cross he 81
IS dragged to it, and, in spite Of his v
vocation, fastened to it like his accom- v
Ice. He yelled even before he received d
e first blow with the iron club; but al
len that instrument of torture de- &C
ended upon his shoulder joint, he gave G
unearthly scream, and the execu- d.
blow upon his knee-pan made Il
howl still worse. For five minutes Of
an eternity under the circumstances al
continued his yells, and it vas not 81
til the executioner gave him three ~
avy blows on the abdomen that all in
s quiet, and Servian Justice was VI