Delaware Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1843-1874, 1873-12-25
THE DEATH SENTENCE.

the court Of Chester county, on Saturday NOR
ing week:
| An impartial trial, In which you were pro
ecuted with fairness and impartiality and d
tended with zeal and ability, has resulted
your conviction of Murder In the first degrs
And this result Ia just.
That the corpse found IN Baers woods W;
that Of Winfield Scott Goss, is not open
doubt. From the building on the York road
which vas burned To cover the flight Of Tn
mamie is traced with unerring certainty,
the desoate grave In the woods. Changln
bis name, and seeking to hide himself, he "
| left behind wherever he went, evidences {
identity that preclude all danger CT mistake
His striking pecularities of person, his hab
Vi intemperance, the remarkable ring he wort
| his handwriting, parts Of his dress left behind
his photograph, recognized wherever he went
and especially his "patent screwdriver," eshit
| tied from time TO time, his peculiar habit G
addressing you by the title of "Doctor," an
your own graphic description Of him to Rhodes
as ga man who had been lost for long time
and was supposed to be dead" enable us l.
Identify Goss, in the man called "Wilson,
with as much certainty as If he had worn hi
proper name. Traced from place to place,
few days before the body was discovered, h
was seen Ia the vicinity Of Baer's woods, goin!
in that direction and was not seen alive there
after. You who were there with him, had in
formed Rhodes only a few hours before, tina
the woods was his contemplated destination
when the grave was opened the same remark
able personal peculiaritles of Goss were fount
in the corpse,-the resemblance agreeing i:
everything, down to the color Of the hair, the
shape of the whiskers, and the length of the
unshaved beard. The ring was gone from the
hnger but 1t was found virtually in your pos
sesslon-upon the seat OF the vehicle In which
you had been riding. All his clothes save the
shoes and shirt had been destroyed but these
remaining articles, resembled his so closely
that the shoes are virtually identified as the
same. They were not only similar In kind
bat were peculiarly marked In two respects, as
his bad been. We repeat, with unerring Ger
tainty Goss Is traced 10 this grave.
And with the same certainty is his murder
traced to you. First, II is sho@ n that you had
motive to commit the crime-the success OF
your schemes as well as your personal safety
counseled, if they did not demand, il. Second,
II is shown that you expressed your purpose to
do lat first dimly, as in the letter OF Decem-
De-, and afterwards distinctly, as in the CONVEX
satlon with Rhodes. And thirdly, it is shown
That you did it. Five days preceding the event
be left the Vim. Penn Hotel in your company
three days later he was found in this county,
sun IN your company, manifeslly, passing west
ward, and shdnning observation. Ii. the even
ing OF The next day, as night came on, lie was
again seen In your company-seated by your
side in tie vehicle procured at Pennington
ville--now In the neighbothood of Baer's woods,
ami going ia that direction Thus you were
with him immediately preceding his death,
near to, and approaching, the place where
fonnd; directly after you were alone; and lie
was no more seen alive; the vehicle III which
you were riding together was broken, the car
pellng torn from its floor, the blankets missing,
aud the floor stained with blood. But few
hours previous yon had expressed your purpose
10 commit the crime, and sought the aid OF
your brolher-ln-liw In its accomplishment.
To the crushing weight of these terrible facts
you opposed nothing but an improbable, in
consistent acknowledgement to be untrue in
some reslec's, and supported by evidence in
none. No rational mind with this know ledge,
can entertain doubt of your guilt.
Aud it is not the guilt OF an ordinary murder.
With full average mind and fair intelligence,
you entered upon gigantic scheme of fraud.
An element In this scheme was the false as
sertlon OF Goss death supported by fictitious
creation of your acls-sup-
plemented by your perjury. Possessed of a
strong Will, you carried this scheme almost to
successful accomplishment. When, at length,
threatened with discovery, your plans and your
personal saIety endangered, you resolved TO Sc
cure yourself by taking the life of your accom-
plice in this crime. You mad known him long
and intimately, and were closely connected
with him by marriage. You had obtained lis
confidence, and lie seemed to follow your sue-
gestions with unquestioning trust. You drag
ged his weary feet from place to place, under
prelohce of seeking an asylum where lie might
SUN be secure AT length you reached the neigh
poInood familiar your youth-where il might
wen have been hoped the recolections of that
better, purer time In your life, would have av a.
kened some spark of tenderness, and arrested
your cruel hand. But here,--resolutely and
iataliy bent on your wicked purpose,-as even
ING FADED into night, You committed this most
horrible of crimes. Leaving your victim for
time, you returned at the Solemn hour of mid
night, and with the peaceful stars looking down
upon you, aud the sad appealing eyes gazing up
you carved and quartered him as If lie were a
the night IN futile effort to
cover up the evidences OF your guilt Then
visiting your aged mother, you returned To
your wife and children, with as lit lie apparent
concern as man returns from journey of
pleasure. The long record of crime scarce fur
nishes parallel to this case.
these things are not said to increase the
misery OF your present situation; but 10 vim
uliate Tie sentence which the law is about TO
pronounce. Nor are they said without sorrow;
ior VIC are not unmindfl that human justice is
the weakness of your moral
nature, and the force of your temptation, can
not enter into its judgment. That they will
be considered, and justly weighed in the bal
ance by Him who knows the secre troubles of
the oui,lwhose justice Is perfect, and whose
mercy Is boundless, we cannot doubt.
The court then delivered the following sem
tence, all the judges rising to their feet;
land now to wit, December 18th, A. D.,
1879 The judgement and sentence of the law
is, and the Court do order and adjudge, that
you WILLIAM L. UNDERTOOK be taken hence
to the prison of Chester coualy, from whence
you came, and be there safely confined until
the day appointed for your execution, at which
time yon shall be hanged by the neck until YOU
are dead aud may God have mercy on your
SOUL"
During the whole time the Judge was talk
ing the prisoner stood up looking steadily at
the speaker, his right hand resting on the back
Of his chair. aid his left arm resting upon his
mp; towards the close of the judges renal Ks
he once looked over the court room to the right
Of him, drew one hand over his moustache and
goatee, and then folded his hands over the
lower part OF his breast. When the Judge
spoke oil him visiting his aged mother, aad his
wife and children, after having completed the
terrible deed, and when a tremble in the speak
ers voice gave indication of the sad and
solemn duty he was compelled to discharge the
prisoners face flushed up, there was motion
oil the throat as though forcing back his natural
feelings, and slight working and twitching Of
the left hand and that was all-not one tear
not one sign of fear. At the close of The SEN
tence, and the Judges had resumed their seats,
Undertook remained standing until requested
by his counsel 10 sit down. The doomed man
was then ordered To be removed to prison, to
which place he was Immediately conducted
His wire and mother were both in West hes or
but neither were in the court room on Satur-
day.
The prisoners counsel, Joseph Perdue, Esq,
will take ont writ of error TO the Supreme
Court.
MARRIED.