Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1878-03-22
EXECUTION OF A FIEND.

the excitement attending the arrest OF
down, and made an old man OF him long
before his time. On tie morning of Mon
day, October 4, 1875, Josie started for the
academy. about d u lie and half from hel
and back with a younger brother. TIL
time, however her brother had started hail
an hour before her. Sac is remembereo
oy neighbors who live along the road d.
skipping happily along, with an algeb.
under one arm aud tossing big red ap,
into tue air Size was a handsome XII
and every one in the village was fond q.
her. With the last person, excepting h.,
murderer, who saw her alive she exchange,
Il few merry words. The road to the acad
emey passes for a short distance through i.
thick piece of woods, but no one even
thought of danger there, for the academy
is less than half mile away, and peopl.
are constantly passing through it. But
Josie Langmald was murdered there.
Her absence from school led to inquiries
and then to search. Her headless and
dreadfully mutilated body was found be-
meath some trees, just IF the roadside, and
a few feet away her head Wrapped in her
shawl. The motive of the crime WIS evil
dent. but the dreadful mutilation of the
face, the severing of the head from the
body, and the other mutllationS too awful
to mention. seemed either the work OF a
maniac or an Infatuated drunkard After
the crime was widely published some de-
tectiveS in Canada who readit wrote that it
must have been done by Joseph Lapage, a
Frenchman, who was tried but acquitted
of the murder of Miss Bali nearSt. Albans
VT, wherein the victim had been similarly
treated. 1t was found that Lapage was
living near SuncOok and he was arrested.
He was tried twice and convicted each
time. He was hung last Friday. The
night before in his cell, those watching
him were attracted by Lapage rapping on
on his chair and motioning to them to
draw nearer. Suddenly Lapage fell on his
knees and, with the tears running down
his cheeks, exclaimed In broken English 4:
II killed gal; yes, killed two gal Too
bad, too bad. Pardon, mon Dieu, par
don.''
Warden Pilsbury spoke a few kind words
to him, and then the penitent wretch Sob
cred, and the confession, which was taken
down in writing by the Warden's son,
freed from bad English and French idi-
oms, is as follows:
Il left Suncock at O'Clock on the
morning of the murder, and passed the
bakery on the road at about O'clock |
stopped and talked with the baker few
minutes, but couldn't stay long. The
devil was in my heart. telling me to go
after the girl. went across the bridge
made by the highway and railroad, taking
stake from pile near by; then across
the pond, and met the girl. | struck her
with the stick. When struck she put up
her hand, and the cut On her hand was
caused by the blow Of the stick [ then
took her into the wood, cut off her head
with my knife, and carried the head to-
where it was found. Then [ went to the
small brook and washed my hands, knife.
and coat: then nearly doubled on myself
back to the place where | It my coat and
axe, and went up the road a short distance
to the place where | hid the wallet, ring,
&C., and little further on left my coat
and axe. then went on across lots to
Joe DanieIs's, and then took the highway
back to Suncook. taking coat and axe with
me, and got back to Suncook at P. M.
My wife burned up five shirts, two coats,
and two caps four OF five days after, and
Told me | was bad man, and she did not
want me any more. Then [ had no clothes
in the house. My wife did not burn them
up because they were bio dy, but we got
into quarrel. The girl had been dead
twelve or fifteen minutes before l cut off
her head with knife, and | washed the
knife in about five minutes, and dried it
by sticking it into the ground. | rubbed
'he blood off my coat and got it clean,
sure. think got to Joe Daniells's at
about II O'Clock, and talked with him a
long time. asked him to go al measure
my wood. He said Mo- l vent into the
woods, measured my wood. came back to
Joe Daniells's. and found him shoeing a
horse. He did not look at his Watch.
broke The stick by striking it On the ground
after the girl was dead, and did not break
it when l struck her. did not stamp Oh
her head Of face, but simply turned her
head with my foot when cutting off her
head. Tell Mr.. Langmaif he will find the
wallet, ring, etc, in the place where bur
led them. The testimony Of the doctors
from Boston about the blood on my clothes
was all true. My wife washed two
pairs Of pants the next week. My big coat
l left in the woods, and the blood on my
hands | washed off clean.'
Toward the end he broke out crying
afresh, and altogether displayed an amount
of sensibiliJY which astonished his hearers.
The warden then asked if he had anything
to say about the killing Of Miss Ball at st.
Adams in 1871. The murderer nodded his
head afirmatively, and went on:
Il killed the Bail girl, too. killed her
in the woods, and hid her body. On the
morning of that day was haying in the
field near my house; | was haying upto IL
O'Clock in the forenoon. Then [ went
across lots to meet Miss Ball at a spot on
the road where L knew she must pass. |
caught her there, and carried her into the
woods, It was about 81 when killed her,
and got home at Al. The clairVoyant at
Benni gton told it just as it was; told my
dren (tbe house was large black one), and
told about the small houses, too. Iput her
night dress, comb, and brush that she had
with her under the log. The man who
swore to seeing me every hour was good
man, and did not lie. He did not know
anything about me. My boys came home
from St. Adams about O'Clock. l work
ed fast, so they did not think [ had been
away
At The conclusion of his statement La
page set to work. and, with the aid of De-
putty Warden Pilsbuly, constructed rough
maps OF both murders, showing lis move
mentS in detail on each occasion. Then he
became moody again and ceased to speak.
at times he would start up and cry:
'sMe 10 matter, my wife no matter: My
childrep--oh, God too bad too bad -
Heexpressed deep sorrow for his offences,
and pray ed to ''the good Cod TO forgive
him. At l O'Clock he tried to divert his
mind by looking at SET of stereoscopic
views and chatting with his jailers, but it
was easy to see that his thoughts were on
ss'the fuish," as he quantity expressed it.
He was glad that only eqTngarasigely few
were to be admitted. He asked whether
there would be anybody from st Adams,
and was told thap 3 dozen or more were to
be present. He did not sleep q wink dur
ing the entire night, and said that during