The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-03-07

THE MURDERER OF SEVEN,
Frank Rande Gets or With a Sentence OF lmpris'
onment for Llfe-SOme of the Exploits OF tha'
Eminent DepOpulatOr OF Illinois Narrated

Frank Rande Gets or With Sentence OF lmpris'
onment for Llfe-some of the Exploits Of that
Eminent DepopuatOr Of Illinois Narrated
Chicago, Feb. pa special dispatch
from Galesburg TO the Journal says that
the jury in the Rande murder trial, after
being locked up forty hours, returned a
verdict at o'clock this morning, finding
the prisoner guilty Of murder and fixing
his punishment at imprisonment for life
A motion for arrest Of Judgment was
oyerruled. Previous to the sentence
Rande said that he was guiltless Of the
murder and that several witnesses had
sworn falsely against him. He was inn
mediately taken to Joliet heavily ironed
and under guard Of several officers,
Rande, whose real name was Charles
G. Scott, of Fairfield, Iowa., is the famous
"blue ribbon murderer" who is supposed
to have killed several persons and to
have committed unnumbered other
crimes. His escape from death sen.
tence is marvellous and had the good
people of Knox county supposed when
he was brought thither from st. Louis
last November that he would get off so
easily he would hardly have escaped
from the more vigorous processes OF
Judge Lynch's Court The crime for
which he has just been tried was the
murder of Charles Beldenin August last.
Early in the month Rande appeared in
Elmwood, near Peoria, where he visited
a'gun shop under the pretext Of wanting
to get a ramrod. That night the gun
shop was robbed, and search for Rande
proved fruitless. A few days afterwards
when Charles Belden and his wife, OF
ellison, seventy.fye miles from PEORIA
returned from church, they found that
their house had been robbed. Foot
prints led into corn field. Belden
summoned half a dozen neighbors. The
field was searched and Rande was found.
He took to his heels and the citizens,
now swelling in numbers to about a hun.
dred, followed. Finding himself pressed
the robber drew a nary revolver and
fred several times, shooting Belden
through the head and killing him in
stantly, and wounding man named Nc
Kown in the breast. The pursuers then
retired, taking with them the murderer's
vest, which he had dropped, and Rande
effected his escape, In the vest was
found receipt, signed by the Elmwood
express agent, for money which was to
be sent to st. Louis pawnbroker.
On September II Mr.. John Scoles, re-
turning from visit East with his family
to his home in st. Elmo, on the Wanda
liza railroad, found that q burglar had just
left his house with numerous articles Of
value. While searching the premises he
caught sight of man running through
field in the rear. Mounting'a horse Mr.,
Scoles pursued, but when he was within
thirty rods of the man the latter shot him
three times, each bullet intliCting fatal
wound. Mr.. Scoles fell from his horse
and expired in three minutes. A Gro Nd
hastily assembled while as yet the MUIR
derer conld be seen fleeing over the
prairie, and many Of the citizens being
mounted the chase pressed hard upon
him. Arrived within hailiDg distance
Mr.. Frank Barnes called out "Halt, or
you are a dead man," whereupon the
robber turned, and, holding revolver
in each hand, began firing. The first
shot killed Mr.. Barnes and the second
Mr.. Frank Wiseman. The murderer then
boldly charged upon his pursuers, who
turned and fled, losing two horses in
their flight BY his well aimed shots.
Those who were present have since :den-
tilted Rande as the hero Of that bloody
September day, though it is question
whether the legal proof would be suffi-
Cient to convict him in court of Justice.
On November II Rande called on the
st. Louis pawnbroker before mentioned,
That friend of the unfortunate had been
duly instructed and managed to detain
his visiter until Officers White and
Heferman appeared and undertook to
arrest him. Rande drew his ready re-
volver and struggle began, in the
course of which White was fatally
wounded in the thigh and Rande him
self shot in the breast by the pawnbro-
ker's clerk, When the capture was com.
pleted the prisoner remarked that White
was the seventh man he had killed in
his life. While in confinement, reCov-
ering from his wounds, ne proved per-
son of considerable intelligence and suf-
fcient education to write an elegant
hand and spell faultlessly. 1t was ascer-
tanned that he had spent term of years
at the Northern Indiana Prison for bur-
glary, where he proved most unruly
although not very plucky convict, in
spite ofhis braggadocio, since he readily
yielded when punished. He once shot
and severely injured an Indianapolis
police officer who attempted to arrest
him for creating disturbance, and he is
said to have killed a man and his wife
in Kansas, as we'll as to have committed
other crimes too numerous to mention,
He was taken to Knox county, Illinois,
instead of being tried in ST. Louis, for
fear that the fact that the officers who
tried to arrest him had no warrant
might prevent verdict of murder in the
first degree.