Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1880-04-05
DOOMED 70 DEATH.

DOOMED 70 DEATH.
Silas Frank Bsebe, for the Murder sr
George Landphere, Sentenced to Re
Hanged on Thursaay, June Sd. 1850.
AT ten o'clock this morning, the hour set
for %pronouncing the sentence of the Law up
on Silas Frank Beebe for the murder Of
George Landphere near Crow Creek agency
on the 4th Of July last, the court house was
hlled with a large concourse Of people. On.
ly a few ladies we're present, which was
noticeable from the fact that during the
trial there was almost daily q large attend.
ance Of ladies who took a deep interest in
the case, and We believe generally sympa.
thyzed with the prisoner. The non.attend-
ance this morning of the large number who
attended the trial was doubtless the result Of
that sympathy and pity and which would
make the hearing Of the death sentence n
pleasant, if not unbearable.
At thirty minutes after ten o'clock U. s.
District Attorney Hugh j. Campbell moved
the court, in the usual form Of Law, that the
prisoner he brought into court to receive the
sentence of the law. Judge Shannon so or
dered, and in q few moments the doomed
man, Siles Frank Beebe, in charge oftwo Of
6cers of the court, Warren Osborne and o..
liver Shannon, Jr., entered the bar of the
court and took q seat beside his counsel Gen.
w. p. Dewey.
The long confinement 10 which he has
been subjected, has told very p%erceptibly up
on the accused man. He has lost all of that
fullness n rounded contour of form which
he had when FIRST placed under arrest, and
his face is very pale and has a pinched and
unhealthy appearance but his eye was as
bright and his step as firm as when he en-.
tered the court room for the first time at
the commencement of his trial.
After a few minutes of delay, during which
the utmost stiffness prevailed, Judge Shan.
non in an impressive and feeling manner
proceeded to pronounce the awful sentence
Of death.
Upon being asked by Judge Shannon
whether he had anything to say why the
sentence O the Law should not be pronounced
upon him, Beebe replied: Nothing more
than l now again say that l am not guilty
II am innocent. I want to say that 1 feel
that 1 have not been fairly dealt with, and
that / want to have the case taken to the su-
preme court"
In pr%onouucing the sentence Judge Shan
non said that the prisoner was a stranger
here and that nobody had any prejudice
against him or desired other than a fair
and impartial trial. The case had been
decided by twelve fair and hones'
men. whose verdict was unbiased by fear o.
favor. Being poor, the court had given thu
prisoner the benefit of the best talent a
this bar, combined with the best skill. The
attorneys assigned by the court to the de-
tense had exhibited rare industry and yea
in the trial, and If there we're any hardship.
of which the accused complained they wer.
not he fault of the court or his counsel
but the fault Of the law itself. 1t is and
has been my ardent wish. said Judge Shan
non. that the case might be taken to the
supreme court to be revised by my learned
associates. The people have a tender regard
for human life, and a verdict of guilty
where the punishment is death, is nevel
rendered except when forced ny over
whelming testimony. You have had th,
benefit of q fair and patient hearing
and l could find nothing to justify me ii
granting q new trial. Public sentimen,
may hold that you alone are not guilty, bu'
it Is no excuse that others were there and
aided and abetted In the crime. If there are
other guilty ones then it is the duty of any
citizen to make the Information and the of.
GERS of the law must make lhe arrest.
10 the minds of some men and women
there is an aversion to the death penaIty
and In the minds of others 1t is believed
that death should be the punishment for
murder. From the year 1890 to the present
instant the law authorizing capital punish
ment has been sustained and stan Is upon
the statue books of the nation. The SEN
tence about to be pronounced upon you is
not mine, but the majesty of the law. 1t
is the awful, eolemn voice of the law of the
republic that he who commits murder must
die.
1t is aippant. p%uerile, wrong for people
ou~tside-those who have not heard with
honest ear-to criticize the evidence and
the application Of the law.
In conclusion, the entire audience stand.
ing in solemn and respectful silence. Judge
Shannon, his feelings overcome with the
unpleasant duty which the law imposed
upon him, yet, with unfaltering voice, pro-
nounced the sentence of the law, which was
that on Thursday, the third day of June,
1880, between the hours of nine o'clock 4.
m. and two O'Clock p. m. Silas Frank Beebe
be taken to the place of execution and then