Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1882-12-19
THE LERAHsN MURDER.
A Lifesof Depravity. Which Scarcely Has
Parallel.
Sioux Ctr Journal,

mother. Lenahan always hated the
mother and her children. The family
unite in describing their home life as q
hell upon earth. It was the common
sentiment of the women when alone to
wish the old man dead. Then Burch
came. nominally as Annie's suitor. Annie
is now 10, q girl of rather prepossessing
looks, in spite OF the life she has led.
Evidently. from what has happened
since, she loved Burch with all the in.
tensity of passionate woman. Proba-
bly, he was the only man who had ever
treated her with common kindness.
Burch himself was q cool, unprincipled,
sleek young man, a coward and scoun-
drei, as he showed himself at the trial.
It is the common belief that the baby
born to Mrs. Lenahan last Nav in iail
can CLAIM Burch for its father. Evidence
was introduced at the trial that tended
to show his too-intimate relations with
Mrs. Lenahan. But into this part of the
story there is no need of going.
Lenahan forbade Burch his house. He |
still paid his addresses to Annie. One
night last February Lenahan was found |
dead in his house. He had been shot
from behind, the bullet entering near the
base OF the brain and lodging beside the
eye. Apparently he had been reading q
paper as he sat beside his fire. The
mother and two daughters at first said
the shot had been fred from outside the
house, by whom they did not know. At
the inquest Maggie confessed that she
had killed her father; that her mother
and sister knew what she was going to
do. She broke down completely in the
story, but was understood to say that
Burch knew about it too. Maggie had
come home from LeMars but two days
before the murder, and confessed to hav-
ing come to kill her father.
The pistol with which the murder was
done was found hid in straw-stack. It
was Smith & Wesson, 32-calibre, with
a scratch on the plate, just such pistol
as Borch had been seen to carry. No
pistol was found on Burch's person or in
his room when be was arrested. Two
letters were found from Annie to Burch
in which she said she wished her father
were dead. After the Lenahan women
were jailed they told their friends that
Burch knew that their father was to be
made away with.
When the time for trial drew on Mrs.
Lenahan transferred the property left by
her husband to two Rock Rapids attor.
neys in consideration of their services.
These were to fight for Burch. Without
the testimony of the Lenahan women
there was insufficient testimony to con.
vlct Burch of being an accessory. What
had been said at the inquest, or told by
the Lenahan women after their arrest to
, friends, could not be used rs evidence to
the jury. The jury is supposed to know
} nothing about case excepting the
| sworn testimony of witness examined
before them. The Lenahan wo
I men would not testify against Burch
They said they woald hang in the Rocl
, Rapids court room before they would say
a word against him. Annie, the young
t est and least criminal, was taken from
; Jail by order of the district attorney. Ii
room at the hotel her uncle and aunt
plead with her to tell the whole truth in
court, promising that if she did pardon
was assured after brief imprisonment
She admitted to them that Burch knew
of the plan to kill her father, but refused
/ to say word in court to save herself O,
, her mother and sister unless Burch tolt
! her to. Burch did not tell her to testify
J. He was discharged. The Lenahal
/ women plead guilty to the killing, ant
9 on Friday night, when the crowded
e court room was husbed to deathly 81
lence to hear the sentence pronounced
{ that sent Annie to the penitentiary TO
| ten years and Mrs. Lenahan and Maggie
/ for life, Burch was on his way out o
r town to take the train. He had not evel
{ the miserable decency to wait and see th,
} women whom he had ruined sentenced
e for his sake, to living death.