, 1884-01-19
THE DEATH DROP.
Donovan Hung at II:28 Yesterday,
Game to the Last.
The Full Story of His Crime, Its Dis
coyery and Its Fatal
Consequences.


Rawlins, Wyoming, January 49,
Leroy Donovan was executed this
morning at lips, firmly protesting his
innocence to the last. There was no
hitch in the proceedings, the gallows
and all the arrangements being
perfect. After the drop fell the
only movements perceptible were u
slight tremor Of the muscles and a
convulsive drawing up of the legs. His
neck was broken, and death must, Of
course, have been instantaneous. He
slept well last night, ate a hearty
breakfast and walked to the scaffold
with a firm step. He was game to the
last.
The crime for which Donovan was
executed was one OF the most atrocious
which has ever blackened the pages of
Wyoming annals. In 1888 there lived
ut Rock Springs a quiet and in~offensive
barber named William Leighton. OF
a generous and open hearted nature, he
made many friends, but it was this
very generosity which brought him to
his doom at last. Leroy Donovan, an
impecunious Irishman of not over
good repute was a friend and hanger
on of Leighton's, who furnished him
lodgings and food, and not seldom
supplied him with small sums Of
money.
On Sunday morning May G, 1893, the
little community was thrown into a
fever of excitement and horror by the
report that William Leighton had been
found dead in his bed-foully muir
dered. There could have been no mo-
tive for the murder a v and except a
desire to gain possession of the little
store of money which the barber, by
industry and ~frugality had succeeded In
boarding up.
A suspected party was arrested and
the furious populace cried loudly,
"Lynch himl Lynch himl" The bet
ter counsels OF law and order prevailed,
however, aud the prisoner was given a
chance to prove his innocence, which
he easily did. 1t WAS 500 noticed that
the man Donovan had more money
than had been usual with him, and that
he bought numerous articles aud paid
for them, which was quite contrary to
his previous custom. Putting this and
that together, it was concluded that he
knew more about the murder than he
would care to tell, and he was placed
under arrest. His confusion and self
contradiction at the preliminary ex-
animation substantially established his
guilt, and he was held for trial. The
people were as anxious for his lynching
as for that of the first party arrested,
but the authorities succeeded in land
ing him safely in the Jail at Green
River, and holding him there until the
grand jury met, where he WAS indicted
for murder in the first degree.
Up to this time the evidence had
been wholly circumstantial, but Detec-
tive Valentine, Of Omaha, was con-
fined in the jail in the guise of a des-
perate criminal, and a close intimacy
sprang up between him and Donovan.
Valentine boosted of murders commit
ted and other desperate deeds, until
Donovan, fred by emulation, confessed
to the killing of Leighton. He told
how he hid under the bed on the night
of May 5; how he rose twice with intent
to do the deadly deed, but was twice
prevented by Leighton's awakening;
how he finally waited until the dawn;
how he then crept from his hiding
place and struck his victim three times
on the head with a hammer, crushing
in the skull, finally throwing the bed
clothes over his head and stamping
upon it until life was extinct; and thus
the deadly tale was told.
The trial began October Il, Prosecu-
ting attorney, Merrill being assisted by
Hon. w. W. Corlett, and G. G. Smith
assigned to the prisoners defense. Lit.
tie defense was possible, however, the
confession Of the prisoner to the detec-
tive being sufficient to convict eyen
without corroborative evidence, which
was by no means wanting. The trial
only lasted two days, and the jury after
three hours consideration returned a
verdict of guilty, and the prisoner was
sentenced by Judge Parks to be hang
ed at Rawlins January 10, 1884, which
sentence, as heretofore stated, was duly
carried into execution. The effort to
induce the supreme court to set aside
the verdict, the appeals OF the frantic
mother to Governor Hale to spare her
boys life, and all the concomitant de-
tails OF the work to save the wretched
mans doomed life are too fresh in the
minds OF our readers to need further
reference.
So died a man who gave up his life
through overmastering cupidy, which
his weak moral nature, unrestrained by
even the common instincts Of graft
tude and affection, was utterly ineffect-
ual to withstand.
= Clam chowder, best in town, at
Elitch's, corner Seventeenth and Eddy
streets.