The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1884-04-16
Judge Wades's Sentence in the Hanna
Case.

The following is Judge Wade's SEN
tence in the Hanna case, tried at White
Sulphur Springs. 1t certainly is re-
markable for its conciseness, beauty
of diction and sentiment:
Joseph W. Hanna, you may stand
upW
/ The grand jury at this term Of court
found an indictment against you, charg-
| ing you with the crime of murder in the
| first degree for the killing Of George n.
Nelson on the 22d of March last. Upon
| this Indictment you were arraigned,
| and entered a plea of not guilty. There
upon trial ensued before an intelligent,
| impartial jury, and you We're defended
| by able counsel, who did everything
| that could have been done in your be-
| half. The jury returned verdict
against you of murder in the first de-
gree in manner and form as charged in
the indictment. Have you now any
thing to say why sentence should not be
passed upon you ?'
"Your Honor-I feel that it is useless
for me to say many words. could say
much, but the events that happened
then are known only to God and my
self [ dislike the sentence, but now
await it,"
The Judge then continued: II am
content with the verdict of the jury 1t
is strongly supported by the evidence,
and the jury, regarding the testimony
and their oaths, could have arrived at
no other verdict. You deliberately and
with malice aforethought, shot and kill
ed George F. Nelson. Your relations
with the wife of deceased !; your previous
threats to take his life; your conduct
and that of the wife after the commits
sion of the deed, and the track of the
two bullets through the head and face
of your victim, silence your claim that
the shots were fired in self-defense. For
this bloody deed the law declares that
you must die And the law is supreme.
Its majesty and power must be acknow-
lodged and vindicated. or society and all
that we hold dear are lost. Human
justice, as short-sighted mortals are Civ
en- to understand it, declare that the
murderer shall perish. This life of ours
so wonderful and so precious, the mys-
terry of all mysteries, the gift of Infinite
Goodness, must be protected from all
harm, otherwise the human soul and
the matchless intellect capable of long
ing for immortality and of endless bliss
go back to barbarism and become but
llC IAoIIuCU VI CIC DC1ot. IL lo al q y -
thing to deatroy human life. I shudder
when [ think how cheaply and reck-
lessly men dare to lay bloody hands
upon this being SO fearfully and wonder
fully made. Murder will not cease until
men learn the supreme value and the
sacredness of human life. And even
here in this temple Of justice, surround
ed by all the forms of law, without pas
sion CT prejudice, and with heart full
of pity for the unfortunate, [ sometimes
tremble at what I am doing when |
pronounce the fatal words tnat send
fellow mortal to eternity; but this is the
orderly decree of human justice, and it
should be your consolation and mine
that sometime and somewhere infinite
justice will be done. / implore you to
repent Of your crime and to prepare for
death. There is no escape. | can give
you no hope. The facts in your case
and the law applicable thereto are in
exorable and cannot be changed. Now
therefore the judgment of the law and
sentence of the court is: That you,
Joseph w. Hanna, be taken from this
court room to the jail of the county and
there detained in close custody until
Wednesday, the 9th day of August A.
D. 1884, and thence taken to the place
appointed by law for execution, and
then and there, between the hours OF 10
O'Clock a. N. and 2 o'clock p. m. of said
day, be hanged by the neck until you
are dead; and may God have mercy on
your soul. D. S. WADE, Judge.
+e-a.-----