Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-06-26
Sentence .! C!ave+!!a. F!
a SUPPOSED ALIBI MELTS INTO
IHIN AIR.

The last proceedings affecting Thomas |
j. Cluverius, in the lower courts (unless a |
new trial is ordered by the Court of APP
peals) took place on Friday and Saturday
last. The prisoner was brought up Friday
for sentence. He appeared calm and self
and while the clerk read the
min utes of the previous day $ proceedings,
carried on whispered conversation with
his counsel.
at length Clerk Lawton told the pris-
Oner to stand up, and propounded the usu-
al question as to whether he had anything
to say why sentence Of death should not
be pronounced against him.
The prisoner in low and rather husky
voice, addressing the Court, said: 81 will
say, Sir, that you are pronouncing SEN
tence on an Innocent man. That is all L
have to say, Sir"
Judge Atkins proceeded then to pass
sentence, briefly, but impressively. fixing
the time of execution on Friday, NOvem-
Der 20, next.
The following is the text of Judge At
kins's death sentence: Thomas j. Gu
verius, you have been indicted for the Will
full, deliberate and premeditated murder
of Fannie Lillian Madison, your compan-
ion and cousin, whom you had, betray1ng
her confidence, treacherously seduced.
Twelve of your fellow men, selected for
their intelligence and impartiality, have
patiently and attentlvely listened to
the evidence in this cause. Witness after
witness has been examined, and day after
day consumed in an endeavor to arrive at
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth of this charge. Exceeding
ly able counsel have done all that learn
ing, eloquenee, skill and experience could
accomplish in your behalf. You have had
a fair, and l may say liberal trial, and
finally the jury, in the faithful discharge
OF their duty. have pronounced you guilty,
and that verdict has been approved by the
Court. [ shall not harrow your feelings
by referring at length to the enormity of
your crime, every step in the preparation
of which must be deeply engraved upon
your memory. To man of your intelli-
gence no good could be accomplished by
doing so. [ commend you to the sugges-
tiOnS of your own better thoughts. Nor
is it necessary to comment upon it in the
interests of society. The public press full
ly inculcates upon the people the lessons
to be drawn from such an event. [ do
not deem it my duty therefore to do more
which the law affixes to the crime of MUIR
der, of which you stand convicted, which
sentence is that you, Thomas j. Cluye-
RUS, shall be taken hence to the Jail of
this city, and there securely kept until the
Goth day of November next, on which
day, between the hours of nine in the
morning and six in the evening, you shall
be taken to some convenient place Of exc
cution at or near the said jail, and in the
presence only of such officers Of the law
as may be necessary to see that this SEN
tence is properly carried into effect, be
there hanged by the peck until you are
dead. and may God in His infinite good
ness have mercy on your SOUL"
The prisoner stood unmOVed, without
manifesting the least emotion, and when
the Judge had concluded took his seat
quietly. The court was then adjourned
and the condemned man taken back to
Jail, where he was locked in murderer's
cell, there to remain until the day of exc
cution, or until granted a new trial by the
Supreme Court, which meets in Richmond
on the I'd of November. Judge Atkins so
fixed the time of execution as to give the
prisoner an opportunity to get decision
of the Supreme Court before that time ar
rived.
SURPRISE TO THE CoURT-A NEW
TRIAL ASKED FOR ON SUPPOSED DIS
CovERY OF NEW FACTS.
On the next afternoon the form of TAX
ing the prisoner to the Hastings Court
for his counsel to have his bill of excep-
tons signed. was gone through. A sur
prise was created by Mr. Brown Evans,
one of the prisoners counsel, reading Two
affidavits to the court. One was made by
Thomas ]. Cluverius setting forth the
fact in the usual legal form that new evi.
dence had been discovered in his case
which "corroborates the statement made
by him all the time since his arrest, to the
officers who arrested him and to his coun-
sci, as to his movements in the city of
Richmond on the 18th of March, last"
The other affidavit mot yet signed) was
that of Mr.. johnson, the night clerk at
Ford's Hotel. in which johnson said this:
Late On the evening of the 10Th of
June, 1885, tO-Wit, about the hour Of
the affiant met with Savage, who had just
arrived in the city of Richmond from
Clifton Forge, and who is well known to
affiant; and after the exchange Of the
usual salutations the conversation turned
upon the sentence of the Hastings Court
of the city of Richmond pronounced
against Thomas j. Cluverius during the
morning, and the general subject Of his
trial, In which conversation the said Saw
age stated that few minutes after s
O'Clock P. M. On the 18th of March, 1885,
he was standing in the office near the reg
lister at Ford s Hotel when young man
approached said office, and looked over
the arrivals on said register, and after do
ing so inquired of the clerk in the office
at the Time s to the time of departure OF
the York River train for West Point in
the morning; that the said young man
was Of stature lower than said Savage
and that he had on an overcoat that was
Of a color or shade a little darker than
the Confederate gray uniform, either dove
or steel colored; that the said young man
then left the hotel, and that shortly there
after the said Savage left the hotel and
went to the Dime Museum, on Eighth
street. On entering the Museum he saw
and recognized the same person whom he
had just seen at the hotel, as above sta
ted, seated in the audience on the left
hand side of the middle aisle; that said
Savage arrived at the Dime Museum and
about twenty minutes past O'Clock, and
that he saw him, off and on, in his seat
during the performance 1.-THE play being
the "Chimes of Normandy,') which
closed about 104 o'clock, or whereabouts.
The said Savage states that during the
progress of the trial be saw photographs |!
of the DECEASED, F L. Madison, and the |
accused, Thomas J. Cluverius, both in
the Richmond Dispatch and in card form, |
and that upon seeing the photograph of |
said Thomas J. Cluverus he at once rec |
ognized it as that of the same person |
whom he had seen at Ford s hotel and at |
the Dime Museum on the night of the |
18th of March, 1885. Savage stated that |