The Portland daily press., 1885-04-18
EXECUTED.
Santore and Capone Suffer the
Penalty for Murder.
They Die Without Making any Con-
fessien.
How the Murderers Passed Their
Last Night on Earth.
The Story OF Their Terrible Crime Again
Told.
EXECUTED.
Special to the Press.)

Special to the Press)
oMAsToN, April 17.-Yesterday Father
Boniface, the Italian priest, provided by Gov.
Robie to attend the condemned murderers, was
almost dishesrtened at the smallness of the i'm
preston which he had been able to make upon
them by four days Of labor. They still per-
sisted in their declarations of innocence, each
laying the crime at the others door, and being
violent in his expressions OF hatred for the
other Their spiritual adviser appealed for
help to Father Peterson, hoping that an older
man might be able to effect more; bat, in spite
OF the kind and persistent efforts of the Rock
land priest, the men remained obdurate. This
morning, hswever, Santore, the older man,
sottsned. When the warden of the prison
brought him the death-suit, Santore begged
forgiveness for any trouble which he had
caused during his confinement. The warden
readily granted his request, and the priest
seized the opportunity to say, "Santore, as the
warden forgiyes you, so yeu should forgive
your enemies, even Capone." He Immediate
" acquiesced. and declared that If the priest
desired, he would kneel to Capone and kiss his
feet. Capone held out longer and was less
hearty in signifying his forgiveness. He said
it was Gods business, not his; but at last he
reluctantly agreed to forgive Santore; but he
carried himself jauntily and seemed to have
no adequate conception of the solemnity of his
situation.
The last night of the condemned men was
passed as follows, as taken from the detailed
report OF the night watch, who visited them
every half hour: At Z p. IA. both called for the
night watch to light their pipes. At $50 both
were sleeping. Santore awoke at l o'clock
and wanted to smoke; he said he had no fear.
At 2.S0 he slept, and at O'Clock wanted an
other smoke. AT 4 80 he was sleeping again,
and at 530 he relit his pipe and smoked until
breakfast. Capons slept from $50 until 2
O'Clock. at which time he wanted to smoke.
He then dozed from till o'clock, and smok.
ed from that time until breakfast. When
Ssntore received his food this morning he said:
"Last meal; no 'frsid; trnst God" He partook
heartily of his bread and ceffee. Capone ate
nothing for breakfast, and when visited at z
o'clock by DR.. H. G. Levensaler, the prison
physician, he complained of feeling sick, pas
sing his hand as he spoke over his breast. His
pulse was 100. He seemed greatly excised ,and
when asked if he knew what was going to ttke
place nodded his head, smiled wickedly and
said: "Santore die; hang" He still clung to
the belief that he was not to die, but that his
accomplce was the doomed one, and he show
ed great joy at the thought. He pulled con-
tinually at his pipe and seemed in the most
the prison. His eyes have lost none of their
brightness, and they shone from under the
visor OF his prison cap with dangerous look.
Santcre was the moro excited of the twoand
struck his breast violently, waved his hands in
the air and exclaimed, mo 'fraid; triumphl''
pointing upward He wrote on the fly leaf of
book and passed out for examination this
sentence, "The justice believed an erroneous
aud assassias story
Everything was quiet at the prison, the men
were at work in the shops, and there was moth
ing but the presence of visitors and the few
final preparations to indicate the approach Of
the terrible tragedy.
Their spiritual advisers visited them again
during the forenoon.
The effect of the approach OF the execution
upon the rest of the prisoners was very slight.
No mention of the matter was allowed in their
presence.
At ten minutes before II o'clock the GRIM
insls, accompanied by three priests and two
Italians, who have frequently visited them and
acted as Interpreters, were conducted to the
scaffold by the sheriff and his assistants, placed
upon the drop and their necks encircled by the
ropes. They were clad in short blouses and
trousers of black alpaca, and were secured
with cords which fastened their arms and
wrists to their sides. Santore was somewhat
pale and anxious looking, but bore himself
with perfec4 steaainess. Around his left wrist
was his rosary, where he had requested the
priest to tie it. AS soon as hs reached his
place he began to talk, and continued making
remarks, sometimes in loud voice, and
calculating short prayers most OF the time un.
til the fatal moment. Several times he ex-
claimed that he forgAve everybody, his words
being translated for the witnesses by the priest.
Once he said, ST stand in the place of the as.
sassins. The court has sentenced me, and L
yield to the provisions OF the law" Seeing
Certain officer OF the prison in the group Of
spectators in front of the gallows, he called him
by name and said "Good bye" He made the
responses in the religious service In a clear
and distinct voice. Neither he nor his COM
panion made any confession of guilt; but it is
noticeable that, while hitherto both have been
lou in their protestations of innocence, this
morning neither claimed this.
Capone's face wore an expression which was
almost contemptuous smile. He seemed ut
tsrly unconcerned, and acted as IL he really
thought that the whole proceeding was merely
an attempt to frighten him into confession.
He was perfectly silent, except when the priest
spoke to him, and asked his attention to a Dor
tion OF the service of the church; then his
answers were given in low tone and an un.
feeling manner. The men did not even ex-
change glances, seeming Indifferent to each
others presence. While the officers were
fastening their thighs and legs with cords, the
clergymen read the Commendatio Anins. the
service for the dying.
The sheriff adjusted the nooses SO that the
knots came directly under the left ears draw
ing the cords only moderately tight. The
black caps, OR rather bags, were drawn over
the heads of the doomed men and tied with
strings, the little wooden box which had con-
cealed the spfing holding the drop in place
was removed, and the sheriff said, "In obed-
iencs to the warrant OF the Governor, now
hang you by the necks until you are dead,
dead, dead; and may God have mercy on your
soulsl' He pressed the spring with his foot,
the drop fell, and instantly the murderers were
eight fset below, twisting at the ends of the
ropes. Twice within two minutes there was a
slight drawing up OF Capons's knees, but Sam
tore moved not muscle For eight minutes
the pulse OF Santore beat distinctly, at first be.
ing accelerated, and then diminishing in fre-
quency until it ceased altogether. Capone's
pulse was similarly affected, but continued a
little longer. At the end of ten minutes no
pu.sation of the heart could be detected in
either OF the men, bat they were allowed to
hang until twenty minutes had elapsed, when
they were pronounced dead by the physicians
The bodies were then lowered into the cofins,
the black caps being allowed to remain, con-
cealing the possibly distorted features.
AS soon as the hearts had stopped beating
Father BoLiface read the De Exiquiis, the
Catholic service for the dead.
Half an hour after the lethal touch on the
spring, the company of thirty-five people who
witnessed the hanging had dispersed, and the
victims OF the legal Killing we're enclosed in
their cofins. Death occurred in both cases in