Omaha daily bee., 1885-10-26
CALLING ON THE CONDEMNED
A Visit to the Gage of Quinn Bohenau at
0toe Oounty's Jail,
THE CRIMINAL AND HIS CAREER.
Everyday Life Of the Doomcd-His
Opinion OF Ncbraska's Pcnitcn-
tiary-Gcre's Vote in 1882
Anaiyzed-Cit Briefs.

'olOt COuHlN ltil, ul ANtpltShb NllNN Wy -
BEE reporter. The cell occupied by 30.
hanan is on the south side of the build.
ing, and the cell in which he is confined
is what may he called an iron cage
within cage. The cage is 81 feet one
way by u feet the other, and is about
feet high. 1t is enclosed on three sides
with heavy boiler plate, with only one
side grated. The atmosphere is close,
and when asked, Bohanan said he suf
fered great deal from lack of fresh
air. In appearance Bohanan is Il man
weighing about 1i5 pounds; he has dark
hair and beard, with u slight tendency to
badness; his features are rather sharp
cut, and his actions arc nervous and ut
times quite animated.
Tho crime for which Bohanan now
stands convicted by the Judgment of the
supreme court of the state was the kill
ing of James Cook, at Waverly, Neb,,
III February, 1882. During a discussion
over a trivial matter, the spelling of
word, quarrel arose between the men.
Without apparent provocation Bohanan
pulled out his pistol and shot Cook, kill
ing him almost instantly. His first trial
occurred at Lincoln in June, 1882, when
he was prosecuted by John c. Watson,
and defended by o. =. Mason, who has
since been his attorney. Bohanan was
convicted of murder in the second de.
gree, and his attorney moved new trial
and change of venue to Otoe county on
account of prejudice. When the second
hearing occurred the jury brought in a
verdict of murder in tho first degree.
Legal tcchnicalities arose and the case
was further heard in the supreme court
and judgment affirmed. During the
progress of the second trial it was found
difficult to get Il jury, but finally one was
secured which comprised some OF the
best citizens of Otoe county.
Bohanan's life has been written by
nearly every paper in the state and it is
only necessary to say that he was born
i'll kentucky at Il small place called Bag
dad in the eastern part of the state. Ac-
cOrding to Bohanan's statement his faith
er owned II small farm, but in his own
words he asserted that "he never saw the
old man do n HEX OF work in his life"
Bohanan said that he had always liked
fat men and that had been his reason for
thinking of Judge Mason.
The BEE reporter asked him whether
he would rather be in the cell he is now
confined in or at the penitentiary where
he had been incarceratcd for horse steal.
ing. When the question was asked him
BOhanan started up and in an excited
manner said: There is but one worse
place than the Nebraska penitcntiary,
and that is hell; there is only one place
that | can conceive to be worse that hell
and it is the penitentiary, hell is the only
place that can be worse than the peni-
tcntiary."
After Bohanan had finished this rather
incohorent statement he uttered II short,
dry laugh, and commenced talking about
something else.
When asked why he had such an aver.
sion to the penitentiary, he said he had
good many reasons but would give no
particular one.
For some time past Bohanan has been
reading the record of the celebrated case
of the State of Missouri against Charles
Kring, who murdered his wife about
fourteen years ago in ST. Louis. That
case was hotly contested, and during its
pendency Kring lay in the city Jail at st.
Louis for over eight years. Kring's case
was taken to the supreme court of the
United States and il was there several
years before final hearing 1t was finally
determined that Krng had been guilty of
= -. -, -, Il,l,,,,.,,, ,,,,,l;,, az,
uereu accoruiiSS. @ poiiaiiai, souuies .,lls
caSe WIN treat e'scIno1s, "'tho..Sh CON,
Peleht lawyers S.'y ella' tneie - no
si siIitii!aii1y pctMec'i t @ sI,c s"o ~ ~onScs W.
Ile preseil. 1!iiie Po'h,iah eiuiiis wa. no
mas gVtn ?9@o 20 ms NJ. attorIreS; " p s,,is
amount ms SISTER, Retty toGIS, OF Ga4S 6ag
S, atu, hehtuchy' mas iutt'iaitu ~ nm Sooo'
ne rs'i'aiiluer ""S SGi,. W u''ti n uS %iIi" %
llVeS u, Ml?soull. w neil hshtu f', Mnc'I'Gt u,:
nc conln ralse any more money lio,'l i,S
lrleh4S nonahah slook ms rGan anu sllu
no, re Sniu nc Woull rely ni.1Setlci on on
MS attorney lor an aIPenl 10 tno
supreme court on me ohite9 states:
lhnI gentleman, ne si'lu, h"o toIu iIl MN !.
would require at ieast lllousanq uoiihrS
TO iurtnef prosecute the case he couiu
hoI raise IT, ,, .,;, ,,,,a, d.
WINE SpeaKiilS upon lh'S sup!ect DO
halah Shlu ne niillieu 'lG commissioners ti
OF otoe county ioI nol ht'oW,HP nm tie
right 10 worn ior hiIiiseli wniie III J',li'
AZ inc peniIcnllIry, nc S"iu, hhi'tlhs ma.
chlnes were USED which Wouiu TURN OUT
from hye 10 eishI pairs OF STOCKINGS per
DAY ne hau tflcu 10 nave inc cohinlS'
Slohcrs alio" MN 10 nave one SO tilat ne
col'ld make money enough 10 continue
ms dclense' me conlmlS'iohers lad re-
insed, aitnoug,i he sala ne hha ohefed 10
pay IneIl LOT lllc services Oh IL Sudfu ana