The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1886-12-11
nuRKE AND KENNEDY.
They Get Nearly the Full Extent OF sne Law
rhs Iurv's Recommendation Ignored


The ADVOCATE last week announced tne
conviction of James Kennedy ana 1ohn
BURKE. Jr., of murder in the second degree
| for killing John Curran at Locust Point, pal
| t;more.. on October I6. The jury on all the
ballots. eScept the last, stood SIX tor man
| slaughter. four for murder in the second oe-
cree and two for murder in the first degree.
fhe iury. in rendering their verdict, com
mended the prisoners to the mercy OF the
conrt. The verdict differed from the general
sentiment of the community, most people VINO
heard the testimony believing that the accns,
ed were guilty of manslaughter, and regarded
| FIVE years Imprisonment as ample punishment
| The affair grew out of political disagree
ment. and the killing was done in fight.
| On Saturday the prisoners received the
Indictment of the court. The hour for sentence
was not known, as it depended upon the
action of the counsel for defense, and the
court house almost looked deserted as COM
pared with its appearance during the progress
of the trial
About IL o'clock Mr.. Pearson, accompan-
led by q representative of the ADVOCATE,
called at the jail to see the prisoners, and
found them surrounded by eight or ten OF
their relatives, who had been with them dur
ing their trial They looked a hundred per
cent. better than on the day previous, when
they listened with depressed spirits at the
able argument of States Attorney Henning,
as he commended for a verdict of murder in the
first degree, and afterward waited nervously
for the conclusion of the jury. In reply to
questions as to what they thought OF the YER
diet, they said that they regarded it as unjust,
but concluded not to take any further legal
steps and would accept whatever sentence the
court saw proper to pronounce and serve
| their terms like men.
| As the visitors were leaving the jail Mr.
Pearson received a telegram from Messrs.
Heuisler and Cook, in reference to Withdraw
ing exceptions noted during the trial, and re-
turned and told the prisoners to prepare for
sentence.
Shortly before II O. clock Mr.. Pearson APP
peared in court, and stated that counsel for
defense concluded to withdraw all exceptions.
| At this Judge Miller requested Sheriff LyncA
to bring in the prisoners, and a few minutes
later they stood in the dock. When asked
by the court whether they had anything to
say, both Burke and Kennedy answered mo. I"
The Judge then imposed almost the extreme
penalty of the law, sentencing them to seven
teen years and six months in the penltentlary,
conceding only six months out of respect to
the iury's recommendation of mercy, eighteen
years being the limit of Imprisonment for
murder in the second degree. The entire
proceedings did not occupy three minutes,
and the prisoners were back to their cell In
the iail within ten minutes from the time they
left it.
The prisoners did not expect such a sem
tence, thinking the jurys recommendation
would certainly count for something in their
favor Their friends spent Sunday with them.
On Monday morning the prisoners were
taken to the penitentiary by Deputy Sheriff
Zeiber They were taken on the Z o'clock
train, and thus avoided crowd at the depot,
which certainly would have collected had
the hour of their departure been later. At
Baltimore, too, the crowd assembled at Hill
1 len Station was avoided, by leaving the train
at Union Depot. The report in the Baltimore
papers that Kennedy broke down and wept
bitterly on the cars is declared by Mr.. Zeiber
to be utterly without foundation.
The prisoners are now safely confined. For
good behavior they get a reduction OF two
months on every year, and by complying with
the rules their sentence can be reduced to
about fourteen years.
NOTES.
John Burke, father of John Burke, DR., is
much depressed by the verdict and sentence.
He is well advanced in life, and is possessed
of a considerable fortune. John is his only
child, and he will likely be long in his grave
before his son is liberated. His money and
home, he says, are nothing to him without
his boy.
A row occurred at Locust Point on Satur:
day afternoon, and first reports attributed
the origin to the bad feeling engendered be.
tween the friends of Curran and Burke and
Kennedy. Pete Leary and Michael Divers,