The Bozeman weekly chronicle., 1888-02-15
HARTT HANGED.
The Murderer OF Pitts Pays the PEN
atty or his Crime.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CRIME.

last, Tor the murder of John w. Pitts
which occurred at Boulder on Novem
Der 7th, 1885. Hartt was given three
trials, in two Of which he was convicted
of murder in the first degree, and the
final sentence of death was passed upor
him at the last term of court r Lewis
and Clark county.
The condemned man spent the night
previous to his death in peaceful slnm.
Der, and awoke with the dawn of tlav in
good spirits. making a hearty meal OF
ham an eggs. At IL o'clock, the our
set for the execution. a large crowd had
gathered in the street in front of the
Jail. The sidewalks were lined and the
street itself packed with mass of men,
all anxious to see the execution.
Tie following is brief history of his
crime and trials. John Hartt shot John
W. Pitts on November 7, 1885, in the
court house at Boulder, Jefferson county.
Pitts was mortally wounded in the left
breast and fingered until Dec. 3rd, when
he he died of his wound. An autopsy
showed that the ball had penetrated the
lung and imbedded within 1t pieces of
the overcoat. Hartt had been in Jail
since he first shot Pitts and has been
continuously in Jail since. At the May
term. 1886, of the Jefferson county court
he was indicted by the grand jury for
murder in the first degree. He moved
for continuance, which was granted
until the October term of court.
He was tried in October, four days be-
ing consumed in obtaining a jury and
hearing the evidence. The cause was
heard and the jury charged by Judge
Wade, the chief justice of Montana. For
five long days and nights the jury delib
Grated. but with no change in the bal
lot, which stood eleven for murder in
the first degree and one for murder in
the second degree from first to last. An
agreement being impossible, the court
discharged the jury.
The next trial occurred in Nav, 1887.
with Chief Justice Mcconnell upon the
bench. Indeed the first trial ever pre-.
sided over in Montana by the new Judge
was the Hartt case. The jury deliber-
ated but ten minutes, and returned a
verdict of guilty of murder in the first
degree. Hartt was sentenced to be hung
July 22nd, 1857, but took an appeal to
the supreme court, which meet early in
July last. Through a simple failure of
the court at the May, 1886, term, when
he was convicted, to grant one of the
multifarious technical motions which
Hartt interposed apparently for delay
only, the supreme court held that a
right had been denied Hartt and he was
granted new trial.
In October last Hartt III wed for q
change of venue on the ground that the
feeling of the people of Jefferson county
was 30 strong against him that he could
not secure an impartial trial. The court
granted the motion and certified the
case to Lewis and Clarke county.
On November 2lst, 1887, the case was
called and the trial begun again at Hell.
ena. The tria! lasted three iays and
after two hours deliberation the jury re
turned verdict of guilty as charged in
the Indictment. Hartt was sentenced ia
be hung on Friday, February 10, 1888.
He took an appeal to the supreme court
upon the principal ground that the jury
had used intoxicating liquor during the
trial. In january. Justice McLeary ,whc
had read the opinion of :he court in
July when the case was reversed, again
read the opinion but affirmed the judg
ment, thus leaving 10 hope for Hart.
Shortly after IL o'clock Sheriff Hath
away, Under Sheriff Hard, Deputy Sher
ifs Gibbs and Walker and Jailor Witter
entered the Jail. Hartt was in his ell
with his spiritual adviser, Father V. ]
Van der Brock. Hartt was ready an,
accompanied the officers, who proceede,
through the rear door of tpe Jail into tn,
yard. The prisoner walked with hea,
erect and firm step to the gallows, ,wher,
he took his stand under the moose. TIL,
Under Sheriff and deputies then boun,
Hartt's legs together with straps; leath
er bonds were also strapped about b il
arms and shoulders. Upon being asked
by Sheriff Hathaway if he had anything
to say, HART make few uuintelligan
remarks.
The following account of The hangin
is taken from the Herald:
Sheriff Hathaway with his own hand
adjusted the moose about the neck of tn
doomed man. HART stood the ordei
bravely and never flinched as the rop
was put over his head and drawn tigh
about his neck. He only inclined hi
head toward the priest, who whispere
some words in his ear. and then tn
sheriff said Ready Suddenly Har
shot up into the air, and in second h
body was dangling to and fro about tw
feet from the ground. He gave thrt
convulsive struggles, drawing up his fe
a few inches, and then hung perfect
motionless eighteen inches above gronn
except for the swaying of the rope. He
Deputy Sheriff Walker placed the bla,
cap over his head and all was over II
countenance of the criminal express,
no suffering, Everything was done
well and quickly that he suffered az i
tie as possible. The weight fell at e
actly lips o'clock, and eleven minut
later the attending physicians, Dl
J Morris, Hunter and Grant, pronounc,
him dead. The doctors kept feeling h
pulse from the time drop fell and l
Morris applied the stethoscope to /
heart. At exactly 11:4O the physician
announced that his heart had ceased
beat, and preparations were made
taking down the body. As soon as Il
signal was given the priest dropped ,
his knees and was praying with clasp
hands when Hartt was swung II
eternity. Who cut the rope will ne,
!, be known, as the weight was enclos
: by high board barricade and no O
r saw the operation.
At Has the body was lowered il
g the coffin, a plain deal box, which h
Il been provided for the occasion, Then