Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1889-07-18
HANGED AT ANTONTTD.
histoFy "r Crime First legal Execn-
ti"u IN C"rpjps County.

~ r. aNfoNITo, CuIO., July l7-Jose Ahra,
% Ortiz, who murdered 0. f. LeDuc, puj
- the penalty OF the crime yeslrrrla,
y rompt'y ut O'Clock he asronded III
steps leading up 10 the scafiold. led Il
y Hheril Garcia and Deputy Eols. He II,
: ptared perfectly calm and collected. an,
dt' not move muscle while ti,n In,ti
warrant was being read. Upon bhir,
asked If lie had anything to say ne ~,
Nho"Iedged the crime and askal the for
giyeer">s Of I'll present.
II" held hi. llnia to one side when the
n ""F" vas adjusted. Father Tnmasyjni
tieh offered short prayer, and " hile he
was nus engaged the rope was cnt aud ORTIZ
leIl ei4l't feet. His neck was broken hI
tic laIl and no struggling vas noticeable
At l 20 p. N. lie was pronouncai da,G
ana cut down. The remqins werc dn.
lNcFcd to his brother.
.. Z, LeDuc was miner. He had
passed the winter Of 1852 at Cnueios
camp IN prosecuting the DEVELOPMENT of
his claims. Early in March he started an
Slo" SHOES from the camp to 90 to Cone.
JOS, tuc county seat, where lie was mr..
ranging Il business project. A mail cur
rief feborted to his, fellow miners lhut he
PaSse'' nm on the trail on the mountain
9t'e az Fans saw mil, above .Cockrell.
ne "as again heard from rs he stoned
10 exchange customary greetings anon,
friends and arquaintances in the noun |
taihs and told all tho late news at thp |
mines. From there was received the l,st |
word from him. '''N
searching parties started from Tho
,,d ,ndnes' ana others from the valley. DAYS
were spent in fruitiess hunting. 1t
Iength Sheriff Garcia and George Reckless
VINO was partner of LeDuc, found the
o0oy IN the rear of the cabin of Jose
AbIam Ortiz, partly buried. This cabin
) IN Canon Alamosa, four miles from
JNihes, saw mill on one side, md seven
iboyH the Mexican settlement of Canplin
q, me day after the body was found
9herld Garcia arrested Ortiz on Hat
'feek near Capulin. When found ne bod
N LeDuc's jeans overalls and shoes
,eDnc ) loot required No 8 shoe, while
'F'iZ needed No. 5. The discrcpancy -,
'as femed!ed by 4 large loll OF raGs and
aper. 1t was made evident at tic trial
!. CQheJoS that Lc)uc came to the cabin
l'er dark, tired out after an all DAYS
ar! tramp. lie asked for supper and l
'dslh@ Ortiz told him 10 stay and take
OF luck.
immediately after eating LeDnc tum.
eo OF to sleep, breathing hard. ORTIZ
lamined his clothes and found three
lnds9me gold nuggets, $25 in money. Il
3aVy silver watch, a knife and few
lnkets. Ortiz again eyed the treasure,
olnS to a corner OF The room he brought
1t an ak and calmly butchered his sle6D.
g guest. Alterward he dragged the 1
oy out doors, scratched sort of half |
men IN the ground and covered it over |
I'll DIRT, leaves and sticks. Marks of t~
)od III the cabin were what led to tho
dln8 OF the, body. The bedding that
$ stained, tie most was burned,
Taking tie clothes and the pittanca Of
aSure from his victim, and doing mn a
all bundle of his own effects, the ne :as-
started iOr La Jara and from there
NJ 10 .Antonito. At the trial Senator
aIr W llson, who had been appointed
'elend Ortiz, made gallant effort to
w that the killing was done in self de-
Sc, bnt his argument was without avail
The jury were six Mexicans. Althouph
evidence was clear, plain and unan- T
rable It required over rtwenty-four hours v.
each verdict OF murder in the FIRST
rec.
his is the first legal execution that
LOOK place III Conejos county.