Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1891-09-12
BEGGED FOR MERCY.

Murdorer Bullinr Hanged Mt Savannah,
Mo-, Willie Pleading Hard for Life
He Shoots Himself In His Cell and IL
Dragged to the Gallows.
KANSAS CITY, Mo-, Sept. 5.-Louis
Bulling, the wife murderer, was exc
cuted at Savannah, the county seat OF
Andrew county, Mo-, at 1921 o'clock
Friday afternoon under most horrible
circumstances. The story of the gal
lows tells no more hideous story.
The murderer made desperate effort
to commit suicide just prior to the
hanging and then died. yelling and
shrieking for mercy. The execution
had been twice postponed during the
day on Billings account; the last time
when the wretched man fell in fit
on being told to prepare for his doom.
Shortly before 3 o'clock Rev. Mr..
Lavalse, Billings spiritual adviser.
who had been with him almost
continuously since Thursday night,
again entered the condemned mans cell
They were left alone. Five min
utes afterward two shots were heard.
Sheriff Berry and his deputies rushed
into the cell. They found Rev. Mr..
Lavake lying prostrate upon the floor
in dead faint. Beside him in his own
blood lay Bulling. who had shot
himself twice. One ball had en-
tered the left breast just below the
nipple and struck rib and ran
partly around the body. The other
had inflicted wound in the left side.
Four deputies dragged the wretch out
of the cell. He refused to walk and
they carried him to the scaffold. He
would not stand and was placed on
chair. Then the uXoricide proved him.
self the craven-hearted coward.
He begged, cried, screamed
and blasphemed. He pleaded for
time, for mercy and for any
thing-everything but death. FL
nally he was told to get up and stand
upon the drop. He refused and four
deputies held him up while the rope
was adjusted. Yelling and screaming
he shot through the opening at exactly
1921 o'clock, His neck was broken and
he died almost instantaneously. Ten
minutes after the shooting of Bulling
Rev. Mr.. Lavake was arrested, charged
with giving the pistol to the condemned
man.
The scene on the scaffold previous to
the fall of the drop was piteous in the
extreme. A squad of soldiers from
Fort Leavenworth surrounded the Jail
all day and accompanied the doomed
man to the place of execution.
Take them away" he cried, incohe-
rently; ''they will kill me!'
AS the rope was adjusted he asked
for a drink. When given one he said:
l. L.
to scream. When the rope was adj
justed about his neck he pleaded:
please! please don't! Wait, wait!
Give me n little more time, just mo-
ment more of life; it is so sweet"
lie kissed the sheriff, but no black
cap was adjusted and Bulling died gap
ing at the horror-stricken crowd.
[Bulling deserted his wife in the summer Of
1852 and took up with another woman, The
abandoned wife sought employment at the
Herbert house in Savannah. For some
cause which has never been explained,
Buling gained access to her room one
night in January, 1883, and with an ax almost
severed her head from her body and
Otherwise mutilated the remains in horrible
manner. For this crime he was tried and SEN
fenced to be hanged on March last. The day
before the execution he was respited to April
II, and on the night OF the 10th OF that month he
escaped by cutting his way out Of the Savannah
Jail. A large reward was offered for his cap
ture The Pinkerton agency put men on his
trail, but their search was unsuccessful. His
arrest was finally effected by the Chicago po'
lice after q desperate running fire with the
murderer and the woundng of him in the arm.
AT the time, however, the police did not know
the man they had in custody Bull
ling had been In Chicago for some time
under the alias Of Louis May, sometimes
going by the name of Dillinger. His identity
was discovered the day after his capture
and he was once more placed in his old quar-
ters in the Savannah (Mo) jail. On July
8, the night after his arrival at Savan
nah. he attempted suicide by taking dose
of morphine, which he had by some means
managed to conceal about his person. The
attempt was unsuccessful, however, ant
on August he was again sentenced to bt
hanged. making the third time he had heard
the death sentence pronounced upon him. Las
week 1t was discovered that Bulling was plan
ming to again break Jail and cheat the gallows
but his designs were frustrated by the sheriff.