St. Paul daily globe., 1891-05-10
Murderer William Rudolph
Suffers the Extreme PEN
atty for Murder.
Death Watch Horrifled by1a
Lively Jig at the Mid
night Hour.
Affecting Separation OF the
Criminal and His Impris-
oned Wife.
A Prisoners Death Reveals
His Name and a Story Of
Affection.

the murderer, has paid the penalty of
his crime, the drop falling at 1O:11 a.
m. For very shrewd reasons he, dur
ing life, concealed his real name and
nativity. He pretended to be of Irish
antecedentS, when, in fact, both his pa
rents were German and MS real name
was William Rudolph. The motive for
this deception was based on the circum-
stances that the IriSh-American ele-
ment IS unusually strong in the pOpula-
ton of this county, and that a number
OF the officials whom he encountered
were Of that extraction. With this
knowledge he hugged the delusio n
that by assuming to be Irish, he
would have an unconQuerable "pull"
and thereby escape punishment. Last
evening. dramatic incident occurred
in the jail office. Rudolph's wife of
fortnight. Kate Weeneck. alias Ford,
was, at the condemned mans request,
brought into his presence. She had
but few moments previous pleaded
guilty in court to completely in Moore's
murder and been sentenced to impri-
sOnnent at hard labor for fourteen
panlonS in crime, whose brief cOniugal
union had brought them only prison
bars, was one genuinely affecting.
Their fate so close at hand, seemed to
draw to the surface in both some re-
deemlng qualities of human nature.
For twenty minutes, the pair wept and
talked together, and were then
Separated Forever.
During this interview the depraved
wretch displayed the only sign of emo
ton which he has exhibited, though for
weeks he has been absolutely without
hope, since the governor refused elem
ency, and his attorneys abandoned him,
publicly announcing belief in his guilt,
except his wife. Rudolph was baptised
into the Catholic faith by Dean Heating,
IF st. COlumbo's church, last night.
Rudolph reminds me strongly" said
Father Heating afterward, ''of one of
the characters OF Les MiserableS.' He
was actually surprised that anybody
should do him kindness. Every ones
hand has always been against him and
his against every one. pitied the boy,
and L must say that in all my
tWeDty-one years as priest, |
never administered sacrament to
person who showed deeper religious
feeling. BY his wish, | christened him
William Amelia Rudolph, Amelia being
the name of his mother, of whom he
seemed to know little, but spoke rev.
ereDtly yet" Until nearly midnight
Rudolph paced slowly back and for
ward in his lonely cell, with eyes closed,
as if in dream. Suddenly he stopped
his mOnOtOnouS walk and deliberately
Esanced Jig
before the astOnished eyes of the death
watch. So amazed was that individual
that Rudolph actually broke into a
hearty laugh, but, with a sudden revul-
sion of feeling, stopped dancing with
the remark: 1T is too bad, isn't it, for
young feller like me to have to die?''
He was awake bright and early, and,
after performing his morning ablutions,
partoOk of hearty breakfast. His wife
called to see him at an early hour and
remained with him nearly two hours.
Her grief was intense, and the parting
Of husband and wife was very pathetic.
Ford rallied from bis depressed spirits
and indulged in singing and dancing
until he became exhausted. When the
sheriff bad finished reading the death
warrant, Ford said: Its shame that
fine young fellow like me must die:
and such death. too, A priest walked
with Ford to the scatfold and remained
with him until the drop fell. Ford
maintained his nerve throughout and
died firm. His avOWed ambition was to
beat the record for gamenesS on the
scatfold, and he did it beyond a doubt,
the most extraordinary feature of the
affair. coupled with the utter absence
of any show of fear on his part, being
his total abstentiOn from the display of
the slightest trace of bravado. Death
was apparently painless and the loss of
consciousness instant, though the mans
neck was not broken.
Story of the Crime.
On the morning of June "a last, the
body of David Moore, of Omaha. trav-
cling salesman for the L. B. Scott Lum-
Der company, of Merrill, Wis, was dis
covered in Allen park, the head crushed
in by repeated blows from car coup
ling pin. Kate Ford, her husband,
Charles Ford, William O'Brien and
Minnie Winterling were arrested for
completely in the crime. O'Brien was
tried in August last, and sentenced to
Imprisonment for life. Ford was tried
in November, found guilty and SEN
fenced to death. Judge Stipp, the trial
Judge, was so unnamed by OverwOrk
during the trial that he collapsed with
nervous prostratiOn two days following
the verdict, and for a time it was
I6dTeQ u6 never WOUlU De aDle to
listen to a motion for new
trial. Six weeks spent at
a private sanitUrium and the Judge re-
turned with his mind restored and his
bodily health improved sufficiently to
admit of his sitting on the motion for a
rehearing, which he denied. On the
trial of Ford, it was shown that at his
instigation his wife, Kate, decoyed
Moore to Allen park, presumably for
purposes of
Robbery or BiackmaiI,
as the woman was of bad reputation
previous to her marriage to Ford.
O'Brien was Ford's accomplice. The
day before the murder, Ford and his
wife quarreled, andein the fear that she
would not keep her appointment with
Moore. Ford engaged simple
minded woman of the town
named Minnie Winterling to entrap
Moore. But Mrs. Ford repented, con-
sequentlY the four were present. Kate
Ford yesterday pleaded guilty and was
sentenced to fourteen years i'll the pen
itentiary. Minnie Winterling is yet to
be srled. Ford's father was hung at
Sing Sing. .2his mothers brother is doing
time at the same prison for train wreck
ing, his sister keeps a notorious house
in Toronto, and his step-mGthef was
driven from West Thirty-eighth street,
New York, where she kept a thieves
paradise In the '70s. She was also
chased out of Chicago, and her second
husband, also named Ford, Is in the In
diana state penitentiarY. Charles Ford