St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-20
The Redwood County Muir
derer Nay Have His Sem
tenee COMMITTED.
influential Men Back Petit
tions to the Governor in
His Behalf.
Strong Reasons Urged for
His EXeelleney's Interven-
ton in This Case.
Solicitor Hart Arrives to In
vestigate Charges Against
Inspector Sloan.

The lOng-eXpected petition for the
communication of the death penalty that
pvershadows William Rose, convicted Of
the murder Of Moses L. Lufkin in Red
wood county, and sentenced to be
hanged, has been received by Gov. Mer-
riam. No action has been taken by
him, however.
The formal petition is supplemented
by numerous letters, and all plead
fervently for the life of the unhappy
man.
The petition reads:
To Hon. ". r. Merriam. Governor Of the
Stale Of MimuesOta-Sir: Standing rs L DO,
convicted of the highest crime known to the
law and being desIuOUs OF cOmmuJatlOn
Of sentence, l make this petition ana pray
Tor clemeucy ! am wholly innocent OF the
crime of killing Moses /. Lufkln, and be
Ieve that in time / viii be able TO eslablsn
NY innocence before The world. IN order
that ! may do so l humbly ask that the sen
tence of the court be committed to lmPrlson-
ment WILLIAM Rose
New Ulm, Aug. y, 1891.
Then follows tie formal petition of
the jury that found the prisoner guilty,
asking that a life sentence be imposed.
This is signed by w. D. Smith. Lewis
HalZnagei. 5. 5. DalsOn, G. L. " alter
man. H. c. ChristOphersOn. ID. l.. Fra
Zier. James Arnold, Alex Mcleod. L.
/. Hiatt and A. II. Anderson. A note
IS appended explaining thatJurOr Sever
FerTing has gone to California and that
q. i. Hines refused TO sign.
Subjoined are the separate petitions
of the residents of RenWOOd county,
Murray county, Lyon county, one from
each county. These petitions are largely
signed by representative citizens, and
all claim acquaintance with hose.
New Light.
One of the most interesting eOmmuni-
cations received by his eXcellency upon
this theme comes from T. ThaYer, an
architect Of MankatO. Thayer asserts
that he owned lands adjacent to the
homes of LuIkin and Rose. and that he
was well acquainted with both, Indeed,
Rose had been in his employ for long
time, and had lived at Thayer's house.
Therefore this petitioner felt well quail
flied to vOuch tor the young mans char
acter. Mr.. Thayer uneQuivOcally pro-
mOunce5 him a good, kind-hearted
young man." and protests against the
possibility that he could have been
guilty of the crime. He was also gen
erOuS, the communication pursues. and
there are many who doubt his guilt.
.'Lufkin was man VINO was universally
distTusted and despised," writes Mr.. Ihayer.
He had family difficulties, and his wife left
him before ne came from the state of Maine,
where he formerly lived. 1 cannot remem-
her all Of the particulars OF his history that
he related 10 me at different times Wnen L
staid with MIN on my way to and from my
place, but do remember It was mixture OF
fast horses, legal difficulties and troubles
concerning his wife. ! remember distinctly
how he told me wears before he had any diff
,.t1lt1 ne family thai ne PVnPcfad
to die a violent death, and understood from
his talk he was afraid some of his old enemies
would kill him. He also made the statement
that if il were not for the girl, as he called his
daughter Minnie, ne would put an end to his
existence.
The letter goes OH to narrate the vile
ness of Lufkin's nature, expose his low
moral condition and TO the fact that he
was considered q dangerous man, and
then relates:
Lufkin was disturber of the peace of the
community, and that he was killed by some
other person whom he had more deeply
WrOnged than he had VIII Rose, seems to
me very probable. The marriage OF his
Youngest daughter, Grace, to young man IN
The neighbOrhOod. his desertiOn OF her and
disappearance from the country on account
of some family dlihculty previous 10 the
murder and her suicide aiIer the murder, are
things that might throw light on the murder
ii carefully investigated.
4 Lawyers Opinion.
J. NJ. Thompson, a Sleey Eye lawyer,
writes at length reviewing the history
of the case quite carefully. He testified
that from his position and intimacy with
the facts and the people he was in pO-
stiOn to give correct diagnosis Of the
public temper. He knew that a great
majority OF the people Of Redwood
county ''would be glad to know that the
death penalty in this case was not to be
executed"
He recites the fact that Rose was tried
three times before a conviction was had.
The last trial occurred during the most
intense excitement over the murder of
Dodge. The jury in the first case stood
s to I in favor OF acquittal, and at one
time during the ballOting it was 10
to 2 The jury III the second trial
stood to ., and at one time stood 9 to 3
for acQuttal. Thus nineteen of the
Jurors had voted not guilty after hear
ing the evidence. As stated, the third
trial was held during a storm Of excite
ment. When DOdge's dead body was
found. had it not been for the SalutaTy
influence Of an open court and the pres
ence of Judge Weber, the writer
doubts if the people would not have en-
tered the jail and taken out both Rose
and Holden and iynched them. The
press and public sentiment cried out for
4 conviction. The county was becOm-
ing burdened by the costs of trials, and
the verdict of guilty was found.
In addition to the above were personal
letters to the governor from Sullivan
LaweT. of CurTie; 5. d. Peterson, Of
New Tim: J. w. Mathews, Of Tracy,
and 4. Blanchard, of New Ulm.