The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-01-04
WASN'T DEAD AFTER ALL.

The Singular Confession of Two Brothers
to Save Their Necks.
One OF the most remarkable cases that
has ever come to my notice, said Judge
Baldwin, was that of the two Boorns, who
were convicted years ago in the supreme
court of Vermont, in Bennington county,
of the murder of Russell Colvin. 1t ap-
pears that Colvin, who was a brother-in-
law of the prisoners, was q person of weak
mind, and was considered burdensome to
the family of the prisoners, who were
obliged to support him; that at the time of
his disappearance he was in distant field
where the prisoners were at work, that
violent quarrel had broken out between
them, and that one of them had struck him
a severe blow on the back of the head with a
club, which felled him to the ground. Some
suspicious arose at the time that he was
murdered, and these suspicious were in
creased by the finding of his hat in the
same field a few months afterward. These
suspicious in process of time subsidized, but
later, one of the neighbors, having repeat
edly dreamed of the murder with great
minuteness of circumstance, both in regard
TO the missing mans death and the con-
cealment of his remains, the Boorns were
vehemently accused and generally believed
guilty of the murder. After a close search
the pocket knife of Colvin and button off
his clothes were found in an old open cellar
in the same field in which he had last been
seen, and in a hollow stump not many rods
from it were discovered two nails and
number of bones, believed to be those of a
man.
Just prior to their trial friends of the
Boorns far about them said that the evil
dence against them was too Enthusiastically
plain for them to longer hold out, and
urged them to make clean breast of the
entire matter, holding that if they did so
they would undoubtedly get their sentence
of death, which was sure to be the result of
their trial, committed to imprisonment for
life.
The men were tried and sentenced to be
hanged. Their friends renewed their re-
quest that they make a full confession
One of them finally complied with the re-
quest, detailing long story as to just how
the murder had been committed. The
other confessed, but with great reluctance
and doggedness, and would not go into de-
tails.
The one who had made the full confess
sion had the sentence of death committed.
while the sentence of the penalty of the
law was ordered carried out in the case of
the other.
AS the day of execution approached the
doomed man made declaration that he
and his brother had lied-.lied outrageous
ly-and that for his part he would not risk
facing his Maker with SO awful a lie upon
his soul. The declaration was received
w ofc
the face of death, and caused all but two
or three of the most intimate friends of the
maker of it to turn against him, so plain
to their minds and to the minds of the en-
tire communicates it that both men
were guilty beyond all possible doubt.
The last sunrise but ono for the doomed
man was just flooding his Vermont home
when who should appear at the door but
Russell Colvin, the man Tor the murder of
whom Boorn was upon TIE morrow to be
executed.
The explanation of the whole matter is
simple in it's character
The two Boorns had jumped upon Col
vim in the field and beaten him. He had
escaped from them, leaving his hat behind,
and so overpowered was he with fear that
he continued his fight until he found him
self in New Jersey. At the last moment
he had learned that one OF his prosecutors
was about to be hanged as his murderer,
and although he had suffered great brutal
ity at his hands, Colvin Immediately
FASTENED back to save the unluclly fellows
neck. As for the confessions which the
Boorns INDEPENDENTLY the full and
very explicit one-they were made simply
for one purpose, that of trying to save
their necks.-Omaha Bee.