Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-02-12

Penitentiary Speedy Justice for an In
human Wretch.
[Charlotte (sIich.) dispatch.l
Russell G. Garfield, the inhuman MUIR
derer OF little Nellie Griffin, escaped the
lynchers' rope by pleading guilty and
receiving the sentence OF life imprison-
ment Less than twenty-four hours ago
he was captured, and tonight he is in
the State Penltcntiary at Jackson.
Justice has been swift in his case, but In
the opinion Of the enraged people here
she has been far too merclful. Horri-
fed and maddened by the fearful crime
of tho monster, the people demanded
blood, and had Garfield been still in the
| jail here this night would have been his
| last. IL was his fear of mob vengeance
| that caused him to confess, and dread OF
| the vigilantes' rope drove him to plead
| guilty and seek safety behind the solid
walls of the States prison. Sheriff
| Pollock saw the prisoner In his cell this
morning and told him of the danger he
was in from the enraged people. He
seemed to feel this by intuition, and
seemed to be willing to do anything to
save his miserable neck. When the
Sheriff asked him II he desired to plead
guilty as he had confessed he replied,
ayes, I'll plead guilty TO numbering the
girl at any time" The prosecuting at
torney was seen and Judge Hooker
notified. Early in the afternoon Garfield,
the Sheriff and the prosecutor slipped
quietly into the courtroom by a side
door, and the charge was read to Can
field. His dull, sleepy eyes looked un-
easily at the windows as II fearing bull
let He hardly understood the reading
or the Importance of the charge as it
was read to him. When 1t was finished
he was asked: ado you plead guilty or
not guilty?" ~ am guilty." said the
wretch, and he shivered as II with an
ague chill. Judge Hooker then sem
| fenced him TO Imprisonment for life, and
at once the Sheriff hustled him on a
Michigan Central train, and he was taken
to the States prison to undergo his life
long punishment,
The story as told by the murderer
and taken down is substantially this:
Garfield went from Dimondale to
Jonesville on Tuesday morning,
Jan. 81, by rail, from the latter place
going to Coldwater. After spending
| some time in this town, he visited the
J State School and had talk with Super
| intendent Nuwkirk. He told the latter
| that he wanted to adopt q girl from the
| institution, saying he would provide
good home for her and alleging, as was
true, that he was possessed of COM
Portable property. He gave his name to
the Superintendent as q. Hendershott,
and finally made arrangements to take
Nellie Griffin with him to his alleged
home. In-eompany with the girl he re-
turned to Jonesville and thence to
Dimondale. After getting off the train
| at the latter place Garfield, with his
victim, took the road leading to Mr..
| Harrson's farm. Before reaching IL no
struck off the Travelled highway, going
through several tracts OF wood until he,
with his charge, reached the piece of
timber by the river where the body
was found They talked for a few
moments and Nellie manifested great
| distress of mind and wept bitterly,
begging Garfield to take her back to the
| institution at Coldwater. Turning
deaf ear to the girls pleadings, Garfield
| struck her down and choked her to
death. He thon denudad her body of
clothing, and, taking the corpse iii his
arms, threw It headlong into the river.
| The clothes he took to Harrison's farm
and hid them under the floor Of the COW
stable. Garfield maintained stubbornly
to the last that he had not abused his
victim
When Garfield had signed this con-
fession of his guilt he was at once locked
up and guard placed over him. Sheriff
Pollock, aftor taking precautions to
guard the jail in case OF an attack,
started for Harrisons farm, near
Dimondale, to search for the girls
clothes. Under the floor Of the cow
stable on Mr. Harrison's farm the
clothes were found wrapped in bundle.
TO the people who read Canfield's
confession, his admissions concerning
the crime seem incredible. Very nat
urally the reader would picture him to
be a bloodthirsty-looki villain, with
brutality stamped on every feature, but
this is not the case. He is a mild-man-
nered misunderstanding man OF slen-
der build, and rather below the average
height. He says that he IL So yeats old;
and his Hppeafance indicates this to be
the truth. He has regular features. a
| full beard, mild, honest-looking blue
| eyes, and Is as far from looking
the villain he acknowledges himself to
be as can be imagined The Har-
| rison family, for whom he drove a milk
wagon daily to Lansing, refused to be-
lieve him guilty until his own confession
forced them to admit IL. They state
that he was quiet, unobtrusive man
who never had much to say and did his
work well. He Is understood to be fairly
well fixed, and has an income from a
small farm that no rents, preferring to
drive milk wagon for Mr. Harrison
rather than conduct his own farm and
do his own cooking and housework.
The other convicts in She penitentiary
say they will knock him on the head