Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-03-31
SENSATIONAL ESCAPE FROM :
MICHIGAN PRISON.
MURDERER IRVING IATINER OFT
OF HIS CAGE.
He was a LITER and Was Sentenced
for Matricide-Doses Captain Hill
and Calmly Walks Out of the Door
Hill is Now Dead-Was a Conspir-
acy.

JACKSON Mlcn.. MacSn 2,.-h. irving
Latimer, sent to prison three years ago
for mutd,-ing his mother, escaped
shortly eforc midnight.
He poisoned George ". iiajght, the
n ght captain Of the prison. secured
the keys and rife, and l"ft hE the
front GATES. NiS.t Guard Hal sn, died
at 80 Il. III.
Latiincr. attrr securing Il rifle, at
tempted 20 liberdte the prisoners in
the w st wing M az his own cell but
failed. There is no clue 10 his where
abouts. Every officer in the city and
hundreds Of citizen, are i.o'l;rr for
him.
Latimer hal been in the habit of
taking Z cup Of chocolate to the Cap
tain and last night stirred poison in it.
Night Keeper Gill has been arrested
as Latimei's accomplish.
K. Irving Latimer brutallv murdered
his mother at Jackson on the night Of
Jan. II. 1850. His trial lasted twenty
days and WAS very 81 nsational. He was
sentenced to life Imprisonment. Lati-
mer' 5 father died under suspicious cir
cumstanceS year previous to the
murder. He was heavily insure in
favor of the wife and son, and it Is be-
lieved that the son poisoned him.
Maurice L. Gill, night keeper 1T the
prison. was the indire It means of Lati-
mer $ escape. Al out 1870 o dock he
and Latiner took lunch together in
the hall-master's office. 1t was against
the rules for Gill to take convict out
of his cell Capt. Gill has been COM
pletely baml ooz!ed by Latimer, who
had been telling Gill that there was
s., 500 buried on an island in Rhode
Island. where Latiincr's father lived
when irving was Is years old. Gill was
taken with this story and had Latimer
out at lunch every night to give him
details. Gill expected to leave the
prison i'll three weeks. It transpireS
that Iatimer had been in the habit of
taking up q cup Of chocolate nearly
every night 10 Gatekeepe1' Iiaight,
passing il through 4 slice in the graft
ing. There is re- doubt Latimer had
planned to 20 son both Haight ana
Gill. and the choco ate at night was
only to gain confidence until he could
get some poison.
At lunch last night Latimer carried
up Il glass OF icn:unade to Iaight in
stead Of the chocolate. and iiaiwht
died in twenty minutes after drink .ng
it. Hill also drank OF the lemonade
and was attacked with spasns almost
instantly. In a few minutes IL cry
came from the guar,.-rOC1n abeve which
Haight occup G I. 1t was evident that
Haight was SICK and ncedcl help. Gill
was so sick he could not go iatime2
said
Il will go ard whistle fer DR..
Mason.
.'All right, go ahead" replied Gill.
Latincr then took the keys, but in
stea Of going for help lie unlocked
the door of the guard room. PASSED
through the gates and was free. lie
took the prison keys with him. He
had neither coat nor hat and it is be-
lieved impossible that he can escape.
The prison authorities have offered a
reward for Latimer, dead or alive, and
officers are securing the country.
Night Guard +. G. Rice was arrested
at II clock for completely in the
escape. Rice was directly connected
with Gill on night duty. and it trans
pires that he was present when Lati-
mer lett the hall masters Office to go
above and see what allied la ght. The
sipposition is that's ice had kn wieC ge
of what Jatimer was to do or that he
was crimiEaily careless in allowing
Latimer to go through the upper gate.
Rice was much confused when question:
ed and does not say why he allowed
l1atimar TO go out. Night Keeper
Gill thinks that ight died from heart
disease and says he had been suffering
from that trouble for some time. lie
says it was nearly two hours after he
had his attack of cramps, dizziness and
sickness when he heard Haight fall.
He told Latimer to take his keys and
un!o * the small gate, climb the stairs
ana see what was the matter with
Hal TT.
Latimer had no key on ellis bunch
which would unlock the upper gate. to
which Haight alone had the KEYS To
open the big gate Latimer took u cane
from pile lett by the guards at night
at the foot of the stairs, reached
through the grating and pushed back
the lever. Then he took Haight's
keys, unlocked the small gate lead
ing down stairs to the front office and
walked out the front door. If
Haight was given poison Gill says
Lati!ner must have sent it to him an
hour or So Letore h took it, as he did
not fall down for nearly two hours
after G,ill did. Gill ac&nowle ges that
LatimeT hiss been making choco ate
for fIaight and Gill, and that Latimer
had carried Haigbt's cup up to him.
He also ack towled re> the story Of the
buried treasure