Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1893-04-01
TOOK DESPERATE CHANCES.


the Murder of His Mother, Drugs Two |
Guards and Escapcs-Onc of His Victims |
Dies from the Eject of the Dose.
JACKSON, Mich, March 2S.-R. Irving |
Latimer, the notorious matricide. es- |
capped from the prison Sunday night by |
getting the keys and walking ont of |
the front door. The keys are fsissing.
Capt. Gill, in charge of the prison at |
night, is in Jail now. 1t is supposed |
that Latimer got possession of some
powerful drug end administered it to
the guard and night turnkey. Guard |
Haight was found dying about o'clock
a. M, Latimer having gone an hour
before that time. Haight died at 8
o'clock.
Maurice T. Gill, night keeper at the
prison, was the indirect leans of Lati
mer's escape. About 1850 o'clock he
and Latimer took lunch together in the
hall masters office. 1t was against
the rules for Gill to take convict
out of his cell. Capt Gill has
been completely BAN boozled by Lati-
mer, who had been telling Gill that
there was So, 500 buried on an island in
Rhode Island, where Latimer's father
lived when Irving was 13 years old.
Gill was taken with this story and mad
Latimer out at lunch every night to
give him details. Gill expected
to leave the prison in three
weeks. 1t transpires that Latimer
had been in the habit of taking up a
cup of chocolate nearly every night to
Gatekeeper Haight, passing it through
slide in the grating. There is no
doubt Latimer had planned to poison
both Haight and Gill. and the chocolate
at night was only to gain confidence
until he could get some poison.
AT lunch Sunday night Latimer car
ried up glass of lemonade to Haight
instead of the chocolate, and Haight
died in twenty minutes after drinking
it. Gill also drank of the lemonade and
was attacked with spasms almost in
stantly. In few minutes a cry
came from the guard-room above,
which Haight occupied. 1t was evident
that Haight was sick and needed help.
Gill was so sick he could not go. Lati-
mer said
II will go and whistle for DR.. Mason"
"All right, go ahead" replied Gill.
Latimer then took the keys, but in
stead OF going for help he unlocked the
door of the guard room, passed
! through the gates and was free. He
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 E. C. Rice was arrested
for completely in the escape. Rice was
! directly connected with Gill on night
/ duty, and it transpires that he was
present when Latimer left the
hallmaster's Office to go above
and see what allied Haight. The
supposition is that Rice had knowl-
edge of what Latimer was to do or
that he was criminally careless in al
lowing Latimer to go through the up
per gate. Rice was much confused
when questioned and does not say why
he allowed Latimer to go out
Latimer was serving life term for the mur-
der of his mother January "a 1889, with whom
he lived alone in their home in jackson.
Eighteen months before his father, Robert
T.. Latimer, died suddenly, leaving consider
able property, including Sll.0OJ life in
surance, to Mrs Latimer His death was
| undoubtedly due to poisoning, but, friends SUD-
posing the old man had committed suicide,
hushed the matter up and no inquest was held.
| The subsequent death of Mrs. Latimer under
circumstances that left no doubt of the son S
guilt lead to the conviction that he was also
| responsible Tor his fathers violent death.
On the morning Of January "a young Latimer
went to Detroit to be gone all night and Mrs.
Latimer was left alone in the house
The following morning workmen en-
ployed in the place could not gain
an entrance to the house. The
door was forced by neighbors who became
alarmed at the failure of Mrs. Latimer to ap
pear in response to repeated summonses. They
entered her bedroom on the second floor
and found her lying upon the bed, clothed in heI
night robe. She had been dead several hours
Her head, face and neck were covered witt
blood. The bed was saturated with blood
Marks of blood were also found in young Lati
| mer's room. The autopsy showed that two
pistol shots had inflicted the wounds tina
caused Mrs. Latimer's death Both shots en-
tered the face, passing through the neck. PLY
sicians said the woman had died about o clocl
| In the morning.
. That afternoon Latimer who, by the way
, was sole heir to the property his father ha'
left his mother, returned TO the house. He ap
peared so unconcerned at the violent death o
his mother that suspicion was Immediately di
, rected against him and he was promptly sub
, jected to rigid examination, but declared b
had been in Detroit and had no connection
with the murder.
careful investigation proved Latimer'
1 story to be false. He did go to Detroit an
, visited many friends in order that he might b
able to prove that he had been away fror
i jackson. But that night he returned to hi
7 home and the evidence showed h
| murdered his mother in cold blood A.
4 | this, however was not discovered III
til after the inquest on the body of Mrs. Lat
mer. The verdict was that the woman ha
9 been murdered by some person or persons III
: known to the jury. In the meantime detective
were working on the case Everything pointe
to the guilt OF the son.
Five days after the death of his mother h
| was arrested. AS bluff he asked to be pei
O mitted to attend the funeral, but when give
an opportunity to look upon the face of hi
| dead mother he refused to leave the jai
Throughout all this time and the trial that 70
: lowed he conducted himself in a most uncol
cerned manner, treating his mothers death al
~ his trial as joke.
The case was called before Judge Peck, OF II
"a Jackson criminal court, April "a, The tri
n lasted ten days. 1t was clearly shown that Lal
mer was guilty, and upon retiring the jul
. brought in verdict of murder in the first degre
10 | after deliberatiny less than q Ouurter of