The Helena independent., 1893-12-30
Assassin Of Mayor Harrison Found
Guilty and the Death Penalty
Fixed.
Complete Collapse Of tho Cow
ardly Murderer When the Vsr-
dict Was Announced.
His EntiFs Conduct shows Him to Be
Sane snoW-Jury not Out Long Be-
fore Agrselng.

Ably defended 10 the assassin was. and
strong a. the evidence adducsd to save bis
neck had been. tho jury found him to be
sufficiently sane to BE- responsible for the
act and demanded that he pay the highest
penalty for the ofense against the law
This. however, 10 . sorry recompense for
the life OF Carter n. Harrison. Nothing
since the commission of his crime 20 irri-
tated Ptendergast ~ the comparison be-
tween himself and Guiteau, but in the
court room this afternoon he showed one
trait that existed in common between
them. He proved himself an unmanly,
miserable coward, who would save his own
life at any price. When Clsrk Fitzgerald
arose to read the finding Of the jury, the
prisoner stood olutching the back Of a chair,
his face flushed and his knees trembling
violently.
I'VE, the jury, ind the defendant. Pat
riok Eugene Prendsraast, guilty Of murder
in msnner and form a. charged in the in
dictnsnt and fix the penalty at DEATH"
Thsn Prsndsrgast revealed himself an
utter coward. His face turned pale, hc
opened his mouth to speak. but only a
faint murnur came. He moved slightly,
and would have fallen but for the assist-
amos Of q bailiff. When the jury was
polled be listened with nvidity to each and
every snswsr to Judge Bretano's question.
and N each juror in turn reiterated the
verdict ahe last vestiRe Of courage loft
Prenderaast. He Was half led, half car-
ried, back TO his cell, whore. refusing to
speak. he threw himself upon the bunk in
an sttempt to hide from his fellow prison
srs. whose expressions Of satisfaction over
the verdict wore more emphatic than grace
ful and more sincere than polite.
Trude closed with an eloquent plea for
the conviction Of the prisoner. who. he de-
olared. had been proved sane by . prepon-
dsrance of the evidence. The court then
took . recsss till one o',look. Promptly at
that honr Judne Bretano began his chares
to the iury. PfsndsrRsst buried his face
In b,atA handkerchief and did not look
up until at'ths CLOSE Of the judges charge
tho word death" was uttered, and the
prisone- looked up for an instant.
Upon the question OF insanity, which was
tho main point as issue, Judge Brsntano
said If the jury believed the defendant /
committed the crime a. charged, knowing
il to be wrong, II was the duty Of the jury
to find the prisoner guilty. even though
Su0y OollOV0Nf buAO % t00 SIu0 Vu0 0Clmo
was committed the prisoner was not per-
fsctly sane. But il the jury believes that
At the time the act was committed the pris-
oner was not of sound mind, but affected
with insanity. and that suoh affection was
an efficient cause Of the not. then tho pris-
oner ought to be acquitted: II the jury
n. S law @ gives him the benefit 10th Of tho , doubt soa
II the jury believed the defendant laborine
under q delusion which deprived accused
of the power of choosing between right and
wrong. then the Jury must acuuit.
At 1:30 the jury retired to consider their
verdict. Nothing was heard of them for
exactly an hour. Then Bailiff Busse hur-
ried through tho room to notify the .jsiler
to bring the prisoner into court, and few
minutes later the jury fled in and took
their places. Az Prendsraast took his seat
tho iudQe said: Have you agreed upon q
verdiot7" The twelve men bowed assent,
and Foreman Sutter handed the paper con-
tanning their verdict to Clerk Fitzgerald.
tho finding Of tho jury. the prisoner had
focused upon him the eyes of nearly every
20; son In the room, and with difficulty he
kept from breaking down.
Attorney Wade made tho usual request
that the jury be pollsd and thon the pris-
oner was removed and the judge announced
court Wade made the usual application for
a new trial. and the Judge ann ounoed that
hc would hear tho motion at future date.
The mother of the prisoner did not trust
he. sslt to remain in court to hear the result
of The 1rial. but fingered around the corri-
dors. waiting for the first news TO come
from the court loom. When 10 came an
instant after she verdict was rendered she
tottered away, clinRinR to the bannister for
support az she descended the stairs. John
Prondergast, the prisoners brother, If he
was In the court, left without attracting at
teution.
Trude and his associate, Todd. r.o.ivsd
being one OF ,ths frst TO thank TEude fol
his efforts. Before Announcing the vstdiot
tho jury ymon agreed NOT to make pablo any
scenes in the jury roon and after their
dismissal they positively refused TO talk.
From q court official, however, 10 10 learned
that the jury was unanimously In favor of
the death sentence.
"Pleass ask the gentleman to excuse me .
I would prefer not to SEE or talk with any
body tonight"
This was tho verbal response of Prsnder-
CAST as hs snt In his cell to- night to writ
ten meassae to the effect that The Assooia-
ted press would be pleased to receive any
statement might BE- disposed to make. The
reporter who sent in the message followed
Night Jailer Foltz into the cage and heard
the reply - above spoken In . clear. calm,
tone, very much as any man might decline
to be interviewed. Prsndsraast when ,e-
moved from the court room was placed in
cell No. II, facing the visitors cage. just
inside the cell he sat, while outside vas
posted the death watch. II the prisoner had
any conception of tho real siQnihcancs of
this extra watch he gave no siQn. He np-
peared perfectly at ease. with not . trace Of
oxcitemsnt, distress or anxiety upon his
forbiddtnu features. having had Ave hours
to regain composute since the verdict was
rendered. A few minutes after he was
placed In the cell his b.osher John Prem
dsrgast WAS admitted. Tho brothers
grasped hands and neither spoke for a
time; then John said:
.Don't loss hope Gene; We will do all We
can for yos."
Later the assassiu's lawyers called and
did chat Nhev snnlA m CHAR him m 10