The sun., 1894-10-14
ron ANornER.s CRIME.
George Gave five Wears nnd Nearly Lost
Ills LIN.


FSor, NE ST. Louis Giosc. DcmoriuL
HoUsToN oct. 2.-Conyictud Of horrible
| murder. sentenced to he hanged. rcspited for o
short time. and finally. three days before the
ment for life within the walls of the state pcni.
tentiary; five long years q prisoner, with con
! stant hard labor. then suddenly declared limo
cent Of any crime aud granted u full pardon
Such In brief were the expcritnces Of \. H.
escaping death MS II by q miracle and life OF
ablcct slavery by the merest accident.
| Several years since Fnyette county was horr,:
| fied at the murder of one of its most respected
! citizens. Mr.. T.. konesck. The killing occurred
ina little grocery store win ohgrr2om g. A. a..
! room save konrslck AMI the a; l.; George re-
feTrel to above; konesick and George were
| They wrrc seen to enter one OF the rooms of the
| building together. soon nftcrwartl a pistol shot
| was beard. and when the room was entered
/ knncsiCk was found stretched oit on the floor,
dead. n pstol bnll having pierced his brnin.
| found near the scene of the tragedy. He pro-
! tested his innocence In vain. Every Clrcum-
| stance, was agalnst him. and the pistol he
/ chamber. the bore corresponding TO the size
| nt the ball that had endel the life Of Konesick.
building together, and other cirCumstant tal cvi-
dence. were brought forward to prove the guilt
The trial excited intense interest. The law
ycrs labored faithfully to save the life Of the
chance Of establishine his innocence. A jury. OF
twelve condemned \. l.. George TO I've hung for
the murder Of +; Koncsirk, and the day for his
execution rapidly approached. \ respite was
obtained, and the friends Of The condemned man
put forth every effort to have the sentence
changed to life Imprisonment. AS all the evil
dence Of the mans guilt though convincing,
was purely ,circumstantial, the Governor OF
execution, committed the sentence from death
To that of servitudc for life.
For five years George remained In prison Ave
years in which hope. fear, and despair alter
mated IN his fevcrisl brain. night after night.
until he felt that insanity must result, and that
sl.satl Ia ltnf ItAnk
everything that could hc done by superior legal
talent. influential friends. and lavish outlay OF
money had bean done Ia relieve his terrible con-
dition. He knew that he was innocent of any
crime. although his drunken condition on the
night Of the Kentucky murder had left his mind
There was only one way to establish the inno-
cencc Of George. That was by finding the real
man was then In the state penitentiary. soon
after George was placed in prison man named
He was from Fayette county, but no one ever
thought that he was in any way connected with
never have known that ne was IL SkHrpe had
not been suddenly taken sick and stated that no
Te o IN If s so n
wishing to relieve an innocent man Of an unjust
accusation. sharpe made the following death
bed confe ,sion:
"HuNrsvILLE Tex. Sept. 2G.-I. II. VI. sharpe
conscious OF approaching death and fully ap-'
preciating the fact that must die in very
regard tn the murder Of one T.. Eoncsick in Fa-
yetto county, Tex. fvc years ago. The killing
occurred in little grocery store. which also had
barroom connection. A. l.; George was not IN
the barroom Mt the time OF the killing and had
no connection whatever with the murder. |
fired the pistol myself that killed Konesick.
The killing was the result of an alteration be-
tween myself and Konesck. had stopped at
the grocery store to get something to cat, and
while there got into the difficulty with Konesick
and killed him as above stated and under oath
sign my name. H. VI. SHARPE.
Witness: !. g. Smither Benj. Campbell"
The only thing that remained To he done was
to secure the instant pardon OF George pardon
for crime Of which he was not guilty. The |
man who Is unjustly made to serve a term in the
state prison has no recourse, even when his in
nocence has been established. Nothing what !
ever is done for the prisoner. and when George !
left the walls Of the Huntsville penitcntiary he
could only show head bowed with sorrow and |
an emaciated frame. and slip OF /
paper declaring that the Governor of Texas had
pardOned a convict.
Immediately after leaving the penitentary !
Mr.. George returned to his old home in Fayctte |
county, where he was warmly welcomed by the |
very citizens who had before turned against |
him on account Of his seeming guilt. He re- |
malned there only a short time, and then moved |
to Leonard, Tex, in Fannir county.