The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-02-16
HANGED FOR Ills CRIME
Bud Stone Had Killed the
Wratten Family for Their
Money.

JEFFERSONVILLE, lQd., rep. 10, lo3f.-
Murderous James E.. Stone was hanged at
1903 o'clock this morning. Warden Patten
complied strictly with the statute, as it was
the first execution since the passage of the
new law requiring murderers to be hanged
in Indiana penitentiaries. The admission OF
witnesses to the execution being limited to
the Warden, the Warden's assistants, the
three directors of the prison, physicians, the
chaplain, the spiritual adviser OF the con-
demned and ten relatives and friends selected
by the condemned, 40 others were adj
mitted.
Stone having affiliated himself with the
| Methodist Episcopal Church, the Rev. Chas.
Tinsley, assisted by the Rev. Fl. w. Nc
| Kane, pastor of the Christian Church, adj
ministered spiritual consolation to the con-
demned. Stone several weeks ago gave to
| Warden Patton a list of those whom he
wanted to be present. The list included
| none of his relatives. He insisted that his
| soul would go straight to Paradise, as all his
| sins had been forgiven.
His neck was broken by the fall, and
within seventeen minutes he was pronounced
dead.
The first intimation that Stone had that
he would hang at 1910 AN. was from War
den Patten. 81 am willing to go now,H
said he. 81 know l have committed a great
| crime, and am willing to suffer the penalty
forIit."
THE CRIME HE COMMITTED.
The crime for which Stone was executed
\ was the murder of the Wratten family, in
| their home, on the night of September is,
1898. The family consisted of six persons,
Mr.. and Mrs. Wratten and their three chill
dren and Mr.. Wratten's mother. :
Suspicion became attached to Stone and
he was arrested.
Al Gx..k L. ,1rokor4o1 hic innaoonon hn1f
later, under strong pressure, acknowledged
his guilt, and named six other men who, he
declared, were implicated in the crime. This
was followed a week or two later by another
confession, in which he stated that he alone
committed the murders.
At about ten o'clock on the night OF Sept
| ember is he left his home, after telling his
wife he was going to find a doctor and have
| an liberated tooth extracted. He went
| directly to the Wratten home, which was
less than half a mile from his place, after
having armed himself with a short handled
| corn knife and a small Ratchet.
He found Wratten Frustrated with sick
| ness and his three children asleep. Mrs.
| Wratten was stirring about in her night
clothes, having given her husband some
| medicine.
Old Mrs. Wratten had retired to her room
and was asleep. Stone inquired of young
Mrs. Wratten if she had any medicine for a
toothache.
She got him a bottle of liniment, and, as
| she reached the door with it, Stone cut her
| down with the cornknife. He stepped over
her body and entered the room in which the
| sick father and his children lay. They had
been aroused by their mothers screams, and
as Stone made his appearance the oldest OF
| the children, Ethel, asked:-"Bud Stone,
what are you doing here.'
With this he crushed her skull with a ter.
rible blow with the axe, and then attacked
| the sick man. With one swing of the keen
| edged weapon he almost severed Wrattens
| head from his body. He then turned his at
tention to the two remaining children and
| continued to cut and slash them at every in
| d~ication of life.
KILLED THE GRANDMOTHER.
Having ended the slaughter so far as that
| part of the house was concerned, he at
| tempted to enter the room of the grand
| mother. She had heard the screams and
means, and had barricaded her doors with
| chairs and other furniture. Stone could not
| open the door, so he leaped through a window
| and attacked the old lady in the dark. He
| rained blows on her in a horrible manner,
| and beat her face into a shapeless mass of
| flesh and bone. His blows with the knife
| almost severed her arms from her body.
After killing the old lady the murderer
| passed through the rooms in which his other
victims lay. Mr.. and Mrs. Wratten were
| SJUl DI6duullR, OuU uCiiiA aO 60FS
| them the final blows that sent them into
eternity.
Stone did not get any money. In fact, he
said after the murders that he did not care
| for money. He went home. took a change
| of clothing, hid his blood-stained trousers be-
tween the plastering and the weather boards
| of his house, and then went to a spring,
where he attempted to wash the blood stains
from his shirt.
He was first at the Wratten homestead
the next day and gave the alarm OF the muir.
der. He notified the undertaken and helped
| him prepare the bodies for burial. He also
made himself generally useful around the
house the day following the murder, and
| was loud in his denunciation of the terrible
| deed. In fact, he went SO far as to act in the
capacity OF pallbearer at the funeral.
Ethel, whose skull was crushed in, was
alive on the morning the murder was dis
| covered, although unconscious, and fingered
| for a week at the house OF a neighbor.
| Among others, Stone called to see the little
sufferer and tender assistance. According
| to a confession made by Stone to his father a
| short time ago, he took advantage of the alb
| sence of the family at Inner one day, and
deliberately smothered the child, fearing
that she would live to tell the story of the
murder and of his connection with it.
When the constable went to arrest him,