The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-02-28

tempt TO secure n Stay-May Reach
the Supreme Court.
CHICAGO, Feb. 24.-Judge Brentano
today overruled the motion Cor new
trial for Prendergast and sentenced the
assassin to be hanged on March %.
Prendergast had entered court in
charge of bailiff He had been shaved
early in the morning and his hair was
carefully combed. He was assigned to
a chair in the place he occupied during
his trial, but soon grew restless and
moved about in his chair uneasily. His
face was pale and his eyes rolled around
increasingly. As the court addressed
Prendergast and asked him if lie had
anything to say why sentence should
not be passed upon him, Prendergast
arose 10 his feet, nervously drew a small
sheet OF paper covered with notes from
his NeSt-pocket and addressed the court
as follows:
I do not suppose. your honor. that it
viii do me any good to say anything TO
the court now. l have made no prep
arduon to say anything in particular. /
suppose your honor is under the impress
sion that You have done Your duty. But
this plea OF insanity has been set up by
my attorneys without my consent. 1t
was an infamous, a dirty and disrepu-
table plea, and done against my objec-
tions.
Nov, as for juror Murray. il is GER
tain to my mind that from the manner
he answered questions he was anxious
TO be a juror in this case. There was
something wrong also, in regard to
summoning the veniremen. Juror Lar
kin came here on a written statement,
but of course the defendant had no com
troll over this part of the courts work.
The Evening News contained a whole
column about it at the time, and it is
not necessary for me to go into it
further now We had no opportunity to
watch the proceedings in summOning the
jurors.
But that is not the question. At the
very beginning Of this trial the court
told me my attorneys would attend to
my case. Nevertheless they did not. As
! told your honor before, they set up
this infamous plea of insanity against
my will. But. your. honor. the issue is,
did L do right, or did 1 do wrong? Did
i do my duty or did l not? Did I do
the will of God or did I not? This point
has never been touched upon, and l say
it is the only issue before the court. OF
course. if ] did wrong, should be con-
demned. But, your honor, If l did right,
1 should be justified and acquitted.
las for this talk about the Dacey or
the Guiteau case. the court all along
ruled that no reference should be made
TO IT, but the attorneys for the defense
continued it throughout the trial AS
far as these doctors are concerned, they
came TO me without my consent and
without my invitation. l did not invite
them, nor give my consent for them TO
come and find out whether L was insane
or not. No doubt the motives of these
men were humane. but it was through
the connivance of Jailer Morris that
they got into the Jail.
Nov, your honor and everybody says
that Harrison was great and good
man. / deny this. A good man is gen.
orally faithful to his friends, and Harri-
son was not. If he had been a good
man he would not have been hostile to-
ward me. But this newspaper trust,
your honor. We have been attacked by
this newspaper trust, and if the SEN
tence of this court is carried out, you
will all be at the hands of this news
paper trust. No mans character or rep
utation will be safe. l don't know what
will be the result While l was in your
county Jail I was threatened with death.
This man Morris, the jailer there, said
to me: I'll kill you before you leave the
Jail, no matter what the court and the
bailiff do with you. The sheriff of this
county is a republican, while my prin-
ciples are democratic, and that IS why
this is
whether 1 did right or wrong If this
court wants to shirk the responsibility
of this case. it will not be my fault
The most of the motions made by the
attorneys for me have been overruled
by the court, and that was wrong. Then
there is this great embarrassing issue
If your honor consents to my death. to
my murder, you also consent to take
the lives Of these people on the in
famous grade-crossings. That is what
III, IIrt., TsI
L had stood by him in times of distress
In this case I have been charged
with being vainglOrious and notOriety-
seeker. This is not true, and it has been
disprOven in the trial. Christ was not
a VaingloriouS man, neither am j. The
temptations that were offered Christ on
the Mount showed that He was not
vainglOriouS, and any one that has with
stood such temptation as l have is GER
tainly not vainglorious. 1 suppose these
doctors really wanted to know whether
L was sane or not. They think they
have done good, but as / go to the scat
fold they will be made Infamous
throughout ell ages. 1t was the most
Infamous thing in history to kill Christ
on the cross, and it will be as Infamous
to hang me. think these doctors acted
in rather a meddlesome way, coming to
see me without being invited and with
out my consent. They had better at
tended to their own business, for they
netu no cause " SOiAAS ~ SC mt out
your honor, this is not the issue. The
issue is did l do right or did / do
wrong? Did 1 do my duty, as I claim
did? This issue remains for you, the
court to determine
Ending his speech. Prendergast glared
wildly about the room and sat down to
listen to the sentence of the court. He
did not listen to the greater part Of the
courts remarks. but turned half-round
and looked at the large clock on the wall.
The Courts Sentence.
The court room was filled when the
Judge read his decision. Prendergast APP
peared Indifferent for time, but, as the
reading proceeded. he seemed to be ready
to make one of his old-time scenes.
Prendergast was ordered to stand up
during the reading of the sentence.
Judge Brcntano said:
Patrick Eugene Prendergast, it rarely