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

falls to the lot of the court to discharge
so painful a. duty as devolves upon it i'll
this case. You stand at this bar con-
victed of the crime Of murder of a fellow
being, and il is incumbent on me 10
pronounce sentence upon you.
You have had a fair and impartial
trial, and you have been defended by
counsel whose zeal and devotion in your
behalf merit the highest praise and COM
pei the admiration of the court. | do not
think that l can fairly be subjected To
the criticism that 1 did not allow you
the widest latitude in the presentation
of evidence that i'm any way tended 10
establish the defense made for you, and
you were given the benefits Of all pre-
sumDtiOns which the law says YOU arc
entitled TO have. Despite all this, you
have been found guilty, in accordance
with the well-cstablished principles of
law and evidence governing trials Of this
kind. Possibly, large part of this COM
munity would. for the sake of the repu-
tatiOn of this great city, upon which the
eyes of the world were. AT the time
riVeted, have been comforted II the YER
dict of the jury had established the fact
that your act was that of a mentally ir-
responsible person, but the result OF the
trial denies people that comfort
1.-THE evidence did not establish That
you were acting under an insane delu-
sion which irresistibly impelled you TO
the commission Of an act which you ala
not discern TO be wrong and over which
YOU had not the power TO exercise con-
troll The jury has found that when you
committed the act you fully understood
il and its consequences, and that you
might have controlled your actions If you
had so willed. and that your own mis-
guided will was the sole impulse TO the
commission of the deed. No imaginary
inspiration to do personal wrong under
delusion or belief that some great public
benefit will flow from it, when the nature
OF the act done and its probable conse-
quences and that the act Is in itself
wrong, are known to the actor, can
amount to that insanity which in law
disarms it of criminality. Situated as
YOU are, / would not say anything TO you
for the mere purpose of narrowing up
Your feelings or causing you unnecessary
pain.
THE solemn and painful duty now de-
wolves upon me to impose the sentence
and judgment of the law. which is that
you, Patrick Eugene Prendergast be-
tween the hours of 10 o'clock in the fore
neon and o'clock in the afternoon OF
the 23d day of March, A. ID. 1894, in the
manner provided by the statute of this
state. be hanged by the neck until you
are dead
When the court passed sentence the
prisoner moved forward step or TWO
and then said: 81 did not wish to apollo
gize to the court for L think L did my
duty"
As he concluded he was led away TO
his cell in the Jail by the bailiffs. Dur
ing the course OF his remarks, Prender-
CAST was apparently in very nervous
condition. His hands shook, and as he
occasionally turned his eyes from the
court and glared about the room, 1t was
evident his nerves were strung 10 the
highest tension. Occasionally he would
stop to glance at the paper in his hand,
to read the notes or points on his ad-
dress. which he had evidently prepared
in advance.
Just before Judge Bretano began the
delivery of his speech denying the mo-
ton for a new trial, Attorney ). ;.
Gregory filed a motion in arrest of Judg-
ment which was oVerTuled. He then
asked for thirty days in which to file
bill Of exceptions upon which 10 take
the case to the supreme court. This was
granted. Prendergast was sentenced TO
be hanged subsequently In less than
thirty days. 1t was stated, however,
that if it became necessary the court
could extend the time and fix new date
for the execution. 1t is probable that
the bill of exceptions will be filed with
in ten days.
Buff Higgins is under sentence Of
death for the murder of Peter McCooey
and the date of his hanging is the same
as that of Prendergast. If stay of
proceedings is not ordered the men VIII
be hanged at the same time. During
his speech Prendergast mumbled his
words so that he could scarcely be I'M
derstood, and he was unsteady on his
feet and swerved from side to side like
a drunken man. His voice was some
times loud and clear. but often it sank
to an inarticulate grumble.
Judge Bretano was much affected by
the awful duty imposed on him and he
seemed to suffer mental pain while
Prendergast was delivering his speech.
Only by great effort did he retain suffi-
cient control of his emotions TO utter the
solemn words put into his mouth by the
law and it was with trembling voice he