Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-07-26

of 1sG, hut It quickly fell. and n short
time had practically died away. while the
heart beat Ike a trip hammer The man
was pronounced dead at l1.,3. and at 1901
he was lowered into his coffin. when 1t was
decided by the physicians that the neck
had been broken.
After the crowd had heen given an OPP
pcrtunty to view the body as It repcsed In
the coffin beneath the scaff0ld reveral
prisoners carried 1t into one of the front
rooms OF the prison. and there the priests
read the burial service over the remains.
This coffin was then taken TO Harveys I'M
dertak.Is establishment and later in the
day 1t was carried to Mt. Olivet cemetery
and placed IN a vault, to await the wishes
of the " dow of the man.
Beams Crime.
Beams crime was ore of the most bru-
tally cruel ones in the history Of the Dis
trict 1t was the shooting to death on
the I'D of last December of Mrs. Annie
L. Leahy. his stepdaughter. The woman.
together with her mother and an unmar-
ried sister. lived at DIG Maryland avenue
northeast. Beam, because of his cruelty
AMI d,sslpated habits, had been denied adj
mission to the house for several weeks.
and about 3 O'Clock of the afternoon Of
the murder he called there for the pur-
pose, he subsequent ly explained, of seeing
his wife. who. he had lear ed was i'll. The
door was opcCed by Mrs. Leahy, and when
she saw who had rung the bell. she en-
deavored TO close the door IN his face, first
telling the man that he could not see his
wife. Beams quick temper was aroused.
and he attempted to push the woman aside
and erter the house. She resisted. and in
his rage Beam pulled two revolvers from
his pockets and began emptying them
into the defenseless woman, who, as he
fired, ran shrieking out into the little yard
about the house.
The enraged man emptied the revolvers,
pursuing his victim even after he had ex-
H. tnI thn w
the yard, pierced by five bullets. and as
the crowd attracted by the shots gathered
in frort of the house, Beam was seen
standing over the woman, cursing her and
stamping upon her face and neck in his
brutal rage When an attempt was made
by some one to approach and disarm the
brute, he coolly proceeded to load the
revolvers, crying out that he would kill
the first one who dared to come near him.
Satisfying himself that the woman was
dead, Beam passed out into the street, ard
one of the first to approach him was Con-
gresham Meiklejohn. To him the man
surrendered himself, exclaiming that he
had rid the world of a human monster,
and that he was glad of it. II necessary.
he said, he would gladly hang for what
he had done
Trial and Sentence.
The man was at once committed to jail,
ard his trial took place last March before
Judge Cole. 1t was urged in his defense
that he was insane, and more than score
of witnesses were introduced by his coun-
SELL whose testimony tended to show that,
while the man was always given to ex
travagant ideas ard language, they would
not say that he was unable to distinguish
right from wrong Witnesses for the gov
eminent showed that Beam possessed
QuarreisoEle nature, a quick temper. and
that ne had been arrested a number OF
times for assault drunkenness and threats.
The. court told the jury that the conten-
ton OF tho defendant that he was cane
the moment before firing. insane while
firing the five balls into the woman, and
sane the moment after. was q most dan
gerous doctrine to follow. one against
reason. and one not now recognized in
law.
The jury returned verdict of guilty Of
murder in the first degree within a few
minutes after retiring, and after mo
ton for new trial had been overruled a
few weeks subsequently, Beam was sem
tenced to be hanged today. The courts
rulings had been SO satisfactory to the
defendant that for the first time in the
history of District homicide cases no ex-
captions were noted by the convicted man.
For that reason the Court Of Appeals re-
fused to order a new trial, and also re-
fused to order an inquiry into the mans
mental condition, an inquiry which Judge
Cole had also refused. An appeal was
then made to the President for either 4
Communication of the death sentence to one
of life Imprisonment or for an inquiry into
the mans mental condition, and twice the
President raf,lSad IN n