Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1895-10-10

fear, though no air Of bravado attended
him. Obediently he took his place up
on the fatal trap where he was told to
stand, meekly and humbly he stood
while Sheriff Baker adjusted the cruel
moose and Deputies Morgan and Young
fastened the straps that bound him.
He looked neither to the right nor the
left, and his last sight of earth was
straight before him when Sheriff Baker
slipped over his head the black cap
that shrouded his face. Then Captain
Baker and Mr.. Young left the scafold
and Colonel Morgan stepped to one
corner. There was silence for several
seconds, few persons took a last look
at the pitiful little figure standing there
at the brink of death and turned their
backs, Colonel Morgan waved his hand,
there was a sharp click as the bolts
that held the trap were drawn, and
the body shot down swiftly to the end
Of the rope, where it hung with scarce
a tremor. 1t was II 06 when the drop
fell. Seventeen minutes later Drs.
Richardson, Neill and Davis agreed
that he was dead, and at the end of
twenty-four minutes the body was taken
down. 1t was ascertained that the
neck had not been dislocated, death
being caused by strangulation, That
the death was painless one, however,
was evidenced by the fact that there
was no struggling. A few tremors
were noticeable and that was all. The
drop was about five and a-half feet,
but the body was 50 slight that appa-
rently it had not weight enough to
cause dislocation. When Scott had
been pronounced dead by the physi
clans the body was placed in the coffin
that awaited it at the foot Of the scat
fold, and was at once hauled to Lee
town and buried in the graveyard con-
nected with the alms-house.
There was no accident of any kind
in carrying out the sentence Of the law.
Sheriff Baker and his deputies, Colonel
Morgan and Jailer Young, had care
fully arranged every detail, and their
unpleasant duty was performed as ex-
peditiously and as humanely as it was
possible to do so.
The crime for which Andrew Scott
was executed was the murder of his
wife, Elizabeth NJ. Scott, by poison on
May 2 last. On the evening of May
Scott made a cup of tea for his wife,
who was slightly unwell, and into it
he put arsenic. She drank the tea
and became sick, vomiting violently,
During the night physician was sent
for, but did not ascertain the cause of
her sickness. About five o'clock on
the morning Of May 2, after spending
a night in the agonies Of arsenical
poisoning, she died, and then it was
discovered that she had been poisoned.
Suspicion pointed to her husband and
during the morning he was arrested
and sent to jail. The circuit court
convened in about two weeks and
Scott was indicted for the murder. In
few days he was tried by a jury and
found guilty Of murder in the first de-
gree. On the trial the evidence showed
that he and his wife did not live hap
PLY together on account Of her I'M
faithfulness. She was VIGOROUSLY i'm
moral and Scott was frequently driven
from his home by other men at her
instance. 1t was proved that on the
day he administered the poison he had,
under the name Of Andrew Simpson, a
name he bore while living at Mount
jackson, Va, bought an ounce Of ar
senic at the drug store of DR.. John P,
Bishop. After the murder a paper
containing arsenic, partly charred
with DIR. Bishops label on it and the
name Andrew Simpson on the label
was found in a stove in the house oc-
cupied by the murderer. The dead
woman's stomach was analysed by a
prominent chemist and arsenic was
found. The dregs left in the can III
which the tea was made also contained
arsenic. At the trial Scott was ably
defended by Messrs. Cleon Moore and
T. c. Green, who were assigned to de-
fend him by the court. but the prison
er was unable to make out good de-
Tense and the verdict was found az
previously stated. Judge E. Boyt
Faulkner, before whom the case was
tried, sentenced Scott TO be hanged
October 4. His case was not taken t.
the Supreme Court, but an application
was made to Governor MacCorkle tx
commute his sentence to Imprisonment
in the penitentiary for life, but thu
Governor refused to interfere with the