Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1895-10-04
HOTEL DE BERGMAN.
Four New Candidates for Numbers and
Stripes Arrived from San Juan
and Union Counties Last Night
More Expected from D0na
Ana County.

Sheriff OverbBy, of Union county, came
in from Clayton last night, having in
charge Candida Chavez, sentenced by
Chief Justice Smith to serve eighteen
months in the territorial penitentiary for
burglarizing the hardware store of Thos.
W. MoSchooler, at Folsom, about year
ago.
Sheriff A. H. Dunning and Deputy Sher-
if H. l.. Dunning, of San Juan county,
also arrived at the capital from Aztec
last evening with Nelson and Charles De
Luche, sentenced by Judge Laughlin to
eighteen months each in the penitentiary
for unlawfully branding cattle, and Geo.
H. Denham, sentenced to one year at hard
labor for burglary. The several prisoners
above enumerated we're turned over to
Col. Bergman, who promptly assigned
them appropriate numbers and uniforms.
Denham built up a reputation for be-
ing quite a wag while in Jail at Aztec,
and is said to have made good many
friends by his good natured behavior,
some of whom might have been persuad-
ed to go on his bond if the evidence had
not been so clear against him. He APP
preached a number on the subject, who
declined to go on his bond because they
ware sure he was guilty. Then, in his
suayist manner, he approached another
we'll known resident of San Juan county,
who refused because he was not acquaint-
ed with him. This seemed greatly to sur
prise Denham, and he rather dlsconso-
lately drawled out: "You refuse because
you don't know me, and the others refuse
because they do know me. I seem to be
in hard hole" This same Denham also
pathetically appealed to Sheriff Dunning
not longer to confine him in cell with
| Symers, remembered in Santa Fe as the
youth who months ago attempted to
break into the postoffice here, because
"Symers doesn't keep clean and doesn't
seem to be perfectly honest"
Sheriff Ascarate, of Dona Ana county,
is expected to arrive in the city to.mor-
row with batch of prisoners sentenced
to the penitentiary by Judge Bantz at
the recent term of court in Las Cruces.
Among the number will be Jose Camp
bell, who brutally butchered Aniceto
Montoya in La Luz, nineteen years ago,
and after sentence was passed upon him,
it is said, feelrgly thanked the jury, the
judge and the lawyers who permitted
him to 60 to prison under a ninty-nine
years sentence instead of hanging him as
he deserved.
Campbell's crime appears to have been
ono of peculiar atrocity. 1t is related
that he aid three other men killed Mon
toya, for no reason, in his own house, and
after stabbing and clubbing him to death,
they placed lighted candles in his wounds
and danced about the body, compelling
his family to participate in their hideous
orgy.
The murderers were arrested and
brought to Mesilla, but they all escaped
from Jail and disappeared. Last winter
Campbell's whereabouts became known
and he was brought back for trial.
Campbell went upon the witness stand
and convicted himself by trying to ex-
plain his presence, as an officer of the
law, at the scene of the murder. John F.
Mitchell, esq, defended Campbell as we'll
as was possible, but the case was clear,
and the court instructed the jury that if
they should find the prisoner guilty at all,
they could return only verdict of muir
der in the first degree. The jury stood
eleven to one for such verdict, but the
one was obstinate, and eleven compro
missed on second degree.
The court was about to send the jury
back, but the prisoner said he would &C.
cept the verdict, and, as the district at
torney said he would not insist upon a
verdict of first degree, the verdict was al
lowed to stand, and the court promptly
passed sentence of imprisonment for
ninety nine years.