The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-07-02

when told that Il was time for the
execution and after his hands were
fastened together he remarked in Ital-
ian to the priests that Jesus Christ
once had his hands tied.
He asked the pardon Of the Jail Of
ficials If at any time he had done any
thing to offend them and after instruct
ing Sheriff Clemons to give the stool in
his cell to Robert Haag Of the death
watch expressed his readiness to go to
the gallows. As he left the cell he said
to Father Peru2zi In a few minutes
! will see Almighty God and the
angels"
AT 1905 the sound of steps ascending
the scaffold was heard by the spec
tators in front and in another instant
the heads of Sheriff Clemons and ex-
Chief of Police Simpson appeared above
the floor of the instrument of death. the
murderer with priest on each side OF
him coming within range Of the specta-
tors vision next. The five men and
Warden Jay took positions OH the plat
form, the deputies remaining on the top
step. Merolo spoke a last word to the
priests. kissed both priests goodbye
and then stepped cOurageously under
the moose not q muscle displaying the
slightest sign of nervousness. He
made no remark of any kind. Warden
Jay fastened the legs together, ex-Chief
Simpson adjusted the moose and slipped
on the black cap and then all stepped
| quickly backward off the trap door,
the bolt was pulled and at 1907 the
two doors shot downward with a bang
| Microbes body following. When the
| end OF the five feet Of slack rope was
reached the body rebounded a few inch
es and twisted around and around for
| several seconds. one minute after the
| drop DR.. Barnes telt the pulse and it
was beating quite strongly.
PULSATION CEASED.
The knees were slightly drawn up
but that was the only outward move
ment Of the body showing life after
the drop. Gradually the limbs stiffen-
| ed out and became rigid and at l0.l2
DR. Barnes declared that the pulse had
| ceased. Warden Jay and II. F. Fer
| Der brought in a rose wood coffin and
| placed 1t un6fr the body. At 1928
| heart action could not be discerned and
| two minutes later Dr. Barnes declared
| Merolo dead. He was lowered into the
| coffin by eX-Chief Simpson and after
some difficulty the moose was released
| showing livid mark about the neck.
| The black cap was removed and Nero
los face disclosed, pale and calm, but
| without a distortion Of any kind. The
| doctors, after an examination, said
that his neck was broken clean by the
fall. He was dressed In the suit he
| wore when he entered the prison. 1t
| was well worn and faded. A light col
| ored outing shirt with red stripes COM
| pleted his attire. He wore no necktie,
but in the lapel Of his coat was a small
bunch Of pansies, evidently gathered
but @ few hours before. Sheriff Glenn
ons refused to say who pulled the rope
| that released the doors. 1t was done by
some one who was out of sight behind
the fence.
After the body was placed in the cof-
| f;a the hands We're crossed on the
breast the lid of the coffin screwed
down and the body taken to the Jail
| morgue. where It will remain for twen-
ty-four hours. Today the remains will
be inferred by Undertaken A. r. Raub
in the Hyde Park Catholic cemetery.
Father Landro will conduct services at
the Jail before the body is taken to the
| cemetery.
Joseph Boschino, who Is under sem
| tence to be executed on Aug for the
murder of Frank Conforti has been in
| corridor since his conviction. but was
| moved into cell 8. corridor before the
| execution yesterday. He is naturally
Of an excitable temperament and was
| much depressed by the hanging of Me-
| rolo. Yesterday afternoon he was TAX
| en- back to. his cell in corridor g. Only
| the prisoners In the cells close to the
| scaffold were removed from the corri-
| dor; the others were allowed to remain,
but the solid oak doors Of the cells
were closed so that it was impossible
| for them to see the execution.
STORY OF THE MURDER.
No murder of recent years created so
| much excitement as did the killing of
Emanuel Loro by Crescenzo Merolo
on June II, 1894 On the afternoon Of
| that day Merolo left the house OF An
tonic Greece, where he boarded, and
walked down the street a short dis
tance, where he stopped talking to two
men. Loro came along and asked for
10 cents that Merolo owed him. The
latter denied owing the debt; angry
words were exchanged, and Merolo
drew his revolver and fired three shots
into Loro's body, killing him. Such, in
brief, was the story of the crime as de-
veloped by the commonwealth on the
| trial of the case. Immediately after
the shooting Merolo fled and for weeks
the mountains of this region were
secured by County Detective Shea and
force of deputies under Sheriff Fahey.
Merolo succeeded in getting out of the
country and went to Italy, where he
remained for a few months, then re-
turning to this country.
| In the meantime Barring & McSwee-
ney had been given charge Of the case
by the county commissioners. and Me-
rolo was arrested on Oct. Z, 1895, in
Boston. He denied that he was Me-
rolo, but he was identified by witnesses
taken to Boston, and subsequently
more fully identified at preliminary
hearing in this city. The work of Sc
curing evidence against him was then
taken up by County Detective Leyshon,
who succeeded Shea, and forty-one wit
nesses were subpoenaed to attend the
trial to establish Merolo's identity and
his connection with the murder The
case went to trial on Dec. before
Judge Edwards and the commonwealth
found 1t necessary to call only thirty
one Of its witnesses. The common
wealths side Of the case was brilliant
| ly and convincingly presented by Dis
trict Attorney Jones.
Merolo still denied his identity and
maintained all during the trial that he
was Frank La Braca. Nevertheless he
was found guilty Of murder in the first
degree, and on Dec. 10 a new trial was
applied for. 1t was refused by Judge
Edwards on Jan. 25, and Governor
Hastings fixed May &c as the date for
1