Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1896-05-14
HOLMES Is HANGED.
1Pays the Penalty sor the Murder
Il l ,z#5 I'll Of PitzeL
q A1n lII4 Account q AFeh-Tr aend,. Eat
4 Hours Ton Earth His scanold
Speech-Dled Protesting His
InnOcenCe.


was not broken by the fall The marvellous
nerve OF the man never deserted him to the
very end. Even on the ecaffold he was prob
ably the coolest person in the solemn as
semblage. \
Holmes spent the greater part of his
Iaet night on earth writing letters. At
midnight he went to bed and slept soundly.
until six o'clock Thursday morning. II
TOOK two calls to awaken him. Promptly
arising. he received a visit from his spirit
ual advisers. Fathers DAILY and Macpeak,
OF the Church Of the Annunciation. They
administered the last sacrament and did
not leave him until nearly nine O'Clock.
At 1902 o'clock the sheriff called together
the official jury, and after each man had
answered to his name and subscribed to the
certlncate the solemn march to the gallows
was begun.
AS the gathering stood in silence before
the scanold murmur came from behind
the partition erected Immediately back of
t.. 1t was the dolorous chant of the two
priests ACCOMMODATING the doomed man
TO the scafrold. They were uttering the
psalm 'Miserere.' They mounted the
platform. A moment OF prayer followed.
and then Holmes stepped to the front of
the scaffold and, resting his hands on the
rail before him, made his statement Of in
nocence. It was received in absolute
silence. - --' '-.--
Pallid naturally after his Incarceration.
there was no other evidence of fear or dis
quiet. He spoke slowly and with measured
attention to every word; trifle low at
first, but louder as he proceeded, until
every word was distinctly audible. g, '.yE
Gentlemen" he said II have very few
words to say, ir fact would make no
statement at this time except, that by
not speaking I would appear to acquiescc
In life In my execution. only want to
say that the extent of my wrong-doings
IN taking human life consisted in the
he ~ txrr@ =
at my hands as the result Of criminal oper-
atoms. I wish also to state however so
that there will be no misunderstanding
hereafter, am not guilty: of taking the
lives of any Of the Pitzel family. the three
children or father, Benjamin F. Pitzel, Of
whose death am now convicted and for
which am to-day to be hanged. -
THAT is ALL" E~a$s F.:
AS he ceased speaking, he stepped back
and kneeling between Fathers. Daily and
Macpeak, Joined with them I'M silent prayer
for brief minute or two. Again standing
he shook the hand of all those about him,
and then signified his readiness for the end
Herman w. Mudgett. better known as H.
H. Holmes, was one Of the most conspicu-
GUS criminals Of modern times, and If the
'murderer's confessions" which he has
written can only, partially be believed. he
was without peer as a bloodthirsty de-
mon. His recent ingenious confession"
wherein he claimed to have: killed q
persons. was disproved, partly, at least,
by the appearance Of several oftthe So
called victims; but Holmes object in max
ing the confession was realized-the OBJ
tanning OF a sum said to be 81. 500, and
which amount is said to have been settled
upon the criminals 1S-year-old son. While
the confessions" have served tosincrease
the sensationaltsm of the case, the only
capital crime for which Holmes had to an
swer, was the killing in this city. on Septem-
IN 1{, fo1l
conspirator. The murder was committed
in the dwelling. No. 1916 CaAowhill street: !
Holmes was captured in Boston, Mass.
in the,latter part OF 1894, by Owen Hanscom,i
the deputy superintendent Of police, upon;
the strength Of q telegram from Fort
Worth. Tex. where he was wanted for
horse-stealing; and for! other charges Of
larceny. AT that time officials of the FL
deity Mutual Life association. OF Phila-
delphia, were hot on Holmes, trail for de-
franding the concern out of SIC, 900 in CON
nection with Pitzel's death, the latter be-
ing insured for! this amount, and as the
accused believed demonstrating to be
high crime in Texas. he voluntarily con-
fessed to Deputy Superintendent Hanscom
to the insurance fraud. He did not. for a
moment, dream that he was then suspect
ed Of the murder OF Pitzel and he came to
Philadelphia without ,requisitiona papers.
He expressed q: wiz lingness TO be tried here
on the conspiracy charge in preference to
that of horse stealing at Fort Worth. -,
Between this time and his trial for: cons
spiracy to- defraud the Insurance company
to which he pleaded guilty. Holmes made
many confessions Each time he pre-
tended to tell the truth. but he sedulously
avoided doing so.@-No body believed what
Holmes said about Pitzel, and he would
not say anything about the children ex-
IN lis inanyiatsfyisvs Witia pi (; j 10
torney sGraha IN. Holmes persisted that the
three missing Pitzel children were with
Minnie Williams in London. He even
persuaded Mr.. Graham to have an adver-
tisefnent inAthe shape Of cipher puzzle
purpose Of bringing Minnie Williams and
the little Pitzels back FROM Enrppe N9TheS
district attorney placed little faitf1sin What
Holmes told him, but the "ad'' was pub
hshed as a sort of last and hopeless eff
fort When the bodies of Nellie and Alice
Pitzel WERE unearthed in Toronto, Holmes
denied having killed them. {, When. How
ards charred bones we're located in q
suparannuated stove in Irvington. Ind,
Holmes calmly denied any knowledge of
Minnie Williams and her sister wersAdfsJ
covered, Holmes said that Minnie killed
Mamie in b jealousrfrenzy;ya and he buried \
the body in Lake Michigan. He vigorously
denied having Rput MINNIE rs death 50 as
to- SEIZURE her property. The disappearance
O1 t4LllAy ClSTduO was traced 10 Holmes,
but the criminal said he knew nothing of !
the girls fate. The partially Consumed
bones that were found In the Chicago "cas-
tle'T are known-to- be those of some OF !
Holmes victims. About the last time that
Holmes was taken to the district attor-
Itey's office to CONFESS" Mr.. Graham lost
patiehesp with him.. Holnes gave hI repet
tition ofyhish AiatIreaqhd falsehbodsA 4 ia
actualW gAvetlea diSt ctHHa & Srh SygaF vefis
table, Jolly about the Pitzel family and
Minnie Milliams being still aliMe-.. !21,las-
scene that~onsued was extremely dramatic T
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