Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-05-08

=,
had given the case the appearance of
accident.
Holmes was placed on trial in this
city for Pitezels murder on Monday.
October Is last. The trial ended the
following Saturday night in "a verdict
of guilty of murder in the first degree
The jury was out two hours and half
for the sake OF appearances" They
had agreed upon their verdict in one
minutes time. The trial was one of
! the most sensational known TO this or
any other city. After futile entreaties
for postpOnement by Holmes lawyers,
William A. Shoemaker and Samuel p
Rotan, on the ground that they were
unprepared to proceed, Judge Arnold
decided that the case would have TO so
on without delay. Then Holmes
DISCHARGED HIS ATTORNEYS
and undertook the conduct of his own
de.enee-which was the Suicidei story.
He displayed much skill and shrewd-
ness in questioning witnesses, but the
machinery Of the Commonwealth,
whose case was managed by District
Attorney George 5. Graham, eventually
WI " AANAAlAtA AlAAAls anu hC wac OOl4-NN
TO re-engage his counsel.
The one witness whose testimony did
more TO convict Holmes than that Of
all the others was Georgiana Yoke,
( otherwise Mrs. Howard, the woman who
/ thought herself Holmes wife. Upon her
/ first appearance as a witness against
him, Holmes broke down and wept in
| the dock, but he soon recovered his
/ marvellous nerve and personally cross
/ examined her She was living with
, him at the Eleventh street boarding
! house on the day OF the murder, and
told how ne he'd left the house that
morning, returning about five hours
later. flushed and excited. and taking
train for Indianapolis with her that
night,
This is the story of the murder of
Benjamin f. PitezeL but With it is in
/ teTwoven the schemes and acts which
brought about the killing of at least
/ eight other victims. These were Alice
and Nellie Pitezel, the little daughters
of Benjamin, who were aSphyXiated in
a trunk in Toronto. Canada Howard
! Pitezel, the young son, killed in Indian
! apolis, Holmes cutting up and burn
Ing the remains in stove; Julia l..
! Conner, divorced wife of l. L. Conner.
and a bookkeeper for Holmes; Pearl
Conner, her daughter; Emeline G. c.
grande Of Anderson, Ind. stenOgra-
pher for Holmes; Minnie X. Williams,
OF Fort Worth. Texas. his private secre-
tary; and Mana Williams, her sister.
The murder OF these persons has been
| fixed upon him almost certainly. but
there are at least a dozen other cases
which have been laid at his door.
To tell the story of these it is neces-
sary 10 explain something of the man
himself-his personality and his mar
vellous brain power.
The execution of Holmes closes one
OF the most extraordinary narratives
in the criminal! annals of modern times.
The nerve, the calculation and the au
dscity of the man were unparalleled.
Murder was his natural bent Some
times he killed from sheer greed Of
gain; Ottener, as he has himself con-
fessed. TO crafty an inhuman thirst for
blood. Not one of his crimes was the
outcome of a sudden burst of fury
hot blood. as the codes say.
ALL WE'RE DELIBERATE;
planned and concluded with consum-
mate skill. To him murder was Indeed
q fine art and he revealed in the lurd
glamour east upon him by his abnormal
genius. Even with the shadow OF the
moose dangling over his head, he ev0lv-
ed a so-called confession. detailing with
horrible calmnesS how he had eXterm
mated twenty-seVen fellow-creatures.
and coldly setting forth the varied and
bloody tortures he employed One
could almost see the fendish grin on
his thin and blOodless lips as. in the
gloom of his cell in Moyamensing pris-
on. ne set down the terrible tale.
But the man was an atrociouS liar,
and several of those with whose muir
der he charged himself have since de-
MED his story with their own lips. The
statement was prompted by perverted
ambition to be regarded as the great
est" monster who ever walked in the
form of man. and an homogeneous desire
10 gain for the education OF MS little
son in Gilmanten. New Hampshire, the
$4,000 offered for the confession" by
newspaper.
This desire goes far to prove his pos
! session Of many conflicting traits. 1t
proves that he knew something of hui
! man love. as the trial clearly demon
strated that he held affection for the
woman he called his wife-Miss Yoke.
! 1t is a we'll known fact that women
| we're attracted to him, and one not hard
! to understand when the superficial man
| is considered. for he was born OF rep
| usable parents. reared under the influ
ence OF q Christian home, and surround
/ ed in his early years by every refine
ment He was born az Gilmanton in
/ 1858. so that ne was SS years old when
/ the end of his spectacular career came.
/ He was of medium build, with an erect
and manly bearing. His hands and
feet were small, and the skin smooth
to the touch;
| THE FEATURES WERE REGULAR,
I the brown hair not too sparse, and
well-kspt moUstache shaded his small
mouth. Pretty" he might haze been
called. for the paleness of his cheeks
was modified by jus. touch of color,
and his big blue eyes, before the con-
fning walls of a prison robbed them of
their light, we're mild and gentle. The
voice was soft and low. Besides. he
was we'll educated. Altogether, while
by no means effeminate. it was easy to
consider that he was what is called
"lady's man."
His parents were among the most re-
specced persons in their part of the
State. His father had been postmaster
for more than tYenty-four years. Hol-