The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-05-08
Murderer Holmes Pays the Pen
atty for His Crime.
HANGED AT PHILADELPHIA
Denied on the Scaffold that He
Took Pietzel's Life.
THE DROP FELLAT 1912 O'CLOCK
just Half an Hour After the Drop Fell
the Body Was Cut Down and
Buried in Mount Moriah
Ceuefnry

Philadelphia, Pa. May Herman
W. Mudgett alias II. Il. Holmes. was
hanged in Moyamensiug prison at 1917
minutes after 10 o'clock. That is the
time the drop fell. It was fully a half
hour later before he was officially pro
nounced dead.
A half minute before he was shot in
to eternity he made this declaration
to the solemn assemblage gathered
about the scaffold:
Gentlemen, ] have very few words
to say. In fact / would make no re-
marks at this time except that by not
speaking / would appear to acquiesce
in my execution. | only wish to say
that the extent of my wrong-doing
in taking human life consisted in the
death of two women, they having died
at my hands as the result of criminal
operations. / wish TO also state here,
so that there can be no chance of mis-
understanding hereafter that / am not
guilty of taking the lives of any of the
Pietzel family, the three children, and
Benjamin, the father, of whose death
/ was convicted, and for which I am
to-day to be hanged. That is all
have to say"
It viii be seen that the words were
well-ehosen. They were equally well
pronounced. The voice never quaver-
ed; the hands clasped on the railing
of the scaffold did not tremble. The
nerve which had all along character
lied this marvel of assissins had not de-
serted him to the very end. AS the
last syllable fell from his pallid lips,
he turned to his attorney. Clasping
the right hand of the young lawyer,
Holmes gave him a firm grasp-frm
even at that terrible moment-he laid
his left hand on the other mans
shoulders and gazing straight into his
eyes. uttered in a loud voice Good
bye" Then he carefully buttoned his
coat. nodded to the sheriff, and in an
instant he shot to death.
He was undoubtedly the most stOlid
of any in that assemblage OF fifty odd
men. The pallor of his face was no
deeper than the ordinary prison
bleach, and he stood erect, gazing
steadfastly before him, until the hor-
rible black cap shut ou5 his last look
at earthly things.
He spent his last day of life unevent-
fully. During part of yesterday Father
DaIy, of theChurch of the Annuncia-
ton, visited him and said prayers. In
the afternoon, his lawyer, Samuel Ro-
tan, called for a short time. The
balance of the day Holmes occupied
reading his Bible, and other devotional
books.
The only sign Of defiance ne made
was just after the priest left.
'.Am I nervous?" he demanded,
stretching his hands out to keeper
Weaver They were steady as rock.
Holmes smiled ind retired to the rear
OF his cell. He declared that he had
never felt better in his life. Soon after
this the priests returned and remained
with him until the end. At two min
utes after 10 o'clock the procession to
the gallows was begun, headed by
Prison Superintendent Perkins and As
sistan5 Superintendent Richardson.
Fifty or more men, with uncovered
heads. made up the solemn parade and
halted before the scaffold.
The instrument of death loomed
high in the centre of the corridor on
the first floor Of the convict side OF the
prison. The platform which stood
eight feet above the level of the floor
was approached by a fight of stairs.
The witnesses passed around the
structure and faced it. An awful
silence followed for a moment. Then,
murmur of sound arose from the
other side of the scaffold. 1t was the
prayers of the priests,who were escort
ing Holmes to the gallows. A moment
later they mounted the steps and came
into view.
There was a pause after they had
reached the deadly trap, and then
Holmes stepped forward and pronoun-
ced his valedictory it took him ex-
actly two minutes to pronounce what
nearly every man there regarded as the
last of a series of lies. Father DAILY is
the only man who knows whether or
not the man went into eternity with a
lie on his lips, for to him Holmes,
either last night or to-day, made a
final confession. But that is buried in
the secrets OF the church. After shak-
ing hands with his lawyer, who then
left the scaffold, Holmes turned and
bade farewell to Superintendent Per-
kins and Richardson, and the priests,
who were the other occupants of the
gallows. Then he and the two clergy
men knelt in silent prayer.
They arose at 1912 o'clock. In an
other half minute the end had come,
Holmes hands were manacled behind
him, the moose and the black cap were
adjusted, and the intense stiffness was
broken by a sharp crack that echoed
along the corridors like the crack of a
pistol. The body shot down and hung
without tremor. AS the echoes died
away, the voices of the priests softly
arose. They were chanting the prayers
for those in the agonies of death.
The body was allowed to hang until