The record-union., 1897-01-16
The Murderer Of Mrs. Greenwood Pays
the Penalty for His Crime.
Shows His Indifference to Death on
the Scaffold.
His Last Words Were an Admonition
to the Sheriff Not to be Nervous
and to Make the Moose Tight-Falls
Like a Weight of Lead When the
Trap Was Sprung, and Never
rlOVed Afterward.


NAPA, Jan. 15.-William M. Roe was
hanged at II o'clock this morning for
the murder of Mrs. Lucinda Green
wood.
The execution took place in the Jail
yard and was witnessed by large num-
Der of spectators.
The careless, flippant air which had
marked the murderer's conduct for
sock him last evening and he became
quite serious as the time wore on and
the hour of his doom approached.
Roe sought relief from the mental
tortures in sleep. He was nervous and
uneasy, however, and, although he lay
down five hours, but little of the time
was passed in slumber.
He was up early this morning. and af-
ter bathing and donning new clothing,
ate sparingly his last meal.
At 10 o'clock Sheriff Mckenzie read
the death warrant, and notified Roe to
make preparations for the end. Captain
Kettle of the Salvation Army was with
the condemned man and prayed with
him and urged him to accept the conso-
lation OF religion. Roe pretended meek
ness, but his action showed insincerity,
and he went to the gallows as he had
lived, unrepentant and malevolent.
AT 11:20 the procession was formed in
the condemned cell, and Roe marched
down stairs behind the Sheriff on the
way to the yard. He was accompanied
by Captain John w. Kettle of the Sal
walton Army mad William A. Kennedy,
one of the death watch. On the lower
corridor the straps pinioning his hands
to his side were adjusted, though he
demurred, as it prevented him from
handling a cigar he had in his mouth
The walk to the gallows occupied but
a minute. Roe took his place on the
center of the trap, and the Sheriff told
him he might speak. STOPPING his head,
Roe removed the cigar and said
Il haven't much to say, only my
thanks for the way have been treated.
The Sheriff and all the officers have
treated me we'll. 1 have got no creed
nor kin nor anything like that. 1 think
that is all.''
The moose was thrown loosely over
his neck and Roe then asked for de-
lay to let Captain Kettle pray, which
he did for Roe, who stood with the moose
on his shoulders. Then Roe said with
a smile to friend in the crowd: Good
by, Jeff. Be a good boy He then
asked the Sheriff not to be nervous, an
admonition he had frequently given
him during the morning, and added:
Make the moose tight" The moose was
then frightened and the black cap ad-
justed and the drop was sprung. Roe
fell like a weight of lead and never
moved after he fell. The trap fell at
1872.
The body was allowed to hang until
the attending physician pronounced
life extinct. Then the remains were
placed in a coffin and delivered to the
Coroner, who will hold an inquest and
then surrender the body to the physi-
clans, in accordance with the expressed
wishes of the deceased.
Roe confessed to having committed
twenty-six murders before his arrest
The crime for which he was finally
taken into custody and for which he
to-day forfeited his life, was the mur-
der of Mrs. Lucinda Greenwood, wife
of John l.. Greenwood, a Napa County
farmer.
On February 10, 1891, California was
shocked by the news of the crime,
which occurred the day before az
Greenwood's farm, about six miles
from Napa City Robbery was proba-
bly, the motive which inspired Roe and
Carl Schmidt, his accomplice. to kill
a defenseless woman and attempt the
life of her husband.
Roe was employed as a horse trainer
at ranch adjoining Greenwood's 1t
is supposed that he learned that Green
wood had on the day. of the crime COL
lected 50, 1000 for the sale of piece of
land. The murderer thought the farmer
had the coin in the house. and Roe de-
termined to secure it. He procured a
large phial of chloroform and a couple
of revolvers and started for Green
woods On the way he claims to have
met a stranger, Carl Schmidt by name,
whom he took into his confidence and
induced to join with him in the commits
sion of the crime.
Greenwood was working in his ward
about o'clock in the afternoon. when
the men appeared. Roe was masked for
the occasion, but Schmidt was not. The
trespassers asked for food and the
farmer told them if they waited until
his wife returned she would furnish
them with a meal
Greenwood was remarkably cool and
paid little attention to Roe and Schmidt
until he turned about, when he was
confronted with two revolvers. He was
ordered to go to the house, where he
was tied to a banister, given a dose of
chloroform and gagged.
About this time Mrs. Greenwood re-
turned. She drove her buggy up to the
front of the house and alighted. after
which she was dragged within doors by
the desperadoes. bound to a bedstead,
compelled to swallow chloroform, and
gagged.
For an hour Roe and Schmidt
searched the house in vain for treasure
The $1,000 which they expected to find
had been banked by Greenwood and
they departed with 81 90 as the fruits
of their crime.
The drug which Greenwood had taken
failed to prove fatal. and about 6
o'clock the farmer managed to break
loose. He went to the bedroom and
there found the dead body of his wife
pinfoned to the bed, the poison hav--
ing proved fatal. He remained with the