, 1897-04-21
BY THE ELECTRIC ROUTE.
The First Victims to Suffer Death I'm
der Ohio's New Law.

-
Columbus, O., April 2O.-The first
e~lectrocution in Ohio took place tonight,
shortly after midnight. in the annex OF
the Ohio penitentiary, where for the past
IL years capital punishment has been
melted out to all persons under sentence
Of death in the state by hanging.
William Haas and William Wiley were
the victims.
The electrical chairs and appliances
have been in place in the old execution
room for several weeks. They are SINH
lar to those used in New York.
The ~electrocution Of William Haas
was set sor April Sth. but owing to tho
burning out of the armature on the
electrocution dynamo, the e~lectrocution
had to be postponed and Governor
Bushnell fixed the date so that Haas
would be e]lectrocuted on the day set for
the e%lectrocution OF William Wiley. A
new armature, to be used only for cleo
trocutions, was secured and the test to-
day showed that it was fully up to re-
quirements. To prevent any possibility
of the armature being tempered with.
an extra guard was placed in the dyna-
mo roof, Haas and Wiley, the condemn
ed man, passed the day in reading and
in religious devotions. Haas, who Is 10
years Of age, had been Indifferent to his
fate ever since his arrival at the annex.
The crime for which Haas was cleo
trocuted was a most revolving one. He
had been employed and b%efriended by
William Brader, a gardener residing at
Cloverdale, a suburb Of Cincinnati. On
the morning OF July 3, 1896, while Brad
err was absent in Cincinnati, Haas crim>
inally assaulted Mrs. Brader, who vas
the only other occupant Of the house,
except himself. and then cut her throat
with a razor. To cover up the crime,
Haas set fire to the house and fled, but
some blackberry pickers saw the smoke
issuing from the house in time to pre-
vent its burning. Haas was arrested on
the afternoon OF the same day at Hamil-
ton, Ohio, and taken to Cincinnati,
where by degrees a confession was Sc
cured from him.
William Wiley murdered his wife on
the west side of Cincinnati, 20 days aft
er Haas committed his crime. Wiley
was insanely jealous Of his wife, and, as
it transpired, without cause. After a
few years OF unhappy domestic life, he
came home one day in u drunken fit and
shot his wife, who died after being TAX
en- to a hospital. Wiley concealed him.
self in a closet in the house and was
wounded in u desperate fight with the
officers who arrested him.
Haas was the first to be electrocuted.
He was strapped to the chair at 1921.
When he was brought into the electro
cution room he closely scrutinized the
chair and was pushed into it. The cur
rent was turned on for u period Of two
seconds, three times in succession. As
soon as the body Of Haas was taken out
OF the chair Wiley was brought in, and
at 1895 he was strapped in the chair.
Both executions were eminently success
full.
An examination Of the bodies after
they had been removed to the prison
morgue did not disclose even the slight
est abrasion or irritation Of the skin at
the points Of contact, and the physicians
and experts pronounced the electrocu-
tons as perfect as 1t was possible to
make. them. The voltage was 1,75O in
both e~lectrocutions, and the amperage
ranged from 8h to ~.