The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-04-04
INNOCENT MEN HUNG.


e concocted this plot, and sent Neils out
? OF the country
HANGED FOR KILLING A SUICIDE
Early in the present century William
Shaw. respectable citizen of Leith.
England, was hanged in chains for the
alleged murder of his unmarried daugh-
ter, who was the only other member
! OF his family. The girl was receiving
the attentions OF a very improper per-
: son, named John lawson On one oc-
caslon man named James Morrison,
in an adjoining room. heard a violent
) quarrel between Shaw and his daugh-
! ter on this subject. in which the words
cruelty, "barbarity" and death
were used. The father then left the
room abruptly. locking the door be-
nlnd him and leaving the girl a prison.
er y little later, groans were heard
IN the room, and when a bailiff broke
IN, he found the girl, lying on the
moor with cash in her throat which
had been inflicted with a knife which
lay near her. When asked if her IA
Their was the cause of her death. she
barely had strength to nod assent. and
then died Just then the father re-
turned, having blood on his shirt
sleeve.
The only defense Shaw had was that
the blood on his sleeve was due to the
tdlSplacing of a bandage after he had
bled himself several days before. This
weighed nothing with the jury. and he
was quickly convicted and executed.
He had hung on the gibbet for several
weeks, when the man who moved into
his house found paper written by the
daughter, explaining that she meant
| to commit suicide. and saying in con-
clusion: My inhuman father is the
cause of my death"
! When the discovery was made.
Shaw's body was taken down from the
I Oil heaf1 md Arr,-f
for his execution. his friends were per-
mitted to wave pair of colors over
/ his grave.
| UNJUSTLY CONVICTED-DIED OF
FRIGHT.
! At Gibraltar. in 1S41, a highly re-
| spectacle merchant named James Bax-
we'll was taken to the gaIlows for the
alleged murder of his beautiful 17-year-
old daughter, Elezia. Baxwell was a
Catholic and had been asked Elezia's
hand in marriage by William Katt.
who was Lutheran. and Kat was
refused on account of religious preju-
dices. Elezia declared she would marry
Katt in spite of her father. and her
father declared he would kill her be-
fore he would permit her to do so.
Two days later Elezia disappeared and
all efforts to find her were in vain.
On the day of her disappearance
loud cries were heard in a cave adj
joining BaxweirS house, and the Iu-
NOR was started that Baxwsll had
murdered his daughter. The r1agis-
trates visited the cave, and there, I'M
der some loose stones. found a portion
OF Elezia's dress and some of her hair
clotted with gore. Baxwell was there
upon completely paralyZed with terror
On these facts Baxwell was convicted
OF murder, though he protested his in
nOcence.
As he was ascending the scaffo.d he
passed William Katt. the suitor Of his
daughter, who had testified that Rax-
well had threatened his daughters lie,
and Baxwell extended his hand TO him
and told him he freely forgaye him for
having sworn away his lie. The re-
suit of this little episode was that Katt
became fearfully agitated and lust az
the drop was about to -al. cried out:
1t is l who am guilty. and I Alone
A tremendous sensation resulted and
the execution was arrested Fut on
examining Baxwell il was found that
he had died of fright. Kat then con-
fessed that he had eloped with Flezia
and had secreted her He had also
taken part of her dress AMI some of
her hair and dabbled them in blood and
hid them in the cave. He was forth
with sent to prison and Elazia retired
to a convent
GUILTY IN THOUGHT. BUT NOT
IN FACT
Early in the present GENTRY, Icra-
than Bradford. an innkeeper ar Ok
fOrdShire. England was axecII-aJ for
the alleged murder of a guest named
Hayes. Soon after his arrival ut the
motel. Hayes had spoken publicly CO
the fact that he had money with him.
Some hours after he retired, two
guests in the next bedchamber heard
SrOans and arose and went into TIayes'
bedchamber. where they saw him well
tering in blood and dying in his bed.
while over him stood Bradford, hold
ing dark lantern in one hand and a
bloody knife in the other
Bradford exhibited the greatest ter
-or imaginable at being caught in this
but denied any guilt He
said ne also had been awakened by the
sroans; that he had gone to the rescue
and taken his knife along for protec-
ION, and that he was so horror
stricken when he turned down the COW
ers that he let the knife drop on the
bleeding man and in picking it up had
got blood on his sleeves as well as on
he knife But no one believed this
story.
Eighteen months after Bradford was
executed Hayes fOotman fell i'll and
lied, and just before he died he con-
.essea that he was the murderrr He
had occupied a room in the inn near to
Hayes, and had barely left his victim
before Bradford rushed in. He also
Produced the watch. snuff box and
'ther property of Hayes, which he had
aiken after killing him
The strangeSt part of this story is
hat after the fOOtman died minister
made public the confidential statement
made to him by the condemned pris-
'ner- Bradford confessed that he had
zone to Hayes room for the purpose of
filling him for his money, and was so
lorritied to find him already murdered
hat he dropped his knife.
In 1850, in Kankakee, Ills, Wiley j.
iorris. a negro. was hanged for the al
eyed murder of a young white woman
famed Mary Murphy. Mary's parents
lved five miles from Pontiac, and she
lad visited them on Il Saturday and
vas walking back along the railroad
rack on Sunday when she was muir
cred. Her body was found lying near
he track.
1t was proved that Morris was walk
ls along the track a mile behind Mary,
[ much faster gait, and must have
vertaken her. He had been seen that
light in Pontiac, and had then gone
rst to Joliet and then to Michigan, but
'as sent after and brought back. and
e had blood stains on his clothing. His
tory was that he had had a fight in
and had in that way got
lcod on his clothes. When he was tried
ne man hung the jury, and then his
ounsel took a change of venue to Kan
akee county, where he was convicted
lie was hanged eXclaiming: You MUIR
er me; you murder me; you murder
,e"
In 1862 c. c.. Hildebrand a celebrat-
/ outlaw in the Indiana penitentiary,
rote a history of "Hawkeye Bills