Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-08-02


DENCE AND HIS ARREST FOL-
LOWED-HTS ACCOMPLTCE, MRS
MACK. IS SERVING FIFTEEN
YEARS IN PRISON.
New York, August l. = Martin
Thorn was put to death in the prison
at Sing Sing at I'LL this morning
for the murder of William Gulden-
suppe.
Thorn sat up later last night than
was his custom. He talked Of his
parents, his boyhood days in Germany,
and his first experiences in this coun-
try. He showed no nervousness, and
when he threw himself on his cot it
was but a few minutes until he was
sound asleep.
Warden Sage, who went to Thorn's
cell early to-day, said Of him: Thorn
told me was not nervous, and would
die bravely. He said he was per-
fectly reccnciled to his fate, and that
he had made peace with his God. He
slept well, and had no fear of death.
There is not the slightest change in his
actions. He is the same cool man
who came to the prison six months
ago. His nerve is stronger than that
Of any other murderer who has been
in the death house"
Thorn told one Of his keepers that
his only dread was the wait from the
time he awoke until he was summoned
to the chair
The condemned man received the
last sacraments of the Roman Catholic
church
When summoned to the execution
chair Thorn showed no emotion, and
walked to it quickly, repeating prayers,
after the attending priest. There was
no untoward incident in connection
with the execution. and after the cur
rent had been turned On ffty-flve sec
ends Thorn was dead.
Thorn's crime was committed June
90, 1897, at a cottage on Long Island.
Guldensuppe had beon Iured to the
cottage by Mrs. Augusta Mack. While
he was in a second-story room Thorn
emerged from closet and shot him
in the back of the head The body
then was dragged into bath room
and dismembered. In this work Thorn
claimed he had been assisted by Mrs.
Mack, but she denied any part in the
crime.
Mrs. Mack was arrested in her rooms
in Ninth avenue as she was making
preparations to leave the country. She
denied knowing anything about Gull
densuppe and declared her belief he
had gone to Europe Thorn might
have gone free but for the fatality
which seems to pursue murderers.
Not even his name was known at that
time to the police, and he might have
gotten away without difficulty if he
had taken the first ship that sailed for
the other side. Instead of doing this
he remained about his old haunts,
talking about a proposed trip to Eu-
rope, and finally went so far as to take
an acquaintance barber named
,Gartha-into his confidence. To Gar
tina he told the story of the murder,
and Gartha went to Capt. O'Brien and
told all he knew. He had made an
appointment to meet Thorn again in
an Eighth avenue saloon, and when
he went to keep his engagement Cen
trail Office detectives followed him and
arrested Thorn. Thorn denied his
guilt.
Both Mrs. Mack and her partner in
crime maintained their stolid demeanor
up to the last, declaring that Gulden-
suppe was not dead, and that he would
surely turn up whole and sound in the
long run. When arraigned in court to-
gether Mrs. Mack spoke cheering words
to Thorn in German, and he in turn
sought to cheer her. This comedy was
continued up to the moment Thorn
was put on trial for murder in the
criminal branch of the Supreme Court
in Long Island City.
The most sensational feature of this
case was furnished when Mrs. Mack
became the States witness against
Martin Thorn. In her confession she
accused him not only of planning the
crime, but of carrying it out in all its
details. She herself, according to her
own story, was merely passive Thorn,
she said, killed Guldensuppe and cut
him up and then when the work was
done came to her and said that the
murder was finished and that she must
| come and help him wrap up the body.
| Thorn was convicted Of murder in the
first degree, and although the verdict
was appealed from, the courts affirmed
the Judgment, and he was sentenced to
die in the week beginning August 1.
Mrs. Mack was never put on trial.
Her counsel entered the plea of guilty,
with petition that the court would
| exercise clemency. She was sentenced