The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1898-10-15
JACK DAVIS ASKS PARDON.
The Hearing VIII Come Before the
Board Next Monday.
| Boise Statesman. Oct. Ill

up before the board Of pardons yes
terday morning, bat was postponed
until next Monday. Jack Davis,
alias Diamondfeld Jack, is under
sentence to hang on October % for
the murder of Wilson and Cum
minga, the sheepmen who were
killed in Cassia county in 1896.
Nothing can save his neck but the
board of pardons, every other re-
source having been exhausted by
the defense.
J. H. Hawley, representing the
defense appeared before the board
yesterday morning and stated that
they desired more time to get testi-
mony. He said there would be new
testimony of the crime. The gov
ernor asked that the matter be pre-
scented as soon as possible, so the
board would have time to consider
it fully before the 28th.
The board set the case for hearing
on Monday next at 10 A. M.
It has become generally known
that the defense in this celebrated
case will plead before the board Of
pardons that the killing was done
by another man or men in self-de-
Tense. One of the men who, it is
said, will be claimed to have been
concerned in the killing, was q
prominent employee of the cattle
company for which Jack had work
ed +; the other being young fellow
who is interested in that section as
cattle owner. Both of these men
were witnesses for the defense in
the trial of Davis.
With this feature brought into
the case, the hearing before the
board promises to be extremely
sensational.
A number of petitions have been
filed with the board asking for Jack e
pardon, while few ask for commu.
tation of his sentence. These pc
titions are in the following form,
excepting that two ask for commu-
tation of the sentence:
ITO the honorable board of par
dons of the state of Idaho-Gentle-
men: We, the undersigned citizens
Of, Cassia county, Idaho, re
specially petition your honorable
board to grant pardon to Jack
Davis, who was convicted at the
April, 1897, term of the district
court, in and for Cassia county, Of
the crime of murder in the hrs'
degree. -.
I'm support of our petition We
urge. among other reasons:
"First-The evidence agains
, Davis was entirely circumstantial
] "Second-There is grave doub
as to his guilt.
"Third-No portion of the evi
dence brought Davis nearer tn
scene of the crime than about Y
miles, and then he was going in al
opposite direction.
"Fourth-Frank Smith the prin
cipal witness for the prosecution
was interested in securing a one
third portion of the reward of $48OC
offered for conviction in this case
that said Smith as witness wa
unworthy of credit, admitting OF
the stand that he had assumed fou
different names in as many locaii
ties in a few years; that it woult
be a disgrace to the jurisprudenc
: of the state to execute person
charged with crime upon the evl
: dence of such chara ter as Franz
Smith. when working for reward
"Fifth-Fred Gleason charged
with assisting Davis in the perpe
tration of the same crime for whlc
Davis was tried and convicted, an
proven to have been the companlo
, of Davis at the time the prosecution
charges the crime TO have bee
y committed, was subsequently a
! the same term of court tried an
| acquitted on substantially the sam
evidence upon which Davis wa
), convicted"
Some of the petitions have bee
generally circulated in Cassia cour
' ~. and some in particular con-
), munities. There is one for CON
mutation, signed by 80 citizens {
Oakley, and one Of the same char
: acter signed by Sc people Of Almt
: To a petition for pardon bearln
! the names of people OF Basin, al
) attached Al signatures. Anothe
I, petition from Rock Greek for pa
! don bears AZ names, and one frol
, Dry Creek 10. The other petition
J are all for pardon, and have bee
generally circulated in Cassia cour
tv There are six of them; on
carries "a names, one 90, one o.
one Sc, one Is and the other II,
total of 439 names on all the pet
tons. R. K. Lessey writes q iette
to the board recommending tint
: the sentence be commuted to III
imprisonment.