The times., 1899-03-21

successful that had been held The war
den said it was the same as all of them.
There was not an incident from the begin
ming to the end that was other than had
been expected. Mrs. Place was killed
humanely.
Just as soon as the witnesses were re-
leased from the death chamber q messen-
ger from the warden telephoned to Gov
ernor Roosevelt and Superintendent of
Prisons Collins that the execution had
taken place; that 1t was in all ways sue
cessful, and that the autopsy was to be
completed within the hour.
While the execution was going on
crowd of upward of twenty-f five represen-
tatives of newspapers stood on the hill
overlooking the prison yard, hoping to get
some glimpse of the witnesses when they
left the death chamber. They were unsuc-
cessful. The witnesses were taken out by
back way and were not seen from the
outside The reporters then Joined DR..
Wilson of Buffalo Dr. Wilson was an in
vited guest. He came all the way from
Buffalo. arriving this morning. Wilson
wore an army coat and white fedora hat
He presented his invitation and it was ac-
cepted. Then it was discovered that he
knew all the newspaper men, and at the
last moment the warden decided that it
was just as well to shut him out, and he
sistant surgeon in the United States Army
and that he was stationed at fort in
Buffalo. When he found he was shut out
he roared about it energetically, but the
warden was not there to hear.
The report of the autopsy will not be
made public today. Warden Sage says that
1t will be made out by the physicians and
filed, as the law directs, within ten days,
and that then it will be public if anybody
cares to see it.
History of the Crime.
The crime for which Mrs Martha
Place was executed was one of ex-
treme brutality and atrocity. The wo-
man had been the housekeeper of
her husband, William W. Place. of Brook
lyn, before she married him. Prior to that
she had been the wife of a man named
Savacoll, by whom she had son. After
Savacoll died she made her home with her
brother. Peter d. Garretson, of New
Brunswick, n. ]. More than five years ago
and eighteen months after the death of
Mr.. Places first wife, the mother of Ida
Place, the girl who was murdered, Mrs
Sayacoll entered the Place home as house
keeper. Two months later she became Mrs
Place.
II was not long until there was trouble
in the home. Mrs. Place was not liked by
the other members of her husbands family
who did not approve of the marriage She
was of a morose disposition and possessed
an ungovernable temper that frequently
broke out in an alarming way She was
an immaculate housekeeper, but possessed
no other accomplishments and no personal
attractions. Mr.. Place was devoted to his
daughter. They studied amateur photogra-
ply and often took long walks together
Mrs. Place regarded this as neglect of her
on the part of her husband. 1t was not
long before there were frequent and bit
ter quarrels in the home. Mrs. Place de-
sired to bring her son to the Place home
but Mr. Place objected, and this also added
materially to the trouble. AS Ida Place
grew older, the bond between father and
daughter grew stronger and the disssnsion
between husband and wife increased.
Mrs. Place and the girl also quarreled
frequently and the home became an ex-
tremely unhappy one. This state of affairs
eliminated on February s, of last year, in
the murder of the girl. While she and
Mrs Place were in an upper room, the
latter attacked Ida She first threw a
quantity of carbolic acid in the girls face,
binding her, after which she knocked her
senseless. supposedly with an AK Then she
carried her to bed and smothered her
with pillow. The family servant, Hilda
Palm, who had been sent away by Mrs.
Place, returned in time to hear T. G girls
screams. Mrs. Place told the servant she
had decided to close the house and she dis
missed the servant, paying her extra wages
and telling her to send for her things next
day.
Lay in Wait for Her Husband.
After getting Miss Palm from the house
Mrs. Place lay in wait for her husband,
and when he came home attacked him with
an ak. She struck him ON the head sew
eral times, but he managed TO escape and
alarm the neighborhood.
The doors Of the house were barricaded.
but they were forced open and Mrs Place
was discovered locked in her room with a
sheet over her face and the gas jet open,
indicating an attempt at suicide. This was
regarded as a pretence, as subsequent de-
velopments showed that the woman had
made complete preparations for flight
Some time after her arrest Mrs. Place ad-
mitted having thrown the acid in Ida
Places face during a quarrel in which she
became enraged at the girl.
She denied, however, that she struck or
smothered the girl. but admitted that she
had attacked her husband with an AK
Evidence was found, which showed that
the crime was carefully planned several
days ahead, Mrs. Place having packed
up her belongings and written TO her
brother in New Brunswick. She was tried
and convicted of murder in the first de-
gree and sentenced to death.
An appeal was taken but was not sus-
tained. Governor Roosevelt was then ap-
| pealed to. He refused to commute the
sentence, saying that his sympathies were
with the wronged in criminal cases and