El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-05-17
A HANGING FOR
Ell PASO
Man Who Brutality Murdered
a Woman, Given g.
THE EXTREME PENALTY
The Jury Returned Its Verdicts Late
Yesterday Afternoon And the Pris-
Oner Heard 1t without Display OF
Emotion. Mo Appeal Probable.

Oner Heard 1t without Display Oh
Emotion. Mo Appeal Probable.
Yesterday afternoon when the lasl
edition of the HERALD went to press the
fate of Antonio Florez. charged with
the murder of Ramona Viscaya was
in the hands of the jury and sho t
time later that body filed into the
court room and the foreman handed
Ike Alderete the following written
verdict, which he read aloud:
I'VE the jury found the defendent
guilty of murder in the first degree
and fix his penalty at death"
The verdict WAS quickly translated
to the defendant. but he received it
with no apparent emotion and coz
tinued to gaze at those in front of him
without even blinking his eyes. The
customary pallor of his face was not
increased a particle and he took his
medicine as If expecting nothing bet
ter.
It took five ballots for the jury to
finally agree on the penalty of death
for the prisoner. All members agreed
unanimously that he was guilty, but
failed to decide upon the death penalty
until five ballots had been taken. One
man held out until the fifth ballot had
been taken. -,
There has not been legal hanging
in Ell Paso county for seven years.
The last one took place in November.
1892, when r. Castillo went to the
scaffold for the rape of an eleven year
old Mexican girl. He died game,
protesting his innocence to the last.
The only other hanging that has taken
place In this county Was at Ysleta in
1883 when q man named Brius tons
neck was broken for rape of a non
comm issioned officers wife at Fort
Davis. He was hung at Ysleta.
FLORES CRIME.
The crime for which Antonio Florez
will probsbly pay the penalty with his
life occurred one Sunday afternoon last
March about a half mile east of the
custom house on the Southern Pacific
track near a small Mexican settle
ment.
Antonio Florez, whom the gsllows
now stare in the face, Was greatly en-
amored of q Mexican woman by the
name of Ramona Viscaya. She was
and had living husband, who had de-
serted her. To keep the wolf from
the door she took in washing and
among her customers was Antonio.
He was an elderly man and had lived
in the United States about IS years.
Despite his years, he became en-
amored of the woman and insisted on
D0COmluR aST quo TOJ0CGSo Lilo
advances and refused to have anything
to do with her white haired admirert
Despite this Antonio pressed his SUR |
and became insanely jealous of other !
suitors. He met her on the railway |
track Sunday afternoon and made her !
q proposition to become his wife or |
mistress She spurned the offer and /
endeavored to walk away.
"If 1 can't have you no one else
SHALL" exclaimed Antonio, and draw
ing long barlow knife be buried it's
blade, which had been ground to a
point, in the woman's breast and then
slashed her savagely across the stom-
ach. She fell and the man sprang
down the railroad embankment and
started toward Mexico.
Quarantine Officer Witt was in the
guarding house. He saw
The ARRAY and captured the fugitive
before he had gone q hundred yards
rom where the body of the woman had
fallen. 1t was the testimony of this
ave witness that was chiefly instru-
mental in convicting the prisoner.