Evening journal., 1901-04-27
ROPE TEARS
HEAD FROM BODY
GhaStly Execution Of a No.
tOriOuS Outlaw
CONFESSED TO MANY CRIMES
Trunk Pitched Forward Toward
Spectators and Blood SDatiered
Upon Those Nearby

Clayton, N. NJ, April 27.--Thomas ls.
Ketchum. alias BLACK Jack" the no.
torious outlaw who had terrorized the
people of the southwest for the past 10
years. was hanged here yesterday after
noon for train robbery. His head was
severed from the body by the rope, as
If by a guillotine The headless trunk
pitched forward toward the spectators.
and blood spattered upon those nearest
the scaffold.
The execution took place inside a
stockade built for the occasion One
hundred and fifty witnesses saw the
execution. When Ketchum mounted
the scaifold his face was pale, but he
showed no fear. A priest stood at his
side as the rope was being adjusted
The condemned man had consented to
spiritual attendance at the last mo-
ment Ketohum declined to make @
speech. He muttered goodbye" then
said. please dig my grave deep" and
as the cap was drawn over his face he
shouted: Let her go"
At 1921 p. m. the drop was sprung,
the body shot through the trap and the
head was torn from the trunk by the
tremendous jerk The head remained
in the sack and fell into the pit. The
body dropped to the ground Quivering
and bleeding. Some men groaned and
others turned away. unable to endure
the sight. For a few seconds the body
was allowed to lie half doubled up on
its right side. with the blood pouring
in a stream from the severed arteries.
as the heart kept up its mechanical
beating. Then the officers rushed
down and lifted the body from the
ground
Life was pronounced extinct in FIVE
minutes from the time the body drop
ped through the trap. The result show
ed that the drop of seven feet with the
running moose was too great for so
heavy a man as Ketchum. who weighed
about 40 pounds
Ketchum spent the greater part Of
the morning in reviewing his past life,
during which time he displayed per-
feet control OF himself, frequently re-
ferrlng to his momentarily expected
death In violent manner. He cursed
the railroad and express companies
and the officers who were instrumental
in his conviction, the people of New
Mexico in general and their laws. He
acknowledged that he planned and led
his gang in many robberies accredited
to him. He said he knew who killed
young Herstein at Liberty, Tex, In
1895, but would give no names, claim
ing that the guilty persons were alive.
He also said that he knew who ldlleL
A. b. Powers in Tom Green coznty,
Tex, in 1896. and that Bub Upshaw,
who was accused had no knowledge OF
that crime. Ketchum declared that he
was not the original BLACK Jack" and
said that outlaw was still alive and en-
ioying his liberty.
Ketchum said that Frank Herring
ton. the conductor who shot him, caus-
ing him to lose his right arm, L. C.
Fort, a Wells-Fargo attorney, and w.
H. Reno. the Colorado and Southern
railway detective, who effected his cap
ture, will be killed within a year. II
smugged a letter out of the prison at
Santa Fe said he "and those three
men are marked"
Shortly before the execution Ketch-
um mailed a letter to President Nc
/ Kinley, In substance as follows:
Standing in the presence Of death,
where no human aid can reach me, /
desire to communicate to you some
facts which may perhaps. be the
means Of libercting innocent men.
There are now three men in Santa Fe
penitentiary serving sentences for the
robbery of the United States mail at
STEMS Pass, Ariz., in 1897, viz, Leon
ard Albertson, Walter Huffman and
Bill Waterman, and they are as inno-
cent OF the crime as an unborn babe.
The names of the men who committed
the crime are Dave Atkins, Ed Bullin,
VIII Carver. Sam Ketchum, Broncho
Bill and myself. / have given to my
attorney in Clayton means by which
articles taken in said robbery may be
found where We hid them ard also the
names Of witnesses who live in that
ricinity, who will testify that myself
and gang were in that neighborhood
both Immediately before and after the
robbery. The fact that these men are
innocent, and are suffering. impels me
to make this confession"
Thomas Ketchum. alias BLACK
Jack" has been the most noted des-
perado of the southwest for many
years. ard although he boasted. II is
said, Of having taken the lives Of
many fellow beings. his execution was
for an attempted train robbery In
| which nobody was killed.