Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-10
President Mckinley Commutes the
Sentence of Charles McUin.
ATTORNEY GENERALS STATEMENT
The Crime for Which Prisoner was
Condemned to Die.
ISTORY OF THE CASE

President Mckinley this morning COM
muted to life Imprisonment the death SEN
tence of Charles McUin, who would have
been hanged tomorrow but for executive
interference. The recommendation Of At
torney General Griggs was completed late
yesterday afternoon, and was laid before
the President this morning by Secretary
Cortelyou, who explained the case The
President, who is still in bed, briefly wrote,
Sentence COMMITTED to life Imprisonment"
signed his name and the papers were re-
turned to the Department Of Justice for
transmission to the local authorities.
The Attorney General was guided largely
by the practically favorable recommended
lions of the court and prosecuting officials
Representative Richardson's active and ear
nest participation in the efforts to save
McUins life have had weight.
Attorney Generals Enforcement.
The recommendation of Attorney General
Griggs to President Mckinley was as fol-
lows:
II am satisfied after a careful examina-
ton of the papers in this application for
executive clemency. and after having read
the testimony taken at the applicants
trial. that the sentence Of death should be
committed to Imprisonment for life.
NC L III appears W ne udA VI INV VI
der of mentality, and morally a degenerate.
He was in love with young girl, whom
he desired to marry, and who had ceased
to love him. He became jealous of the man
he killed. and believed that he was an OBJ
stacle to any reconciliation between the
of the murder McUin left his store about
II o'clock, and drank to such excess as to
become visibly intoxicated. He returned
in this condition to his boarding house, and
LOT ", fhn q tnrt, yhnn q
parently by chance, he met the deceased
and the young girl. The evidence is not
satisfactory as to the extent to which at
that time he had recovered from his intox-
icated condition. 1t Is fair to assume that
in the short interval between his drunken
sleep and the murder, an interval not ex-
ceeding three hours, the effects of the
liquor had not wholly passed away. When
some words and passed them. Shortly
thereafter he returned to his boarding
house, where he found the deceased and
the girl. The only testimony as to the cir
cumstances under which the quarrel began
and the fatal blow struck is that of
the girl, who was then about fifteen years
of age. Her testimony upon this point is
neither clear nor satisfactory. and the APP
plicant contradicts 1t in the most essential
details. The verdict establishes the truth
Of her testimony and the falsity Of the
applicants. and | have considered 1t in
making this recommends tion Giving her
testimony Its full weight. it appears that
this meeting, apparently wholly accidental,
resulted in an immediate physical encoun-
ter between the two men, in the course of
which the applicant stabbed the deceased
In the skull with penknife and caused
hemorrhage upon the brain, which proved
fatal.
Accidental Meeting.
"The accidental character of the meet
ing. its locality which was the pavement
in front Of the applicants boarding house,
where he may have been with an innocent
purpose; the character of the weapon, and
the very recent intoxicated condition Of the
applicant, all raise a reasonable doubt in
my mind as to whether the murder was
premed1tated and with malice afore-
thought This doubt should in my opinion
be resolved in favor of human life This
view is shared by eleven of the iurymen
who tried the case, who have united In a
petition for commute ton Of the sentence,
and by the learned trial judge who says
that II the jury had originally found a
verdict of guilty Of murder without can
ital punishment, should not have thought
there was miscarriage of Justice
The applicant is, however, man of
evli ana dangerous propensities, and If
there is to be any Communication 1t should
be TO imprisonment for life"
Terms of the Indictment.
Charles L. McUin was tried on an indtct
ment charging him with the murder of
defendant killed Turner In the District Of
Columbia. December %, 1S09 by stabbing
him in the head with a knife McUin had
been paying special attentions to Bertha
Crown for about year prior to September
1899 during which time he made a propo-
sal of marriage to her, which she declined
That month Mcuin and Bertha Crown quar-
relied because of his jealousy, he Directing
to other men speaking to her Thereafter
McUin begged her repeatedly to make up
with him, but she declined, and about two
months prior to the tragedy she became
acquainted with Turner, who took a liking
to her and visited her. The 2Sth day Of
December, 1889, McUin, in an intoxicated
condition, went to the house where Bertha
Crown lived and where he had formerly
boarded. about o'clock in the afternoon,
and slept several hours. Late in the after
noon Bertha Crown, was her custom
carried two baskets containing meals to the
employees of street railway, at a point
near her residence. and while waiting for
them was met by Turner. She was stand
ing upon the corner with Turner when Nc
U1n passed by and made some remark that
neither Bertha nor Turner understood.
Thereafter Turner accompanied her back
to the house. whittier she went to obtain
more baskets. When she went into the
house Turner awaited her on the steps. She
came out Of the house with a basket in
each hand and she and Turner came
down the steps together McUin stepped into
the yard and knocked the basket out of
her right hand. The three walked out upon
the sidewalk, and Bertha said to McUin:
You had better go away and leave me
alone"
Turner then said to Bertha II have got
to go to work.. and walked forward to-
ward her. when McUin grabbed him and
asked him what he doing there and
gave him one blow in the chest, took hold
Of him with his left hand and struck him
a second blow In the direction of his head.
whereupon Turner fell and McUin jumped
upon him. After Turner was taken to the
house there was a great deal of blood on
the sidewalk where he fell and upon his
cap
McUin's Knife.
Further evidence was offered 10 show that
when McUin was arrested a pocket knife
was found in his pocket, which was identi-
fed as belonging to him, and which was
covered with blood, as were the fingers Of
his hand.
Turner died the following morning as the
result Of a stab wound in the left side Of
lis head, the wound being such an Gne as
would have been naturally made by a knife.
The defendant testified in his own behalf
at the trial and there was no other testi-
mony for the defense. He swore that the
knife in question was his; that 1t had been
missing for several days before the date of
the offense charged against him, and that