The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-03-10
ROLAND B. MoLINEUx.
Alleged Slayer of Mrs. Kate Adams
Begins Fourth Year As Prisoner.

f-NtN AFAh W DAAti-f
Roland b. MoIineux yesterday CONE
pleted his third year of Imprisonment
If MOlineux is innocent of the muir
der of Mrs. Kate Adams-aud by law
every man is considered innocent until
ne has been proven guilty-try TO mag
Inc what this has meant to him,
Shut up in cell for 1895 days. De-
prived of the society of his wife. his
father, his mother and all who are dear
to him. Having for his associates only
convicted murdereTs or men awaiting
trial on the capital offense. Unable 10
speak in private with any one except
his counsel or to write to any one with
out having his letters read by prison
functiOnaries. Cut off from freedom.
from outdoor air, from sunshine
shoTn, in short, for three long, weary
years of everything that makes life
worth living.
Sitting for fifty-seven days in
court room nervOusly awaiting the out
come of his trial. And finally, with the
shadow of death upon him, spending
SOS days IN the death house at Sing
Sing with no one to speak TO, absolute
~ alone, wondering every hour of that
time whether the next message the
warden brought him would send him
iTredeemably to the electric chair or
give him another chance for life-a new
trial
If M0lineux be guilty, what he has
passed through must mean almost as
much TO him.
Innocent or guilty, the last three
years have been terrible ones for Mol
ineuX. 1t is no wonder that he failed
to celebrate the third anniversary of
his Incarceration yesterday. All day
long he sat in his cell-cel No IS. on
the east side tier in the TOmbs-silent
and thoughtful. He spoke few words
TO his keepers and received no callers.
He was TeOCcupied-thinking.
A brief resume Of the case will, per-
haps, better than anything else give
one an idea of what this man has been
through.
On Dec. Is. 1898, Mrs. Katherine J.
Adams died from poisoning al her
home. 81 West Eighty-siXth street
Harry S. Cornish, then a prominent
member of the Knickerbocker Athletic
club, had given her dose of medicine
from a bottle labeled brOmO seltzerf
which had been sent to him through
the mail. Analysis proved that the bot
tie contained poison. Suspicion directed
itself to Molineux. He had had trouble
with Cornish
q . q
On Feb. ., 1899, MolineuX. protest.
ing his innocence, was arrested and
placed in the Tombs He remained
there, charged with murder until Nov.
IA of that year. when his trial began
before Recorder Golf.
The trial lasted for fifty-seven days,
/ at the end of which time the jury re-
/ turned a verdict of guilty. On Feb.
! Is. 1900, within ten days Of a year from
/ the time he was first arrested, Record
er Golf sentenced MOlineuX to death in
/ the electric chair. The prisoner was
/ taken to Sing Sing on the same day
and placed in the notorious death
l house"
I There he had to sit in solitary con-
/ finement. locked in his cell, his food
passed in to him. with no chance Of
( exercise, hoping that the word that his
! lawyers had obtained stay would
reach him.
/ The word finally came and with it
came another long period of terrible
anxiety for Molineux as to when the
/ appeal would be argued and how the
/ court of appeals would decide. Finally
/ last summer the case was argued in
! Buffalo, Ex-Governor Hill appearing as
special counsel for the prosecution.
/ On Oct. Is last. after MolineuX had
sat for twenty months and one day in
his solitary cell at Sing Sing, the court
! handed down a decision reversing the
decision of the trial court on the
ground that evidence relating to Bar
net. another KniCkeTbockeT Athletic
clubman. who died shortly prior to Mrs.
Adams. and whose death it was after
ward learned was due 10 the same kind
Of poison a s that sent 20 Cornish. was
inadmissibie.
Two days later MOlineuN was brought
back to the TOmbs where he has since
remained An effort was made soon
afterward to have the indictment
quashed. Two ex-gOvernOrs Of the
state engaged in the legal tilt-Hilt for
the people and Black for the prisoner.
Judge Werner. before whom the case
was argued in NeWbUTg. refused tC
quash the indictment and MOlineu0
must now stand another trial.
Throughout the whole case there has
been one bright feature-the picture OF
General MoIineux, the prisoners IA
Their, believing steadfastly in his sons
innocence, sacrificing everything tC
prove his convictions and ever willing
TO champion his son and defy his en-
lemieS