The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-04-22
In THE DEATH CHAMBER
THREE BROTHERS TAKEN FROM
HUDSON TO DANNEMORA TO DIE.
willis. Burton and Frederick A. Van
WOrmer to BE EIectrOcuted May
80 for killing Their Uncle.

NEW YORK, April 21.-Deputy sheriffs
to-day took Willis Burton and Frederick A.
Van Wormer from the county jail at Hud-
son to the prison at Dannemora, where, ac-
cordfng to the sentence imposed upon them,
they will put 10 death on May 80 for the
murder of their uncle, Peter A Holenbeck
They were sentenced last Friday, and only
one showed any sign OF remorse. Fred, the
youngest. quailed and then when Burton,
the leader of the trio. saw his brothers
frightened look, he said:
What the devil are you so white abOut?"
You are not any too red yourself, you
ex-lobster," was the reply.
To those who have known them best the
breaking down of the three Van Wormer
boys at the conclusion of the trial would
have been a most unnatural proceeding.
Their murder of Peter Hallenbeck, the
wealthy farmer of Greenport, village four
miles south of Hudson, was a terrible step
in a gradually rising scale from petty thiev-
cry to murder. The details or the crime,
the purchase of masks, the turning of their
coats to aid their disguise, the hiring of a
fast team. the roundabout course to the
house where the aged couple were spend
ing their lonesome Christmas eve, the sum-
mons at the door, and when the white
haired man appeared hail of bullets which
dropped him bleeding and HfeleSs on the
threshold while his feeble wife, pleading
for mercy, fell across her husbands body
all this the Van WOrmer brothers said was
q
didn't plan to shoot him down in cold blood.
When all else failed they sought to shift
responsibility on their cousin, Harvey
Bruce, who accompanied them, and on
whose confession the prosecution founded
its case. Bruce will be tried later.
The Van Wormers declared Hallenbeck's
death wounds were inflicted by a 3S-Calber
revolver, with which Bruce was armed,
while they carried 32-caliber weapons. With
this defense they confidently appeared for
trial on March 81 before Justice Chester at
an extraordinary term of the Supreme
Court. Six days were consumed in securing
jury, and on April Z the prosecution
District Attorney Alfred B. Chase told
the Jurors how the footprints In the snow
corresponded in measure with the murder
erS' shoes The flattened bullets were rat
tied about the Oaken desks that the jurors
might see them. The Van Wormer broth
ers watched the proceedings indolently, not
seeming, TO regard the gruesOme exhibits
with other than neutral feelings. They had
schooled themselves since youth to stoicism.
They had been for years the toughest boys
in the neighbOrhood. Robbing houses.
burning barns and looting henroosts had
been their pastime. They were feared by
the peaceful community, but none essayed
TO take legal action against them. So they
looked upon themselves as desperate heroes.
Burton aged twenty-three, was the &C
knowledged leader. Taller and stronger
than the others they deferred to him men
tally and physically. He planned the raids;
his brothers helped him execute them.
Burton is of medium height, long nOsed,
SQudit-JdNeu ana MS eyes nave clear, colo
depths which hold a slinting fire. He gives
the idea of having great capacity for cruel
~ and revenge, but little of bravery. His is
Sloping forehead, the angle from the eyes
| back being sharp. Ii was he who planned
tue raid on Farmer CrOft's turkey rOOst
few weeks before Christmas. While Fred
and Willis climbed trees for the turkeys he
stood with his revolver beneath. Croft
heard the noise and shouted at the thieves
| Burton coolly leveled his pistol and emp
/ tied 1t at Croft while his brothers escaped
4
Willis Van Wormer. the eldest of the
brothers, is sinewy and swarthy as an In
dian. His nose is like the beak Of a hawk
his chln family characteristic, Is square
ana pugnaclous. His eyes are a cold, hshy
gray yet with all his strong features he
has the appearance of a young man easily
! led by temptation. He laughs more readily
than the others, and thinks more OF good
| time. He was the admirer Of Pearl Van
| Buren, and devoted much of his time TO her
| when not engaged IN rObbing rOOsts with
! his brothers. With him petty thievery was
/ a pastime, as the killing of Peter Hallen-
/ beck appears TO have been.
Frederick whose counsel referred to him
/ as the baby" is the best looking of the
/ trio. He is said TO have the bravery which
| his brothers lack. He has not the harsh
/ cruelty in his face SO noticeable in the lin
/ eaments OF his brothers. His eyes are soft
/ and brown. his chin square and well set,
/ and his mouth suggestive of gentleness.
! Trained in proper manner and away from
/ the evil influences of his brothers, he would
/ have undoubtedly developed into an estima-
Il bic young man.
Yet from evidence obtained behind the
dark curtain OF the trial IL was the baby
who made every bullet tell. IL was he who
rushed up while his brother was holding old
/ Hallenbeck and shot the latter in the neck.
/ IL was he who left the house last I'm the
/ race 10 escape in the waiting buggy in
/ which the brothers and Bruce fled from the
| scene Of the murder 10 their homes
| With the killing of these boys by electric
| ity on May 80 this branch of the Van
| WOraer family viii have been swept from
1 d earth They her
| father. sister or brothers. IL was these
| brothers who faced the cousin with looks
| OF hatred when he appeared on the witness
stand When II came their turn they told
practically the SAME story. insisting. how
| ever. that they went 10 Greensport merely
! 10 have some fun with Uncle Peter"