Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-11-14

The board of pardons met this morn
ing in special session to consider Nor
tensen's fate and to decide whether the
law should take its course on fr'day
or the death sentence be committed to
that Of life Imprisonment. This morn
ing's session was not without It's fca-
lures aside from the arguments at
Atty, c. b. Stewart, who has made such
long and stubborn fight on behalf OF
his client The feature OF the session
was the rending Of an anonymous letter
which bore Georgia postmark and
Indicated that the writer stood near
when Mortensen and Hay bid goodbye
on the night OF Dec. i6 1901, the in
ference being that the writer was the
man who committed the murder Vari-
GUS members of the board also from
time to time put questions to the
young attorney which were hard nuts
to crack.
Among those who were present at
the hearing were the brother OF the
condemned man, Dist. Atty. Eichnor
and Acting Warden Wright.
BOARD MEETS.
At l0:45 o'clock Governor Wells called
the board to order and Clerk Richards
read the call for the special meeting,
the application Of Mortensen for com
mutation, and the various communica-
lions connected with the case.
The following letter from Judge
Charles W. Morse, who presided at the
trial Of Mortensen, was the first one
read before the board In connection
with the application for communication OF
sentence OF the condemned man;
II beg leave TO say that the evidence
In this case, while purely circum-
stantial was such as to fully justify the
Jury In finding beyond a reasonable
doubt that the defendant was guilty OF
the crime az charged, and ] feel that
defendant had fair and impartial trial
by a Jury composed Of men who We're
entirely free from any prejudice or
bias, and his defense was most ably
conducted by his counsel. | do not
believe however, that the death PEN
atty ought ever to be Inflicted upon a
person whose conviction rests solely
upon circumstantial evidence, and as
the evidence In this case was entirely
circumstantial, therefore recommend
that the application for Communication be
granted"
AN ANONYMOUS LETTER.
The following anonymous letter re-
ceiyed by Judge Morse was submitted
by him In his letter to the board and
was read by the clerk after Judge
Morse's letter.
Judge Charles w. Morse.
my Dear Sir--I want to inform
you that the day you have Peter Nor
Jensen shot for the murder of Hay that
day you will have murdered an inno-
cent man. He Is as Innocent as you
are. Peter would have been In the
same fix as Hay II 1t had been known
he had that much money. ASK Peter
II he remembers anyone that was
standing by when he told Hay to come
to his home and get the money. we
are out OF the way and 1t seems as
u an innocent man has got to be pun
ished for the crime.
Yours truly in Ga"
The envelope containing the above
letter was postmarked "Hazzle Hurst
Ga, Oct. "a. ! p. M, 1903" The hand.
writing In the letter appeared TO be
that OF man and was rather poor
specimen OF chlrogrnphy. II was writ
ten with lead pencil and the punctua
ton and spelling were rather poor
EICHNoR AND DOW.
In addition to the above letters there
was one from District Attorney Eich
nor In which he stated that he had
no information which would warrant
him In recommending the Communication
OF the sentence OF Mortensen. There
was also one from Warden Dow which
stated that Mortensens conduc
throughout his entire incarceration hal
been exemplary,
ARGUMENTS OPEN,
Attorney c. Il. Stewart opened tn,
arguments In behalf of the application
OF Mortensen. He said In part. Gen
tlemen OF the board. you no doubt ar
familiar with the facts In this case, bu
desire to call your attention to a few
OF them. IL appears that Peter Morten
sen and James X, Hay were closely as
ISOLATED with one another and wer
.he test OF friends. and never was Their
treh word between them. Up TO III
OF Mortensen's arrest he had new
>eeu nccused OF an offense and hat
iayo uorne a good character In tn
annually. You all know that when