Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-08-08
The Citizens of Asotin, in That
State, Make Short Work
of a Murderer.
bis SELf-CONfESSED crime
WAS A MOST HORRIBLE One
Assaulted and Killed the Little
Daughter of the Sheriff Who After
wards Tries to Prevent the Lynch
ing-The Deputies Are Overpow-
cred at the Jail.


who had sworn in Is deputies to guard
the brute, William Hamilton, a we'll
TODD farmer, the self-confessed out
RACER and brutal murderer of little
Mabel Richards, was forcibly taken
from the Asotin county Jail at 1915
Wednesday morning and lynched by
a mob of over 1000 men, which had
been congregating all day from all
parts of Asotin county.
Sheriff Richards early in the even
ing swore in Is deputies to guard the
prisoner from the mob, but the officers
were swept aside by the mob's wild
rush. Crowds from surrounding viii
lagos, augmented by over 500 men
from Lewiston, Idaho, filed Asotin,
until nothing short Of soldiery could
have saved Hamilton.
Operations of the Mob.
All night long the feeling that Ham,
ilton should be strangled instantly
grew in volume. There were those
who thought the wretch should be tor
tured, but it was finally agreed that
revenge at once should be satisfied by
plotting out the life of the beast.
About 1915 o'clock 20 masked men,
their faces concealed with handker-
chiefs, marched in an orderly manner
up the street toward the Jail. When
they got within sight, the guards
thrown about the structure called upon
them to halt. The answer of the
masked men was to throw the guards
to the ground. The keys were taken
from the guards, the Jail yard entered
and finally entrance was effected into
the Jail proper. When the cell
containing the guilty man was reached
no key could be found to fit it. 1t
was necessary to saw and hack at the
bars until the door could be opened.
Meanwhile another company of
masked men, about 80 in number, had
marched up the street and taken posi-
tons opposite the Jail. They were
masked and all were orderly. With
these men none attempted to inter-
fere. They kept back the crowd which
had filed the streets all night, waiting
for the lynching it was certain would
occur, and as soon as the attack was
made upon Hamilton's cell the entire
population of the town, their numbers
swelled by people from the surround
ing country, gathered about the jail
Soon there came procession from the
Jail yard. On either side of the
doomed wretch was a masked man.
clutching the murderet's arm and haul
ing him around. Beside him another
masked man pressed closely with his
hand over the murderer's mouth, to
prevent possible outcry.
Confessed His Crime.
When the lynchers and Hamilton
reached the corner of First and Fill
more streets. they halted under a guy
wire, which crosses the street and
joins >electric light poles. Here one OF
the leaders asked Hamilton if he
wanted 10 confess. He did 80.
Then there was another short wait.
The manner of Hamilton's death was
under discussion. Some of the mob
thought hanging too good for him
and wanted to torture the brute, but
the original. programme prevailed and
it was decided to hang him. Some one
produced black mask like that used
In a legal hanging, and it was put
over the head of Hamilton. 1t reached
down to his shoulders. The rope was
then produced, placed about his neck
and then thrown over the guy wire,
being long enough to reach within
grasping distance of the lynchers. It
was seized by powerful men, the body
was lifted off the ground and suspend
ed at a height Of about four feet. The
doomed wretch began to gasp for
breath, and his efforts were plainly
discernible a distance Of two blocks,
so quiet was the crowd. After Ham
ilton's body had been held by the
lynchers for = time long enough to
make certain he was dead, the rope
was tied to the telegraph pole and the
body left suspended, and was left
hanging there until morning.
The crowds, when they were satis-
fed the wretch had breathed his last,
quietly melted away and sought their
beds, and the streets we've soon d.
serted
Double Tennessee Murder.