Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1903-11-24
JOSEPH SMITH MUST DIE FOR
MURDER OF MRS. MARY
cANNADY.
SENTENCED BY ROBERTS
ottumwa Judge Presiding in District
Court at Abba, DEGREES That Smiths
Life Must Pay for His Brutal Crime
Will Hang December 5, 1904. &

Abba, Nov. (Special.) ITO be
hanged by the neck until dead"
This is the penalty Joseph Smith, a
colored coal miner, must pay for the
brutal and ineXcusable murder i'll cold
blood of Mrs. Robert Cannady at BuX-
ton on the morning of October 16.
The man has ,l.tle more than a year
to make his peace with his God and
prepare to go to his death, for on Fri
day morning, December 5, 1904, he will
con the black death mask and take his
place on the gallows to be hurled into
eternity and to the Powers higher than
any earthly court, the penalty for TAX
ing the life of a fellow being.
The sentence of death was pronounc-
ed upon Smith at the opening of the
morning session of the Monroe county
district court today. by Judge M. A..
Roberts of Ottumwa. Just before pass
ing sentence the court gave Smith an
opportunity to make a statement and
the self-confessed murderer. firm and
resolute and with look of dogged sui
lenness on his brutal face. spoke but
briefly. He said he had not been
and that in fit of anger he had killed
her. He said he expected hard sen
tence and even when the awful news
that he must die within little more
than a year fell from the Judges lips
the prisoner did not move muscle,
He seemed either to fail in a realiza-
ticn of all it means to him or to care
nothing for his life now that he has
h n hr
ing to his statement, made his exist
ence miserable.
May Appeal Case.
There is no doubt that the condemn
ed man attorneys will make everY
effort nossible to save their clients S
life, and. if they cannot do better, to
have the sentence committed to one nf
life Imprisonment. There is little
likelihood, however. that theg viii
meet with success in their efforts. II
they do make They attempt, for the
crime committed by Smith stands in
the criminal annals of the state as
among the most brutal uncalled-for,
and cold-blooded murders ever commit
ted.
Smith !-ias a Family.
Smith is a coal miner, and previous
to the crime he had been living at
Hooking . quiet little mining camp a
short distance south cf Abba. where
his wife and children now reside. He
came from Virginia some years ego
and had teen regarded at Hooking as
rsa eeeGle. law-abiaipg citizen. II
was i, Virginia that he knew Mrs.
Carlad5 first and the conclusion of
those Who have Investigated the case
is tllat he wanted TO marry tho wonl-
an She repulscd him. however, and
married Rofe1t CannGdy, coming with
him to Bexton. Friends of the dead
wcman say that during the past few
months Smith made several visits to
Baxton and continually persecrted the
woman whom he finally murdered in
her own home.
A Moot Brutal Crime.
Although Smith claims that the
killing was not premeditated the facts
tend to disprove his statement Smith
arrived in Buxton ON the night of Oc-
tober Is, coming from his home at
Hooking He spent the night at the
home of a colored miner named Nc
MILAN with whom he was acquainted
Early on the morning of October is
he arose and came down stairs from
the sleeping rooms to the dining room
at about O'Clock while the McMil-
lans were at breakfast. Without say
ing word he passed through the
kitchen and out at the rear door. The
McMillans, thinking he would return in
a few minutes for breakfast waited
for some minutes but thought nothing
OF his non-appearance.
Points to Fermentation.
AS if following plan which he
had already studied out to his salts
faction Smith meanwhile went to the
home of Mrs. Cannady where the wom-
an was preparing breakfast for her
husband, Robt.C .Cannaday, employed at
night in mine No. IL. The husband
had not returned home at that hour
though he was expected soon. Smith
must have known these facts for he
went straight from the Mcmillan
home to that of the Cannadays, where
he knocked upon the front door. Mrs.
Cannaday opening the door to answer
the summons, received a bullet from
the revolver which Smith up to that
time carried concealed in a pocket. A
SSSouu UullSI Was Hr6Q 1mmeQlately
and both found lodgment in the body
of the unfortunate woman. who fell
dead across her own threshold.
Threatened More Murders.
Smith, turning from the body of the
woman, already growing cold in death,
walked leisurely away from the house
and went to the Baptist church, a short
distance away, where he sat down on
the platform for few minutes. Some
women neighbors OF the Cannadays,
who had heard the shots, ran to the
house, where they were Mortified by the
sight Of the woman's dead body. They
hastened down the street in search of
a doctor, but when they came to the
Baptist church they were stopped by
Smith, who demanded 10 know where
they were going When they replied
that they were on their way for doc.
tor, Smith said, according to their
statements:
you had better go back home right
now or you will need a doctor for
yourselves"
axative Promo 6Nuinins