The San Francisco call., 1903-01-07
Grants Pardons to Con-
victs Serving Life
Sentences.
Big John McNulty and Jockey
Ward Are Among the
Favored Ones.
Chinese Highbinder Who Left San
Quentin to Cook at Governors
Ranch Is Also Given His
Freedom.

Governor Gage yesterday granted par
dons to a score or more of convicts. some
of whom had been sentenced by the
courts to spend the remainder of their
days in the State penitentiary. Among
those who received executive clemency was
Richard Phelan. former superintendent of
| the Gold Ridge Mine, who was serving
/ twenty-five year sentence for the muir
der of Daniel O'Connor, near Sierra City,
in October, 1897.
Phelan claimed at his trial that he acted
in self-defense, but the jurors who tried
him didn't so view his act and rendered
/ a verdict of conviction. Phelan has had
influential friends at work ever since his
conviction and ii was reported several
months ago that he was about to be par
dOned. Gage, for some reason, deferred
the granting of freedom to Phelan until
late yesterday afternoon.
Augustine Castro, who enjoyed the
somewhat undesirable record Of being the
Oldest convict in San Quentin Prison was
also pardoTied. Castro was paroled sew
eral months ago, and since then has been
leading a quiet life. After his parole he
visited San Francisco greatly astonished
by the many improvements made in the
metropolis during his long detention be-
hind the penitentiary walls.
Nah Noon, the Chinese highbinder
whose salads and dainty dishes suited the
epicurean taste of the Governor and
cured parole and position as cook on
the Gage ranch, was also pardoned. Nah
who is regarded by the local police as a
desperate highbinder, was serving a SEN
tence for assault to murder when grant
ed a parole.
7 John McNulty, the murderer for whom
the gallows was erected in the County
Ias1
whom the death watch was placed
. six times, and whose sentence was
subsequently commuted from death
TO life imprisonment, was also pardoned
last night by Governor Gage. The news
of McNulty's pardon recalls one of the
most celebrated murder trials in the his
tory of the city. On March 5, 1888, Nc
Nulty killed man named John Collins.
He was tried shortly afterward on a
charge of murder and sentenced TO be
hanged by Judge Murphy who thought
McNulty's crime was unjustifable.
McNulty had many friends, and they
gave j. n. E. Wilson a big fee to defend
him. The case was taken TO the Supreme
Court, which sustained the Judgment of
the lower court. Carroll Cook, who was
then practicing, was called into the case
and he commenced a fight for McNulty's
life, which was perhaps the most persist
ent one ever put up by any lawyer in the
State.
Judge Cook went before the United
States Supreme Court in Washington
and received a stay of execution. After
that, writ followed writ and every time
the hangman got ready for McNulty,
Judge Cook managed to get out new
writ to save his life. Once McNulty escaped
from the County Jail and it was several
days before he was captured. Finally
law was passed changing the place of exc
cution for. crimes committed in the State
to the penitentiary. 1t went into effect
on a certain day and McNulty was still
alive at the County Jail, where the trial
judge had ordered him to be hanged.
Judge. Cook took advantage of the tech
nicality, and as much sympathy had been
aroused in McNulty's behalf Governor
Markham commuted his sentence to life
Imprisonment.
Judge Cook always believed that Nc
Nulty should never have been convicted
of anything more serious than man.
slaughter and during the last few years
he mas been working for his pardon. He
went before Governor Gage last Saturday
and argued McNulty's case for hours and
showed the Governor irregularities in the
testimony which convicted McNulty
which evidently made an impression on
the Governor
Governor Gage also commuted the SEN
tence of Jockey Richard Ward from life
imprisonment to ten years. This COM
go free next November. Ward murdered
John Kelley with pitchfork at the old
Bay District racetrack some years ago.